in a little sheltered
bay, and making a tent of the sail, the sailors lit a fire and sat down
and smoked their pipes with all that quietness and decorum which is so
characteristic of their nation. I wandered about the island, but saw
neither man nor habitation. I shot at divers rock-partridges with a
rifle and hit none; nevertheless towards evening we cooked up a savoury
mess, whereof the old bearded Turk and his grave crew ate also, but
sparingly: I then curled myself up in a corner inside the boat under the
sail, and took to reading a volume of Sir Walter Scott's poems.

I was deep in his romantic legends when of a sudden there came a roar of
thunder and such quick bright flashes of sharp lightning that the
mountains seemed on fire. Down came the rain in waterfalls, and in went
Walter Scott and all his chivalry into the first safe hiding-place I
could find. The crew had got under a projecting rock, and I had the boat
to myself; the rain did not come in much, and the rattle of the thunder
by degrees died away among the surrounding hills. The rain continued to
pour down steadily and the fire on the beach went out, but my berth was
snug enough, and the dull monotonous sound of the splashing rain and the
dashing of the breakers on the shore soon lulled me to sleep, and I was
more comfortable than I had been the night before in the bare, empty
house at Coom Calessi.

Very early in the morning I peeped out; the rain was gone and the sun
shone brightly; all the Turks were up smoking their eternal pipes, so I
asked the old captain when we should be off. "There is too much wind,"
was his laconic reply. We were in a sheltered place, so we felt no wind,
but on the other side of a rocky headland we could see the sea running
like a cataract towards the south, although it was as smooth as glass in
our bay. We got through breakfast, and for the sake of the partridges I
repented that I had brought no shot. At last the men began righting the
boat and getting things ready, doing everything as quietly and
deliberately as usual, and scarcely saying a word to each other. In
course of time the captain sat himself down by the rudder, and beckoning
to me with his hand he took the pipe out of his mouth and said "Gel"
(come). I came, and away we went smoothly with the help of two or three
oars till we rounded the rocky headland, and then all at once we drifted
into the race, and began dancing, and leaping, and staggering before the
breeze in