When he was fast, we crowded on all canvas to get away;
for although the sea was deep close up to the cliff, that swell
was a very ugly feature, and one which has been responsible for
the loss of a great number of ships in such places all over the
world. Notwithstanding all our efforts, we did get so near that
every detail of the rock was clearly visible to the naked eye,
and we had some anxious minutes while the old ship, rolling
tremendously, crawled inch after inch along the awful side of
that sea-encircled pyramid.
At one point there was quite a cave, the floor of which would be
some twenty feet above high-water mark, and its roof about the
same distance higher. It appeared to penetrate some distance
into the bowels of the mountain, and was wide and roomy. Sea-
birds in great numbers hovered around its entrance, finding it,
no doubt, an ideal nesting-place. It appeared quite
inaccessible, for even with a perfect calm the swell dashed
against the perpendicular face of the cliff beneath with a force
that would have instantly destroyed any vessel unfortunate enough
to get within its influence.
Slowly, slowly we forged past the danger; but the moment we
opened out the extremity of the island, a fresh breeze, like a
saving hand, swept across the bows, filling the head-sails and
swinging the old vessel away from the island in grand style.
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