As they went farther north they held a bowing council every few hours , and Kotick nearly bit off his mustache with impatience till he saw that they were following up a warm current of water , and then he respected them more . One night they sank through the shiny water -- sank like stones -- and for the first time since he had known them began to swim quickly . Kotick followed , and the pace astonished him , for he never dreamed that Sea Cow was anything of a swimmer . They headed for a cliff by the shore -- a cliff that ran down into deep water , and plunged into a dark hole at the foot of it , twenty fathoms under the sea . It was a long , long swim , and Kotick badly wanted fresh air before he was out of the dark tunnel they led him through . `` My wig ! '' he said , when he rose , gasping and puffing , into open water at the farther end . `` It was a long dive , but it was worth it . '' The sea cows had separated and were browsing lazily along the edges of the finest beaches that Kotick had ever seen . There were long stretches of smooth-worn rock running for miles , exactly fitted to make seal-nurseries , and there were play-grounds of hard sand sloping inland behind them , and there were rollers for seals to dance in , and long grass to roll in , and sand dunes to climb up and down , and , best of all , Kotick knew by the feel of the water , which never deceives a true sea catch , that no men had ever come there . The first thing he did was to assure himself that the fishing was good , and then he swam along the beaches and counted up the delightful low sandy islands half hidden in the beautiful rolling fog . Away to the northward , out to sea , ran a line of bars and shoals and rocks that would never let a ship come within six miles of the beach , and between the islands and the mainland was a stretch of deep water that ran up to the perpendicular cliffs , and somewhere below the cliffs was the mouth of the tunnel . `` It 's Novastoshnah over again , but ten times better , '' said Kotick . `` Sea Cow must be wiser than I thought . Men ca n't come down the cliffs , even if there were any men ; and the shoals to seaward would knock a ship to splinters . If any place in the sea is safe , this is it . '' He began to think of the seal he had left behind him , but though he was in a hurry to go back to Novastoshnah , he thoroughly explored the new country , so that he would be able to answer all questions . Then he dived and made sure of the mouth of the tunnel , and raced through to the southward . No one but a sea cow or a seal would have dreamed of there being such a place , and when he looked back at the cliffs even Kotick could hardly believe that he had been under them . He was six days going home , though he was not swimming slowly ; and when he hauled out just above Sea Lion 's Neck the first person he met was the seal who had been waiting for him , and she saw by the look in his eyes that he had found his island at last .
But the holluschickie and Sea Catch , his father , and all the other seals laughed at him when he told them what he had discovered , and a young seal about his own age said , `` This is all very well , XXXXX , but you ca n't come from no one knows where and order us off like this .
Cow Kotick Lion days hours night play-grounds rollers seal-nurseries swimmer