the water, and along this a number of odd-looking
creatures are seen standing side by side. There are quite two hundred
of them, all facing the same way, mute images of propriety and good
deportment, reminding one of a row of little charity children, all in
white bibs and tuckers, ranged in a row for inspection.

But very different is the behaviour of the birds--for birds they are.
One or another, every now and then, raises its head aloft, and so holds
it, while giving utterance to a series of cries as hoarse and long-drawn
as the braying of an ass, to which sound it bears a ludicrous
resemblance.

"Jackass penguins," [Note 1] Seagriff pronounces them, without waiting
to be questioned; "yonder 're more of 'em," he explains, "out among the
kelp, divin' after shell-fish, the which are their proper food."

The others, looking off toward the kelp, then see more of the birds.
They had noticed them before, but supposed them to be fish leaping out
of the water, for the penguin, on coming up after a dive, goes down
again with so quick a plunge that an observer, even at short distance,
may easily mistake it for a fish. Turning to those on the shore, it is
now seen that numbers of them are constantly passing in among the
tussac-grass and out again, their mode of progression being also very
odd. Instead of a walk, hop, or run, as with other birds, it is a sort
of rapid rush, in which the rudimentary wings of the birds are used as
fore legs, so that, from even a slight distance, they might easily be
mistaken for quadrupeds.

"It is likely they have their nests yonder," observed Mrs Gancy,
pointing to where the penguins kept going in and out of the tussac.

The remark makes a vivid impression on her son and the young Englishman,
neither of whom is so old as to have quite outgrown a boyish propensity
for nest-robbing.

"Sure to have, ma'am," affirms Seagriff, respectfully raising his hand
to his forelock; "an' a pity we didn't think of it sooner. We might 'a'
hed fresh eggs for breakfast."

"Why can't we have them for dinner, then?" demands the second mate; the
third adding, "Yes; why not?"

"Sartin we kin, young masters. I knows of no reason agin it," answers
the old sealer.

"Then let's go egg-gathering," exclaimed Ned, eagerly.

The proposal is accepted by Seagriff, who is about to set out with the
two youths, when, looking inquiringly round, he says, "As thar ain't
anything in the shape of a stick about, we had