LANDING AT BOGOSLOF 



95 



species of diver. With our glasses we could see the mur- 

 res, when we were several miles away, making the air al- 

 most thick about the rocks as with clouds of black specks. 

 We could see the sea-lions too, great windrows of them 

 upon the beach. We dropped anchor about two miles 

 away and a party of seven or eight went ashore in a boat 

 — a hazardous proceeding our Captain thought, as the fog 

 seemed likely to drop at any moment and obliterate island 

 and ship alike; but it did not drop — only the top of the 

 island was obliterated. We could see the sea-lions lift 

 themselves up and gather in groups as the boat approached 

 their rookery. 



Then, after the landing was effected, they disappeared 

 and we could see the spray rise up as the monsters plunged 



SEA-LIONS. 



into the water. Hundreds of them were in a small lake a 

 few rods back from the shore, and the spectacle which the 

 procession of the huge creatures made rushing across the 

 beach to the sea was described as something most ex- 

 traordinary. Those who were so fortunate as to witness 

 it, placed it among the three or four most memorable 

 events of their lives. 



