122 BY THE SEA. 



with him, are placed astern over the tail bones, 

 and are constantly supplied with the necessary 

 lubricant. He must often resort to this oiling 

 process, for it makes his craft slip easier through 

 the water, and gives imperviousness to his feather- 

 plated armor. His wild nature is soon apparent. 

 He depends on no human hand for his food. 

 Would he pick up corn or refuse from the table, 

 even if it were thrown to him .■" As I slowly 

 approach, he lifts his head and eyes me suspi- 

 ciously, then turns to waddle down the slippery 

 rock and gracefully launches his boat into the sea. 

 He is, indeed, a pretty sight ; this bird so alert 

 and trim, as he rises and falls on the waves, and 

 sidles off from the shore, like a graceful yacht 

 sailing on the wind. But he soon returns when I 

 am concealed behind the ledges. It is curious to 

 see him manage his craft among the breakers. 

 He swims into the eddy and under the shelter of 

 the lee-wall formed by the rock on the shoreward 

 side, and waits, as the fishermen do with their 

 wherries, for the rising waves to lift him high and 

 dry again on this basking and preening place 

 which he seems to like so well. 



But the day among these delightful wonders of 

 the sea is nearly ended. From Cape Race, along 

 the coast south-westward, as the great sun dips 

 below the horizon, the numerous beacons, with 

 their pencils of light, have been for an hour, one 



