y on the boulders one hundred feet below. As darkness was
coming on, with a storm brewing, they decided to leave the other lions
in the nets where they were until morning, when they could get the
horses to the edge of the cliff to draw them up.

That night, a terrible gale, which left many wrecks on the coast, sprang
up and next day the trail was impassible by reason of fallen timber.
Late in the afternoon, they reached the beach again and finding it
impossible to pull the three lions up, or to get them to civilization
if they did, Paul took off the traps and liberated them.

At daylight next morning, they started back across the trail to Seaside.
It was in a much worse condition than when they went in, and they were
until dark traversing the seven miles. Every time they missed stepping
on a root or stone, they sank in the mud to their knees, until they
became so tired that they thought seriously of abandoning their
apparatus.

Fishermen at the mouth of the Columbia river consider the sea lion to be
more dangerous and cruel than a shark. They accuse it of mutilating in
the most horrible manner, bodies that have been drowned off the bar. An
incident of its vicious nature came under Boyton's notice during his
stay in that vicinity. An old Indian who wished to secure the skin of a
lion, went out to the rocks at low tide. He was barefooted and walked
noiselessly to where a lion lay asleep. He had just raised his ax to
strike it over the head when his foot slipped and he fell. In an
instant the animal was awake and upon him and fastening its teeth in his
shoulder, stripped his arm bare to the bone down to the finger nails.
The lion then jumped off into the sea and the Indian was rescued and
carried ashore where he died soon after.

On Paul's return to Astoria, he determined to visit the North Beach. He
and his companion missed the regular steamer and as they were
impatient, they decided to risk the trip across the bar and along the
coast in a small boat. The trip to Ilwaco was made without any startling
adventure and the next day they visited Sand Island and captured several
seals. On Sunday they were storm bound; but Monday they proceeded on
their voyage up the coast in the small boat. They started against the
advice of the fishermen, the men at the life saving station and
everybody else.

They made it all right through the heavy sea until they passed Sand
Island, when the waves struck