But this white column appeared about fifty yards inland. The rocks at
the place were rugged, and they stretched across the sandy beach into
the sea. Scarce had we ceased expressing our surprise at this sight,
when another column flew upwards for a few seconds, not far from the
spot where the first had been seen, and disappeared; and so, at long,
irregular intervals, these strange sights recurred. We were now quite
sure that the columns were watery or composed of spray, but what caused
them we could not guess, so we determined to go and see.
In a few minutes we gained the spot, which was very rugged and
precipitous, and, moreover, quite damp with the falling of the spray.
We had much ado to pass over dry-shod. The ground also was full of
holes here and there. Now, while we stood anxiously waiting for the
reappearance of these water-spouts, we heard a low, rumbling sound near
us, which quickly increased to a gurgling and hissing noise, and a
moment afterwards a thick spout of water burst upwards from a hole in
the rock, and spouted into the air with much violence, and so close to
where Jack and I were standing that it nearly touched us. We sprang
aside, but not before a cloud of spray descended, and drenched us both
to the skin.
Peterkin, who was standing farther off, escaped with a few drops, and
burst into an uncontrollable fit of laughter on beholding our miserable
plight.
"Mind your eye!" he shouted eagerly, "there goes another!" The words
were scarcely out of his mouth when there came up a spout from another
hole, which served us exactly in the same manner as before.
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