1914] WORK AT BORUP LODGE 105 



about Sunrise Point, Littleton, Eider Duck Islands, and 

 McGary's Rock. 



How impatiently we awaited the discovery of those 

 first golden nuggets in the nests! Can we ever forget 

 those annual pilgrimages to the shrine at historic Little- 

 ton and Eider Duck Islands and McGary 's Rock ! Here, 

 among a laughing, jolly company of men, women, and 

 children, we pitched our tents among the nests; we 

 boiled eggs, and we fried eggs, and we scrambled eggs, 

 and we shirred eggs, and we did everything to eggs! 

 In a few hours 4,000 delicious fresh eggs were gathered 

 from one small island alone. Cached beneath the 

 rocks, away from the direct rays of the sun, they remain 

 perfectly fresh; they become chilled in August; and 

 freeze hard as so many rocks in September — a much- 

 appreciated delicacy during the long winter months. 

 The shells are often broken and the contents poured or 

 squirted from the mouth of the Eskimo into the intesti- 

 nal sheath of the bearded seal or the walrus, a most 

 nutritious sausage to be eaten on the long sledge trips. 



The breeding-place of the brant {Branta hernicla 

 glaucogastra) has often been the subject of inquiry when 

 conversing with sportsmen. We found it in consider- 

 able numbers on Sutherland Island near Cape Alexander, 

 and upon both Littleton and Eider Duck Islands, five 

 miles north of Etah. The nest, containing from four 

 to six white eggs, resembles in every particular that of 

 the eider. The down with which the nest is lined may 

 be a little lighter in color. 



But what is that great, pulsating, musical note which 

 seems at times to fill all space .^ Now loud and clear, 

 now diminishing to a low distant hum! The sound pro- 

 claims the arrival of a true representative of the bird 



