1 8 The Ottawa Naturalist. [April 



swam around the vessel so thickly that scores were in sight at 

 once. The crew tried to catch some, but stale bait did not seem 

 to appeal very strongly to the taste of the fish. One or two only 

 were hooked and none captured. As we approached the shore in 

 the surfboat, we saw quite a number of seals, which permitted a 

 very close approach, but they did not seem so inquisitive about a 

 boat as they did subsequently about a person or a dog on shore. 

 We had no difficulty in landing, as the sea was quite calm. The 

 boat was simply rowed towards shore till it stopped. Then, as 

 the waves retreated, some of the party jumped out, while those 

 less agile were lifted by the crew and carried to dry land. Starting 

 up for the- centre of the island we were all interested to find many 

 specimens of the eggs of the skate, which Capt. Knowlton, 

 of the Minto, told us he had always known as a boy, under 

 the name of " the devil's wheelbarrow." The body of the 

 Q.^^ is about \\ by 2\ inches square and J^ to ^ inch 

 thick. From each corner projects a curved horn about from 

 4 to 6 inches long, and from the sides are string-like substances 

 by which the mother fish attaches the o.^^ to the sea weed in the 

 bottom of the ocean, where it remains until torn from its moorings 

 by current or storms, when it is cast upon the shore. These we 

 found in large numbers, not only at the landing-place but in most 

 other localities on the island. 



The boat house was in the mouth of one of the gullies, which 

 had been torn through the sand cliff by the wind. Near the west 

 side of the gully stood a conical pyramid of sand, which had orig- 

 inally been a part of the continuous hill running from east to west. 

 Apparently the gully had been made in two parts, and when the 

 second one had been excavated this pyramid was left standing 

 between the two. It is a perfect cone of about 30 or 40 feet in 

 height, and gives one a good idea of the power of Sable Island 

 winds. 



The records show that winds of 40 to 60 miles an hour are 

 common, and even 80 miles has been reached. Unfortunately we 

 were not favored with any extremes of weather ; most of us would 

 have enjoyed the experience of meeting a wind travelling at the 

 rate of 60 miles an hour at least ; but although on one or two 

 occasions we had one of 30 miles, it never went any higher. To 



