HUNTING THE SEA OTTER. 109 



southwards and bid good-bye to the scene for a time. On 

 our course we met the schooner, Lizzie, coming in with 

 sixty-six skins. 



Owing to the strength of the current and the lightness 

 of the wind we made little progress, and that night we 

 anchored in a tiny bay off some very curious rocks of 

 basaltic character. As the water was shallow, only seven 

 fathoms, with a sandy bottom, we baited for fish ; but, in 

 spite of the allurements of fat pork, no fish were caught, 

 though the lines were out almost before the anchor was 

 down. In response to a fine six-knot breeze, next morning 

 saw us early under way, but the wind only lasted an hour- 

 and-a-half when the constantly recurring calm, fog, and 

 rain came on till sunset ; and when it cleared up we found 

 ourselves, thanks to the current, only a couple of miles 

 south of our previous night's anchorage. Night came on 

 resplendent, with a feeling of frost in the air; the stars 

 glittered with " wintry sharpness." What little moon there 

 was sufficed to set off the stupendous cliffs that heaved 

 their crests high above us in all their rugged wildness ; 

 their serrated ridges seemed fashioned into the likeness 

 of a mighty fortress, beneath whose frowning walls and 

 pointed turrets piles of massive boulders, cleft into gro- 

 tesque shapes, lay prone and shattered, and from the water 

 in front of them rose, unvanquished still, gigantic towers 

 of solid rock, worn smooth by the wild fury of the ever 

 restless ocean. Like giant sentinels they stood, but that 

 night at least their watch seemed over, for nothing broke 

 the sad silence of the gloomy solitude. 



Next morning, invigorated by a comfortable sleep, we 

 breakfasted at dawn ; and by four o'clock the boats had been 

 lowered and we had left the vessel which was to precede us 

 to Jap Bay. The day proved warm and pleasant, there was 

 no wind to ruffle the mirror-like surface of the water, though 

 farther out we could see the schooner slipping along ; but 

 both sea and sky presented that mirage-like appearance 

 which renders shooting so difficult. 



