Page:A Voyage of Discovery and Research in the Southern and Antarctic Regions Vol 2.djvu/124

104 numbers, seemed greatly to enjoy our disappointment, and but for the presence of Mr. Taylor would doubtless have proved troublesome. They were very jealous of our going there to fish, and, probably alluding to the large supplies we had obtained for our crews in the various coves of the bay, sneeringly asked us, "If we were not satisfied with the fish of the sea?"

They had, no doubt, purposely taken us to those parts of the lake most difficult to fish with a seine, and at first laughed heartily, and, as we thought, goodnaturedly, at our ill-success; but when they saw we were not at all disconcerted at their merriment, but replied to their jokes, they began to manifest some degree of ill-humour, for they could perceive that we in our fun had turned them rather into ridicule, which of all things, I afterwards learned, they are least able to bear. Eels are said to be large and numerous in the lake, but are only taken at night, by means of ingeniously contrived baskets, something like those employed on our own and the Norwegian coasts for catching lobsters: not having caught any, we bought a few from the natives, which answered their purpose and ours equally well.

We were prevented crossing the lake to the cleft mountain by a strong breeze arising, and rendering the passage in our little punt too dangerous and tedious, as it could only carry two, and it would have occupied the whole of the remainder of the day to get our party across. At the