AN OFFERING TO THE DOCTOR. 
205 
Our sporting messmate essayed to shoot a cormo- 
rant, which was sitting, gorged Avitli fish, on the 
low, dark rocks that showed their dangerous backs 
above the water, but was unsuccessful. The hand- 
some, black-tailed gulls, unused to firearms, were 
not disturbed by the report, but continued to hover 
boldly around ; and the little guillemots, in pairs, 
dived about, or flew in a straight line over the 
surface of the bay. But what^ has that little 
party of sailors, struggling under the weight of 
some unwonted curio, picked up along the shore ? 
As we land, they bear it aloft with an air of 
triumph, and with comic gravity lay it as an 
offering at the doctor’s feet. It is the dorsal 
vertebra of a whale ! 
On landing, we had again to launch our boat in 
a stream which would conduct us to the waters of 
the lake ; but before we could do so, we had to 
haul it over a bed of loose shingle, and this 
demanded the tug of war. All hands assisted, andi 
after great exertions, accompanied with some rather 
strong language, we succeeded ; but the amount of 
