oup was seen, amid flurries of snow.

Every one was glad to see these familiar land-marks, dreary and remote
from the haunts of men as they were known to be; for there was a promise
in them of a temporary termination of their labours. Incessant pumping--
one minute in four being thus employed on board the Vineyard craft--was
producing its customary effect; and the men looked jaded and exhausted. No
one who has not stood at a pump-break on board a vessel, can form any
notion of the nature of the toil, or of the extreme dislike with which
seamen regard it. The tread-mill, as we conceive--for our experience
extends to the first, though not to the last of these occupations--is the
nearest approach to the pain of such toil, though the convict does not
work for his life.

On the morning of the fourth day, our mariners found themselves in the
great bay, in clear water, about a league from the cove, and nearly dead
to windward of their port. The helms were put up, and the schooners were
soon within the well-known shelter. As they ran in, Roswell gazed around
him, in regret, awe, and admiration. He could not but regret being
compelled to lose so much precious time, at that particular season. Short
as had been his absence from the group, sensible changes in the aspect of
things had already occurred. Every sign of summer--and they had ever been
few and meagre--was now lost; a chill and dreary autumn having succeeded.
As a matter of course, nothing was altered about the dwelling; the piles
of wood, and other objects placed there by the hands of man, remaining
just as they had been left; but even these looked less cheering, more
unavailable, than when last seen. To the surprise of all, not a seal was
visible. From some cause unknown to the men, all of these animals had
disappeared, thereby defeating one of Daggett's secret calculations; this
provident master having determined, in his own mind, to profit by his
accident, and seize the occasion to fill up. Some said that the creatures
had gone north to winter; others asserted that they had been alarmed, and
had taken refuge on one of the other islands; but all agreed in saying
that they were gone.

It is known that a seal will occasionally wander a great distance from
what may be considered his native waters; but we are not at all aware that
they are to be considered as migratory animals. The larger species usually
take a wide range of climate to dwell in, and even the little fur-sea