he made his way back, not knowing what creatures he might encounter.
Slowly and with straining eyes he advanced through the thick blackness,
until he could hear the breathing and stirring of what he rightly
conjectured to be seals. He sounded with his paddle and found it to
be of insufficient length to show him the depth of water. Reaching a
ledge of rock which had been rendered slippery by the constant sliding
of slimy seals over it, he drew himself up, having to use great care
not to cut the dress on the sharp edges of numberless shells which he
found everywhere wedged in the interstices of the rock. When he reached
a place against the back wall where he thought he could keep himself
from sliding into the water, there was an ominous growl, one or two
splashes below, then for a moment all was quiet again except the
mournful washing of the waves far back in the mysterious depths and
the heavy breathing of the sea animals about him; but what they were he
was not sure, whether they would attack him or not, he could not tell,
and could only trust in Providence to keep him safe. The noise of
snapping, snarling and growling was kept up and through the watches
of that dreadful night, he never closed an eye.

As the rays of the tropical morning sun began to penetrate the gloom,
Paul looked around him. Everywhere along the sides of the cavern were
ledges and shelves of rock; covering these was an army of seals and sea
lions waking from their night's rest. They would raise their bodies
half upright from their stony beds, stretch their flippers and yawn,
much after the manner of a human being, then drop into the water and
make off toward the open sea in search of their breakfast. Stretched on
his ledge, in the black rubber dress, Paul was probably taken for one
of their own species, for hundreds of them passed without noticing him.
Some of them, however, did discover him to be a strange intruder in
their lodging house. These would turn their great, round eyes on him,
circle off from the ledge, then with a quick flip of their flukes dart
toward the opening, gracefully cutting the water as they steered for
their fishing grounds. Some returned with a fish in their mouths,
shining like silver, and all day he had a chance to watch their
movements.

He was greatly interested in the peculiar manner in which they climbed
upon the ledges. They would raise their bodies almost out of the water,
pla