p. 17

9

worth while. We returned by the same launch
which had taken us from our ship and spent the
remainder of the time in port, leaning over
the rail and watching the exciting scene below
us. The water was alive with small row boats, each
containing a rower and one or two boys or men. Some
had chairs for sale, some embroidery or drawn work
done by women but being peddled by men, but most
of the boats were bidding for pennies which the
men or boys would dive after. They were kept so
busy that it would seem that every penny must
have been cast overboard. There was not a single
failure to bring up a penny. The shouts and eager
pleading for a chance to dive made the scene
a noisy one. At eleven we were off and the
big rock and the blue harbor was the last view of land
we were to have
for two weeks