Page:Life and Adventures of William Buckley.djvu/46

Rh had set in dreadfully cold and tempestuous, so that it was not without great difficulty I could go down amongst the rocks for shell fish, which, as I have already said, were now, from some cause or other, getting vary scare in that locality. I therefore bade good bye to my homely habitation and started on my return.

One night, whilst travelling along the beach, I was completely bewildered, having been stopped in my progress by a high perpendicular rock stretching out from the cliffs some distance into the sea. The tide running in fast, my only chance of escape was by climbing the rock. This I did with great difficulty, and just above high water, mark I found a large cavern, into which I crept for shelter. Having had no fire for some time I was again, living upon such raw shell fish as I could find in each day's journey, and with these was making my wretched meal, when I found I had intruded upon the lodgings of some of the tenants of the deep, who could only reach their rocky quarters when the tide was at the highest. I was completely horrified and knew not what to do, as it was nearly dark, and they were wadding in at the entrance. To rush out, appeared to be nothing less than certain death; but happening to make a noise, it struck terror into them, and tumbling one over the other into the sea, they left me once more master of the cavern. I remained during the rest of the night undisturbed, and the following morning again pursued my weary way.

Being now very weak from the privations I had undergone, I could only make short distances during each