84 LAND AT KATAITO. 



better-behaved companions, in the straw provided 

 for them in the fore-part of the boat. 



At last, after about two hours' pulhng and sail- 

 ing, we near the well-known shore. The hovel of 

 the " grammaticos," or clerk of the customs at 

 Kataito, has, after becoming by degrees more and 

 more distinct to our view, at length the appearance 

 of being so close to us, that one dog, more restless 

 than the rest, and not being gifted with suffi- 

 cient intelligence to comprehend that the boat is 

 moving through the water quicker than he can 

 swim, and will bring him in a few minutes to the 

 wished-for land, plunges in, with the vain hope of 

 hastening his arrival. He drops astern fast, and 

 has either the pleasure of a much longer swim 

 than he calculated upon, or is the cause of some 

 delay in our stopping to pick him up. 



The boat touches the strand. The effect is 

 talismanic. In an instant every dog is on shore 

 or in the water ; they knock each other over- 

 board in their eagerness to reach the land, and 

 testify their delight at the anticipation of their 

 coming day's sport, by a regular peal, a sort of 

 continued merry cry, each trying to make his 

 tongue resound the loudest. 



