66 
WHALER AT ANCHOR. 
fishing. Watching them steadily we now perceived 
that they were whale boats, and once more our 
hearts beat with hope, for I felt sure that they must 
belong to some vessel whaling in the neighbourhood. 
We now anxiously scanned the horizon in every 
direction, and at last were delighted beyond measure 
to perceive to the westward the masts of a large 
ship, peeping above a rocky island which had here- 
tofore concealed her from our view. She was appa- 
rently about six miles from us, and as far as we 
could judge from so great a distance, seemed to be 
at anchor near the shore. 
Poor Wylie’s joy now knew no bounds, and he 
leapt and skipped about with delight as he congra- 
tulated me once more upon the prospect of getting 
plenty to eat. I was not less pleased than he was, 
and almost as absurd, for although the vessel was 
quietly at anchor so near us, with no sails loose and 
her boats away, I could not help fearing that she 
might disappear before we could get to her, or attract 
the notice of those on board. To prevent such a 
calamity, I mounted one of the strongest horses and 
pushed on by myself as rapidly as the heavy nature 
of the sands would allow, leaving Wylie at his own 
especial request to bring on the other horses. In a 
short time I arrived upon the summit of a rocky 
cliff, opposite to a fine large barque lying at anchor 
in a well sheltered bay, (which I subsequently named 
Rossiter Bay, after the captain of the whaler,) imme- 
diately east of Lucky Bay, and at less than a quar- 
