Though rocky and broken, it was by no means difficult to ascend the rugged banks on the northern side of the harbour, and Gardiner went up it, attended by Stimson, who of late had much attached himself to the person of his commander.  The height of this barrier above the waves of the ocean was but a little less than a hundred feet, and when the summit was reached, a common exclamation of surprise, not to say delight, broke from the lips of both.  Hitherto not a seal of any sort had been seen, and Gardiner had felt some misgivings touching the benefits that were to be derived from so much hardship, exposure and enterprise.  All doubts, however, vanished, the instant he got a sight of the northern shore of the island.  This shore, a reach of several miles in extent, was fairly alive with the monsters of which he was in search.  They lay in thousands on the low rocks that lined that entire side of the island, basking in the sun of the antarctic seas.  There they were, sure enough!  Sea Lions, Sea Elephants, huge, clumsy, fierce-looking and revolting creatures, belonging properly to neither sea nor land.  These animals were constantly going and coming in crowds, some waddling to the margin of the rocks and tumbling into the ocean in search of food, while others scrambled out of the water, and got upon shelves and other convenient places to repose and enjoy the light of day.  There was very little contention or fighting among these revolting-looking creatures, though nearly every known species of the larger seals was among them.

“There is famous picking for us, master Stephen,” said Roswell to his companion, fairly rubbing his hands in delight.  “One month’s smart work will fill the schooner, and we can be off before the equinox.  Does it not seem to you that yonder are the bones of sea lions, or of seals of some sort, lying hereaway as if men had been at work on the creatures?”

“No doubt on’t at all, Captain Gar’ner; as much out of the way as this island is—­and I never heard of the place afore, old a sealer as I am—­but, as much out of the way as it is, we are not the first to find it.  Somebody has been here, and that within a year or two; and he has picked up a cargo, too, depend on’t.”

As all this merely corresponded with Daggett’s account of the place, Roswell felt no surprise; on the contrary, he saw in it a confirmation of all that Daggett had stated, and as furnishing so much the more reason to hope for a successful termination to the voyage in all its parts.  While on the rocks, Roswell took such a survey of the localities as might enable him to issue his orders hereafter with discretion and intelligence.  The schooner was already making short tacks to get close in with the island, in obedience to a signal to that effect; and the second mate had pulled out to the entrance of the little haven, with a view to act as pilot.  Before the captain had descended from the summit of the northern barrier, the vessel came in under her jib, the wind being nearly aft, and she dropped two anchors in suitable spots, making another flying moor of it.