74 ^^MBLES OF A VOMINIS 



plunges deep into the sea, the jib is in the water halfway 

 up, the spray flies along the deck and glistens on oilskin 

 and sou'wester. But the brief moment of danger is past ; 

 we leave the Skerries far behind. We fly along the 

 south shore of Ronaldshay, sail steadily through a lesser 

 rush of tide, up among the sheltering islands, across this 

 quiet, land-locked sea, until in the gathering darkness 

 the chain goes rattling down, and there is rest for us 

 at last.* 



It was only last night that we came to anchor in the 



*"'WE' AT SEA." 



" The infusion of personalism in British Journalism, in a con- 

 siderable measure the growth of pernicious influence burrowing 

 in Northumberland Street, crops up in an unexpected quarter. 

 The Daily News has a leading article giving a detailed and graphic 

 account of how a yacht cleared the Skerries, and safely anchored 

 in Pentland Firth. At the critical moment, when ' we can hear 

 the thunder of the surge, and the roar of the sea against Lother 

 Beef,' the following passage occurs : " The skipper crams his 

 pipe into his pocket, and runs aft to take the helm. * She can't 

 do it ; get the spinnaker off her, JOHN 1 * We take in the broad 

 and flapping sail as best we may." Of course it is no secret that 

 the Editor of the Daily News, a brother Journalist of whom we 

 are all proud, received at the baptismal font the name of JOHN. 

 That the skipper, having crammed his pipe in his pocket, should 

 snap out the name, is reasonable enough. But that the incident 

 should, in its colloquial form, be reported in the leading columns 

 of a staid journal, is to say the least, unusual. Since, however, 

 it has been done, we confess to a feeling of regret that the Daily 

 News is not yet an illustrated paper. We should like to see a 

 good sketch of J. K. R. adjusting his spectacles before tackling 

 the spinnaker, and proceeding to wrestle with the broad and 

 flapping sail, surrounded by an admiring circle, including ' the 

 heron and the curlew, the seals that bask upon the shore, and 

 the cormorants that dive in mid-channel.' "Punch. 



