to volumes
of smoke, accompanied with sparks from the fire, which were occasionally
set up owing to the strength and direction of the wind.

Wednesday, 26th Aug

The wind had shifted this morning to N.N.W., with rain, and was blowing
what sailors call a fresh breeze. To speak, perhaps, somewhat more
intelligibly to the general reader, the wind was such that a
fishing-boat could just carry full sail. But as it was of importance,
specially in the outset of the business, to keep up the spirit of
enterprise for landing on all practicable occasions, the writer, after
consulting with the landing-master, ordered the bell to be rung for
embarking, and at half-past eleven the boats reached the rock, and left
it again at a quarter-past twelve, without, however, being able to do
much work, as the smith could not be set to work from the smallness of
the ebb and the strong breach of sea, which lashed with great force
among the bars of the forge.

Just as we were about to leave the rock the wind shifted to the S.W.,
and, from a fresh gale, it became what seamen term a hard gale, or such
as would have required the fisherman to take in two or three reefs in
his sail. It is a curious fact that the respective tides of ebb and
flood are apparent upon the shore about an hour and a half sooner than
at the distance of three or four miles in the offing. But what seems
chiefly interesting here is that the tides around this small sunken rock
should follow exactly the same laws as on the extensive shores of the
mainland. When the boats left the Bell Rock to-day it was overflowed by
the flood-tide, but the floating light did not swing round to the
flood-tide for more than an hour afterwards. Under this disadvantage the
boats had to struggle with the ebb-tide and a hard gale of wind, so that
it was with the greatest difficulty they reached the floating light. Had
this gale happened in spring-tides when the current was strong we must
have been driven to sea in a very helpless condition.

The boat which the writer steered was considerably behind the other,
one of the masons having unluckily broken his oar. Our prospect of
getting on board, of course, became doubtful, and our situation was
rather perilous, as the boat shipped so much sea that it occupied two of
the artificers to bale and clear her of water. When the oar gave way we
were about half a mile from the ship, but, being fortunately to
windward, we got into the wake of the floating li