the boat, he rowed towards a point of rocks jutting out
into the sea, over which albatrosses had been seen hovering many times.
On the way, Nellie, who had previously been taught what to do, fastened
a small bit of wood to the end of the line she had spun. Hanging from
this was a hook that the coxswain had made from a gull's breast-bone.
It was baited with a piece of pork. Before arriving at the point of
rocks, they saw that an albatross was soaring over it on its mighty
outspread wings. On observing the boat, it flew away and disappeared in
the distance; but Bob was not much concerned about that.

"Now, Nell," he said, on landing, "carry this bait out to sea as far as
the line will let you, lay it on the water, an' then pull back into yon
cove, and see that you hide the boat an' yourselves well, and keep
quiet. You mustn't even talk, Peggy! Yon fellow will soon be back."

Nellie did exactly as she was directed; and then her husband, holding
the shore-end of the line, concealed himself among the rocks.

He was right about the bird. Ere long, it was seen returning, and soon,
on motionless, expanded wings, it hovered over the rocky point. Then it
caught sight of the floating bait. With a majestic swoop, it dived,
caught it up, and next moment was flouncing wildly about, hooked by the
tongue, while Bob Massey hauled in the line. He had provided himself
with a stick, and when the huge bird came within reach he felled it, to
the immense delight of the watchers in the cove, who had already begun
to smell savoury soup by anticipation!

While these were thus engaged, the sealing party was even more
successful in the opposite direction. They had not gone half-a-dozen
miles when they sighted a group of seals, sleeping--or sunning
themselves--on a flat rock, near high-water mark.

"Now, then, Hercules, lead the way with your club," said the doctor to
Joe Slag, in a whisper. Joe at once shouldered his weapon and led the
party round by some sheltering rocks, so as to get between the seals and
the sea; then, rushing forward in a body, they took the creatures by
surprise, and intercepted two of them. On coming to close quarters,
however, they found that the seals were much more formidable to look at
than anything that any of them had ever seen in the Arctic Seas; and
when Joe brought his club down on the skull of the foremost with a
terrible thwack, it refused to tumble over, but continued to splutter
and flounder tow