T 
ANOTHER GAME OF “ BLINDMAN’S-BUFF.” 497 
fortunately encompassed by fogs after the breaking up 
of the gale, so that one stormy evening found us in 
pretty much the same dilemma as we had been in a year 
back while running out of the Yellow Sea : we apparently 
had another case of blindman’s-buft’ ahead of us. We 
could not well avoid running, however,- for a westerly 
gale was evidently brewixig astern, and, were we to heave 
to, we would certainly drift upon the Kuriles as a lee shore. 
Our best chance, thei’efore, was to continue on our course 
while we still had a fair idea of our position; so we 
crowded on all sail and steam, hoping to enter the 
passage before night. In this we failed; but, fortunately 
for our peace of mind during the houi’s of darkness, the 
fog lifted just after sunset and showed us high land on 
our starboard bow; then it shut in again, night came on, 
and we wei’e more blindfolded than ever. Still, we had 
seen enough. The passing glimpse of a well-marked 
peak had told us that the open channel was ahead of us, 
and beyond that the open ocean : so we kept steadily 
on before the freshening gale, and the next morning at 
daylight were well out on the Pacific : the fog was all 
gone, the Kuriles had sunk below the western horizon, 
and we were now to see no more land until that of Cali- 
fornia should rise over the opposite board. 
During this first day in the Pacific, we were passed by 
several deeply-loaded whalers steering for the Sandwich 
Islands ; and, toward night, the fresh westerly breeze 
before which we had been running for the last two days 
had worked itself into quite a gale, — so stormy, in fact, 
that we w'ere down to double-reefed topsails before mid- 
night, and the next morning we found it necessary to 
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