HUNTING THE SEA OTTER. 183 



steadied, after having fallen from 29*80 to 29-34, a "4 a 

 little later showed a tendency to rise, showing that the 

 greatest violence of the typhoon had passed. 



By three o'clock the dense mist-laden air had become 

 thinner, and the rain stopped. With eager eyes we tried to 

 pierce the black darkness of early morning ; for, owing to 

 the circular nature of these storms, the wind had already 

 gone round half the compass, and it was impossible even to 

 conjecture what our position might be, although the general 

 trend of our drift had been towards the Niphon coast. Nor 

 were we far wrong, for first dimly as a cloud, but getting 

 plainer every minute, there rose out of the darkness, 

 almost towering over us, a range of black cliffs upon which 

 we were rapidly drifting. 



The dreaded " Whaleback" could not be far distant, and 

 any moment we might strike it or some outlying rock. 



It was now or never, and, although the wind still blew 

 with hurricane force, it had certainly moderated somewhat. 

 The sea was, if possible., more turbulent than ever ; but the 

 glass had ceased to fall. But it was impossible to allow 

 ourselves to drift any longer, and the time had come to take 

 our last hazard with the mainsail. If it held, we had a 

 chance ; if not, the deluge. Close reefed, until it looked like 

 a woman's shawl, we got it set at last ; and surely few sails 

 have been set as carefully or watched as anxiously as that 

 mainsail of ours. But it was new and good and held 

 famously. Before long we ventured to set the staysail 

 also; and, steadied and controlled, we saw the dark cliff 

 melt into the darkness as the schooner eat her way towards 

 the more open waters of the strait. But the hour that 

 passed before the dawning of the day showed us our 

 position was an anxious one. Apart from our sail holding 

 so well, we found that we owed our safety to the circular 

 nature of the storm, which, giving us a freer wind, had 

 enabled us to work ourselves out of a most perilous 

 position. 



Long before noon both sea and wind had gone down, 



