The ruins being situated on the highest part of the Island, the Scouts had an extensive view of the Cornish shore and of the expansive Bristol Channel. The day was clear, and the water was dotted with ships of all sizes, all looking like miniature boats in the distance. There were colliers, distinguishable by having their funnels well aft; tramps, rusty-sided, and with stumpy masts serving mainly to support the derricks for handling cargo; topsail schooners, in which most of the coast-wise trade between the smaller ports is now carried on; Bristol Channel pilot boats engaged in keen competition to pick up a job; and a host of small fishing boats from the neighbouring ports of St Ives and Padstow. "How far can we see out to sea, sir?" asked Tenderfoot Scott. "That depends mainly upon the clearness of the atmosphere. From the height on which we are now standing--250 feet--we might be able to see nearly twenty-one miles." "It's very clear to-day, sir," observed Fraser. "Yes, too clear for my liking," asserted the scoutmaster. "Tregantle Head--over twenty-five miles away--stands up quite plainly. That's a sure sign of wet weather and probably a storm in addition." "A storm! Will there be any wrecks?" asked little Reggie Scott, eagerly. "Will we be able to see them if there are?" "I trust not," replied the Scoutmaster, solemnly. "I have seen several wrecks, and it is not an experience to be desired. Now, lads, forward. Bear away to the right. I want you to see that part of the Island nearest to Beware Head." Through a dense belt of gorse and bracken, out of which the startled rabbits scooted with amazing rapidity, the Scouts trooped till Mr Trematon called to them to halt. They were then within ten feet of the edge of the cliffs that here descend abruptly for a distance of one hundred and eighty feet. "Don't ever go closer to the brink of the cliffs than this, unless you have a line round you," cautioned Mr Trematon. "The ground might crumble under you, although there is far less probability of doing so here--where the rocks are composed of granite--than on the south-eastern coast of England, where the cliffs are of chalk and soft sandstone." From where they stood the Scouts could see almost the whole extent of water between the Island and Beware Head, a sheet of deep blue sea interspersed with patches of pale green denoting sandy bottom between the weed-covered rocks. Long oily rollers came tumbling inshore with unfailing regularity, breaking with a smother of foam against the base of the headland. "What makes those rollers, sir?" asked Baker. "There's very little wind, and farther out the sea is quite calm." "It's called a ground-swell, and is said to be caused by a storm many miles out to sea. Their presence is also an indication of the approach of bad weather. I don't want to dishearten you, lads, but we must 'Be prepared' for all emergencies, and if we are I don't think our holiday will be any less enjoyable."