The job was nearly done.
We stood in towards the shore to look for a landing-place, and presently we could see the green tussock-grass on the ledges above the surf-beaten rocks.

Ahead of us and to the south, blind rollers showed the presence of uncharted reefs along the coast.

Here and there the hungry rocks were close to the surface, and over them the great waves broke, swirling viciously and spouting thirty and forty feet into the air.

The rocky coast appeared to descend sheer to the sea.

Our need of water and rest was well-nigh desperate, but to have attempted a landing at that time would have been suicidal.