10 VOYAGES OF A NATURALIST 

 way to Brazil, that Lord Crawford suggested that 

 we should renew our acquaintance with these 

 little-known islands. Shaping our course ac- 

 cordingly, we sighted the rocks on 2nd December, 

 and, after a few minutes' steaming, drew up close 

 to our former landing place. 



The weather was, unfortunately, by no means 

 so kind on this occasion as on our former visit. 

 A strong wind was blowing, and the surf was break- 

 ing with great fury on the foot of Booby Hill. 

 It might have been possible to land, but we de- 

 cided that, under the conditions prevailing, 

 it was too risky to venture close to the rocks, 

 therefore we were forced to content ourselves 

 with a distant view of the boobies. 



Some time was, however, spent over shark 

 fishing, and we had hopes that the weather might 

 improve. A number of sharks were caught, arid 

 in this way we spent the greater part of a day. 

 As the sea was still high at sunset, Lord 

 Crawford decided that it was not worth while to 

 remain longer, so we sailed for Bahia, Brazil. 



During this visit to Saint Paul's Rocks we 

 noticed that the birds were present in about the 

 same numbers as before. Boobies of all ages were 

 flying round the ship the whole time we were 

 there, and many noddies were also seen. 



