ht and the sea calm during the night.

I remained on shore with a few men to assist in sorting out and making
a list of the articles rescued yesterday and to assemble them in the
best place suitable for their preservation. We spread out in the sun
the bread, bags of flour, and other dry foodstuffs, even to the
smallest fragments, and it was early apparent that unless much more
food is secured we shall be compelled to live upon a greatly reduced
ration and that our main source of food will be the seal and brown
albatross (or "goonies," as they are commonly called). Both of these
seem plentiful and are easily captured.

The seal succumb quickly to a blow upon the head, a fact we discovered
early in our first visit to the Midway Islands. One of the boat's
crew, when pushing off from the beach, carelessly and without intent
to kill, struck a near-by seal on the head with an oar, and the next
morning it was found dead, apparently not having moved from the spot.
Its mate had found it and was nosing it about, while moaning in a most
humanlike voice.

These seal are quite different from the Alaska fur seal, of such
great value for their fur. These have a short lustreless hair, and
their principal value is in the oil that is extracted by the few seal
hunters who seek them. They frequently exceed two hundred pounds in
weight, and are savage fighters if one can judge by the many scars
found upon them. We never thought, when, a few months ago, we amused
ourselves on the verandas of the Cliff House at San Francisco in
watching their disporting about Seal Rock, that we should make such a
close acquaintance with them.

The "goonies" also are easy to capture, although they are large and
strong and a blow from the wing would break a man's limb. I measured
one of them from tip to tip of wing, and it was over seven feet. They
are, however, very awkward on their feet, and, having a double-jointed
wing (that is, a joint in it like an elbow) can only rise from the
ground when the wind is in their faces. Owing to this fact one only
needs to get to the windward of them with a club and look out for the
wings. We should like to add some of their eggs to our bill of fare,
but dare not for fear of driving the birds away. I imagine it would
take but a few of the eggs, if eatable, to go around, for I saw one at
the Midways that was as large as those of the ostrich.

Fresh water will, however, apparently be our greatest cause for
anxiety; for w