little idea,
however, how fiercely it was about to do so. I have often spoken of my
sleeping and waking, but thus our lives are spent. In spite of the
storm raging around me, the seas thundering on the rock, and the wind
whistling through the beacon, a drowsiness overpowered me, and I found
myself dropping off to sleep. I was still conscious in some degree how
I was situated. I felt all the time an overpowering sense of danger.
Sometimes I was in my little boat, gliding calmly over the ocean; now I
was suddenly chased by big waves, which threatened every instant to
engulf me. Then I found myself cast upon the rock, my boat floating
away, and tumbling and tossing till she disappeared. Now I was seated
all alone, gazing out over the ocean, which rose and fell, and tossed
before my eyes just as I had seen it in the daytime, only rising to a
far greater height, and descending in a more furious fashion. This sort
of confused dream continued while I was asleep. Now and then I awoke,
only to hear the noises I have before described. The rock itself seemed
quaking, as the seas with a thundering roar dashed against it. I could
hear, too, the screams of the sea-birds as they swept round and round,
disturbed from their usual resting-place, though many of them flew off,
I suppose, to the far-away shores, or to other rocks perhaps higher out
of the water.

The night I had escaped from the "Emu" was very dark; but this was
unfortunately darker, except when a flash of lightning darted from the
sky and illumined the white foam which, lashed by the wind into spray,
flew in sheets over the rock. I was soon wet to the skin. I felt
chilly in the extreme. Even the most terrible night must come to an
end.

Morning broke, but cheerless as could well be. The sky was of one
leaden hue, broken here and there by the clouds which hung lower down in
the strata. The waves, when not covered by foam, were of the same tint.
To sit where I was I found was impossible. I got up and walked about
and stretched my legs. To my dismay I found that the rocks, which at
the same hour the previous day were high out of the water, were now
almost covered by the furious seas which rolled over them. I trembled
to think what would be the case at high water. I should have liked to
have got some more clams for breakfast, but I could see none, even after
searching for them, and there was a great risk of being swept away, so I
contented myself with taki