hough that is no great matter, as we
are sheltered by banks on the sou'-west and nor'-west sides, the
likely quarters. We hope to float at _6.15_ to-morrow morning, but to
make sure of being able to get her off, we have been transferring
some ballast to the dinghy, by way of lightening the yacht--a horrid
business handling the pigs of lead, heavy, greasy, and black. The
saloon is an inferno, the deck like a collier's, and ourselves like
sweeps.

'The anchors are laid out, and there is nothing more to be done.

'_18th Oct._--Half a gale from the sou'-west when we turned out, but
it helped us to float off safely at six. The dinghy was very nearly
swamped with the weight of lead in it, and getting the ballast back
into the yacht was the toughest job of all. We got the dinghy
alongside, and Davies jumped in (nearly sinking it for good),
balanced himself, fended off, and, whenever he got a chance, attached
the pigs one by one on to a bight of rope, secured to the peak
halyards, on which I hoisted from the deck. It was touch and go for a
few minutes, and then easier.

'It was nine before we had finished replacing the pigs in the hold, a
filthy but delicate operation, as they fit like a puzzle, and if one
is out of place the floor-boards won't shut down. Coming on deck
after it, we saw to our surprise the Blitz, lying at anchor in the
Schill Balje, inside Spiekeroog, about a mile and a half off. She
must have entered the Otzumer Ee at high-water for shelter from the
gale: a neat bit of work for a vessel of her size, as Davies says she
draws nine-foot-ten, and there can't be more than twelve on the bar
at high-water neaps. Several smacks had run in too, and there were
two galliots farther up our channel, but we couldn't make out if the
'Kormoran' was one.

'When the banks uncovered we lay more quietly, so landed and took a
long, tempestuous walk over the Rute, with compass and notebooks.
Returning at two, we found the glass tumbling down almost visibly.

'I suggested running for Bensersiel, one of the mainland villages
south-west of us, on the evening flood, as it seemed just the right
opportunity, if we were to visit one of those "siels" at all. Davies
was very lukewarm, but events overcame him. At 3.30 a black, ragged
cloud, appearing to trail into the very sea, brought up a terrific
squall. This passed, and there was a deathly pause of ten minutes
while the whole sky eddied as with smoke-wreaths. Then an icy puff
stru