HUNTING THE SEA OTTER. 133 



it moaned through the rigging, and the splash of the waves 

 a pleasing murmur as they swept gurgling past the sides ; 

 bright promise of undisturbed sleep in the present and 

 sport on the morrow. 



Early in the morning the Buffandeau ran in and dropped 

 anchor astern of us, 



It must have breezed up somewhat during the early 

 morning, for the sea was sufficiently lumpy to make it 

 advisable to have breakfast comfortably before putting off 

 with the boats. By the time we had finished the wind had 

 languished to a breeze, the air was clear though cold, and 

 the sea considerably quieter. Passing Otter Island with its 

 screaming seabirds, without seeing the objects of our quest ; 

 we rowed silently down the coast of Roku Bay, the home, 

 par excellence, for chronic fog and tempest. The heavy 

 tide-rip roared a couple of miles outside of us. In any 

 other place a feeling of security would have been present, 

 for the day as it advanced grew more and more enjoyable ; 

 the sun shone brightly from an almost cloudless sky, 

 warming the air and flashing on the expanse of mirror-like 

 water, left scarcely ruffled by the capricious breeze, while 

 the scenery, if bleak and desolate, was magnificent. The 

 whole of the south-eastern part of the island is composed 

 of an immense mountain mass, unbroken and unapproach- 

 able, terminating in a long line of abrupt, black cliffs of 

 great height. Here and there a margin of sand covers 

 their feet with a patch of colour, but more frequently the 

 quietest sea ripples and splashes against the solid rock, 

 with no line of contrast between the dark water and its 

 frowning barrier. Exposed to the full fury of the broad 

 ocean, the columnar rocks so common on these coasts were 

 here wanting, as if they, even, had yielded to the furious 

 beating of the surge. In such a scene it required the 

 stimulus of excitement in the howling tempest, the 

 rushing, seething sound of foam, the sullen thunder of 

 giant surfs, hurling themselves against the solid wall, and 

 embroidering the black rock with a tracery of froth, to 



