A fortnight later he was instructed to take up his position at Astoria, to keep a sharp eye on the weather, to take the first chance that presented itself of gaining the rock, and not to return to headquarters until he had made a landing. He fretted and fumed day after day, and at last pushed off with a gang of men when the sea where it lapped the beach of the mainland was as smooth as a lake; but as they drew near the Tillamook it was the same old story. A treacherous swell was running, the waves were curling wickedly and fussily around the islet; but the engineer had made up his mind that he would be balked no longer, so the boat was pulled in warily, in the face of terrible risk, and two sailors were ordered to get ashore by hook or by crook. The boat swung to and fro in the swell. Time after time it was carried forward to the landing spot by a wave, and then, just as the men were ready to jump, the receding waters would throw it back. At last, as it swung by the spot, the two men gave a leap and landed safely. The next proceeding was to pass instruments ashore, but the swell, as if incensed at the partial success achieved, grew more boisterous, and the boat had to back away from the rock. The men who had landed, and who had not moved a yard from the spot they had gained, became frightened at this manœuvre, and, fearing that they might be marooned, jumped into the sea, and were pulled into the boat by means of their life-lines, without having accomplished a stroke. [Illustration: _By permission of the Lighthouse Literature Mission._ THE SANGANEB REEF LIGHTHOUSE IN THE RED SEA. It indicates a treacherous coral reef, 703 miles from Suez. It is an iron tower 180 feet high, with a white flashing light having a range of 19 miles.] The engineer chafed under these disappointments, and himself determined to incur the risk of landing at all hazards. With his tape-line in his pocket, he set out once more a few days later, and in a surf-boat pulled steadily into the froth and foam around the rock; while the men sawed to and fro the landing-place, he crouched in the bow, watching his opportunity. Presently, the boat steadying itself for a moment, he made a spring and reached the rock. He could not get his instruments ashore, so without loss of time he ran his line from point to point as rapidly as he could, jotted down hurried notes, and, when the swell was growing restive again, hailed the boat, and at a favourable moment, as it manœuvred round, jumped into it.