nd
disappeared, leaping from the waves all around me, diving under the boat
and reappearing on the opposite side. They lashed the current with
their strong tails, and snorted or blowed most dismally. For an instant
surprise and alarm took such possession of me that not a muscle of my
arms obeyed my will, and the canoe commenced to drift in the driving
stream towards the open sea. This confusion was only momentary, for as
soon as I discovered that my companions were porpoises and only old
acquaintances, I determined to avoid them as soon as possible.

With a quick glance at my stern range, a sand-hill on the shore of the
inlet, and another look over my shoulder for the sand dunes of the other
side, I exerted every muscle to reach the beach; but my frisky friends
were in no mood to leave me, but continued their fun with increased
energy as reinforcements came up from all directions. The faster I rowed
the more they multiplied, ploughing the sea in erratic courses. They
were from five to seven feet in length, and must have weighed from two
hundred to four hundred pounds each. Though their attentions were kindly
meant, their brusqueness on such an unsteady footing was unpardonable. I
most feared the strong, shooting movements of their tails in the sudden
dives under my canoe, for one sportive touch of such a _caudality_ would
have rolled me over, and furnished material for a tale the very
anticipation of which was unpleasant.

[Illustration: CROSSING HATTERAS INLET.]

The aquatic gambols of the porpoises lasted but a few minutes after
they had called in all their neighbors, and had chased me into
three feet depth of water. They then spouted a nasal farewell, which
sounded more catarrhal than guitaral, and left me for the more
profitable occupation of fishing in the tideway of the inlet, while I
rowed into a shallow cove, out of the ebb, to rest, and to recover
from the effects of my fright.

As I pulled along the beach the tide receded so rapidly that the canoe
was constantly grounding, and wading became necessary, for I could not
get within several feet of the shore. When five miles from Hatteras
Inlet I espied an empty grass cabin, which the fishermen used in
February while catching shad; and, as a southerly wind was now blowing
from the sea, and rain was falling, it offered a night's shelter for the
traveller. This Robinson Crusoe looking structure was located upon the
low land near the sound, while bleak, sharp-poin