I70 THE HOME OF A NATURALIST. 



the smallest mistake, a wrong turn of the helm, the 

 slightest false movement, might be fatal. 



More frequently however, if the storm is very 

 severe and the sea heavy, the safest course, and that 

 generally adopted, is to run dead before the wind. In 

 that case a duty not less important than the helmsman's 

 falls to the next most experienced boatman. That duty 

 is to manage the " tows," as the phrase goes. In one 

 hand he holds the halliards ; in the other the down- 

 hauler. As each great wave comes rolling on, lifting 

 the boat high on its crest, he hauls down the sail some 

 distance, to ease her from the strain and pressure of 

 the wind, to the full force of which she is in this 

 elevated position exposed. Again, as she rushes down 

 into the trough of the sea he hauls it up, to catch as 

 much wind as possible, that she may run from the 

 next wave rising astern ere it breaks. It is considered 

 by the fishermen that a cool and judicious liand at the 

 " tows " is quite as necessary as a good helmsman. 



In running to the land, the greatest danger is always 

 encountered in crossing those tideways which rush 

 between the islands and round most of the points 

 and promontories, at the rate sometimes of nearly ten 

 miles an hour. In the calmest weather, it is often im- 

 possible to cross them during the hours of full tide, 

 and you must wait till the " slack of the tide " before 

 attempting it. From any commanding height on shore 

 you can trace by their course of white foam these 

 furious tideways running far out into the ocean, while 

 aU around the sea is perfectly smooth and placid. 



