160 HUNTING THE SEA OTTER. 



out of the fog some familiar rock or landmark which gave 

 us our course so as to reach the schooner. Fortune, 

 however, had not quite deserted us ; for, before we sighted 

 the land, we bagged a couple of otters which had been 

 sleeping on the water, and, raising their heads in alarm at 

 the sound of our oars, received their quietus ere they could 

 overcome their curiosity and escape. Nor was our luck 

 quite finished, for we were to have that evening the unique 

 experience of seeing and shooting one of these purely 

 pelagic creatures for the first and only time upon land. 



With the boats hugging the shore here, fortunately free 

 of outstanding rock, the coast line dimly visible through 

 the fog, we rounded a tall, bluff, and rocky point; we 

 turned inwards and came upon a stretch of sandy beach 

 backed by a small plain or meadow of grass and stunted 

 timber. Perched upon the white limb of a withered tree, 

 with drooping wings and hunched up body, a very picture 

 of sulky depression, sat a large sea eagle. I, who was in 

 the leading boat, stole quietly upon it, hoping to get a shot ; 

 but, dejected as it might appear, the great, restless, searching 

 eyes had already detected us, and, before the rifle could be 

 raised, with a flap of its broad wings it disappeared into 

 the mist. 



Just as the rifle had been laid down, one of the men, 

 pointing eagerly to the port quarter, whispered : " Racco, 

 donnah, racco " " Sea otter, master, sea otter." And there, 

 sure enough, about a couple of yards from the water's edge, 

 lay a dark, fur-clad creature with a yellowish head, which 

 showed almost white against the dark background of rock, 

 watching us intently. Seen for the first time on land, 

 stretched at full length upon a little patch of sand amongst 

 the rocks, it had little appearance of an otter, but some 

 strange creation of this weird and uncanny coast. I 

 snatched up my rifle and fired quickly, just as an intervening 

 boulder hid it from sight and prevented me from seeing the 

 result of the shot. Motioning the men to pull a stroke, 

 the next moment they caught sight of it crawling slowly to 



