FRUITLESS NEGOTIATIONS 145 
tremulous wail from the watery waste, and all was 
still. 
“ Almost at the same moment the wind subsided; 
the flying spray and the sharp, biting, sleet-like 
foam hurtling through the air ceased; blue sky 
began to show through the mist, and the violent 
squall was over. The wind, shifting to the west¬ 
ward, scattered the remaining clouds, and in ten 
minutes more we had a clear sky, with a full moon 
lighting us on our way. Talk about the magic of 
a moonlight night at sea ! The sudden change from 
our late misery, and our unexpected deliverance 
from imminent peril, made the scene so much more 
enchanting to our eyes, and one to be indelibly 
engraved on the memory. The sea went down 
slowly, but a long swell remained for some time, and 
our boat was like a cork bobbing up and down 
between the waves as we pulled against them in our 
endeavour to find the schooner. We found her at 
last, but it was eleven o’clock before we got on 
board, thoroughly exhausted with our day’s work, 
but thankful for our escape. We got safely back 
to our anchorage with the schooner, but next day 
a heavy north-west gale blew, confining us on board, 
and giving us a much-needed day’s rest. 
64 That there was anything supernatural in our 
late adventure I doubt; it was only one of those 
remarkable coincidences which occur once in a 
man’s lifetime. Two months afterwards we shot 
an otter on a rock in Roko Bay, with an open sore on 
one of her paws, and I am almost sure it was the 
same which we had chased, and which afterwards 
chased us so obstinately during the squall—if it was 
a real otter, and not a spectre, which followed us.” 
10 
