SOME NARROW ESCAPES 
213 
Early next morning I called for twelve men to 
volunteer to go with me. One hunter and a dozen 
men and myself landed, taking a good lunch with 
us, and also some food and water to leave where we 
landed, in case the vessel got blown off. My plan 
was to go right up to the crater and down the other 
side, as being the shortest and probably quickest 
way. One could not go round by the beach, as the 
island was bordered by high cliffs. The men failed 
to negotiate the climb, the cinders cutting through 
their foot-gear and making their feet bleed. We 
then worked round the mountain about halfway up, 
and six men and myself reached the other side about 
half an hour after noon. Near us was a pod of about 
thirty seals, which we killed and had almost com¬ 
pleted skinning before the rest of the party arrived, 
much done up. After a rest we decided to drive the 
big lot, but they were in a very awkward place 
amongst immense boulders, and we could not get 
between them and the sea without climbing down 
from a ledge some 50 feet high. It was necessary 
to cut the seals off from the water, or we should lose 
the greater part of them ; so one man and myself 
were let down over the ledge, when we succeeded in 
heading off about three-fourths of the lot, whilst the 
rest of the men made their way down from the rear 
of the seals. We clubbed about 400, and, having 
stuck them and spread them out, commenced skin¬ 
ning, getting through about 100. 
Darkness coming on, we left off, making our way 
into the corner already mentioned, where the over¬ 
hanging cliffs formed a sort of cave. Here we spent 
a miserable night, cold, hungry, and sleepless. The 
thirteen hours of darkness seemed endless. Day 
