hid the land from view, and the Bell Rock being still overflowed,
the whole was one expanse of water. This scene in itself was highly
gratifying; and, when the morning bell was tolled, we were gratified
with the happy forebodings of good weather and the expectation of having
both a morning and an evening tide's work on the rock.

The boat which the writer steered happened to be the last which
approached the rock at this tide; and, in standing up in the stern,
while at some distance, to see how the leading boat entered the creek,
he was astonished to observe something in the form of a human figure, in
a reclining posture, upon one of the ledges of the rock. He immediately
steered the boat through a narrow entrance to the eastern harbour, with
a thousand unpleasant sensations in his mind. He thought a vessel or
boat must have been wrecked upon the rock during the night; and it
seemed probable that the rock might be strewed with dead bodies, a
spectacle which could not fail to deter the artificers from returning so
freely to their work. In the midst of these reveries the boat took the
ground at an improper landing-place but, without waiting to push her
off, he leapt upon the rock, and making his way hastily to the spot
which had privately given him alarm, he had the satisfaction to
ascertain that he had only been deceived by the peculiar situation and
aspect of the smith's anvil and block, which very completely represented
the appearance of a lifeless body upon the rock. The writer carefully
suppressed his feelings, the simple mention of which might have had a
bad effect upon the artificers, and his haste passed for an anxiety to
examine the apparatus of the smith's forge, left in an unfinished state
at evening tide.

In the course of this morning's work two or three apparently distant
peals of thunder were heard, and the atmosphere suddenly became thick
and foggy. But as the _Smeaton_, our present tender, was moored at no
great distance from the rock, the crew on board continued blowing with
a horn, and occasionally fired a musket, so that the boats got to the
ship without difficulty.

Thursday, 20th Aug.

The wind this morning inclined from the north-east, and the sky had a
heavy and cloudy appearance, but the sea was smooth, though there was an
undulating motion on the surface, which indicated easterly winds, and
occasioned a slight surf upon the rock. But the boats found no
difficulty in landing at the western c