s, until the rock was uncovered--then
we rambled over the slippery ledges.

Sometimes we had one hour--sometimes two, or even three hours, according
to the state of the tides. Then the returning waves drove us gradually
from the rocks to the rails, from the rails to the ladder--and so back
into the lighthouse.

Among other things that impressed me deeply was the grandeur of the
waves at the Bell Rock.

One enjoys an opportunity there of studying the form and colour of ocean
billows which cannot be obtained on any ordinary shore, because, the
water being deep alongside the Rock, these waves come up to it in all
their unbroken magnificence. I tried to paint them, but found it
difficult, owing to the fact that, like refractory children, they would
not stand still to be painted! It was not only in stormy weather that
these waves arose. I have seen them during a dead calm, when the sea
was like undulating glass. No doubt the cause of them was a gale in
some distant part of the sea--inducing a heavy ground-swell; but, be the
cause what it might, these majestic rollers often came in without a
breath of air to help them, and with the sun glittering on their
light-green crystal sides. Their advance seemed slow and solemn amid
the deep silence, which made them all the more impressive. The rise of
each wave was so gradual that you could not tell where it began in the
distant sea. As it drew near, it took definite form and swelled
upwards, and at last came on like a wall of glass--probably ten or
twelve feet high--so high, at all events, that I felt as if looking up
at it from my position on the low rock. When close at hand its green
edge lipped over and became fringed with white--then it bent forward
with a profound obeisance to the Bell Rock and broke the silence with a
grand reverberating roar, as it fell in a ruin of foam and rushed up to
my very feet!

When those waves began to paint the canvas with their own spray and
change the oil into a water-colour, I was constrained to retire to the
lighthouse, where Mr Long, (a deeply interested student), watched me as
I continued my studies from the doorway.

Mr Long had an inquiring mind and closely observed all that went on
around him. Among other things, he introduced me to a friend of his, a
species of fish which he called a "_Paddle_."

Stout called it a sucker, in virtue of an arrangement on its breast
whereby it could fasten itself to a rock and hold on. This f