, 16 ROTCHIES AND GULLS. Chap. VIII. 



readily under her weight. Unfortunately there was not time 

 to unship the rudder, so it suffered very severely. Upon 

 a previous occasion the screw-shaft was bent and a portion 

 of the screw broken off. 



We landed to obtain a good view of the sea in the offing ; 

 from the hills we could see nothing but pack to seaward. 

 There was no land ice ; we stepped out of the boat upon a 

 narrow icefoot which fringed the coast ; immediately above 

 it we trod over a velvet sward of soft bright-green moss ; 

 the turf beneath was of considerable depth. Here and 

 there under this noble range of cliffs, which are composed 

 of primary rock, there exists much vegetation for so high 

 a latitude. From the fact of thick layers of turf descending 

 quite down to the sea, it is evident that the land has been 

 gradually sinking. Steep slopes of rocky debris, which screen 

 the bases of the most precipitous cliffs, form secure nurseries 

 for the little auk; these localities were literally alive with 

 them ; they popped in and out of every crevice, or sat in 

 groups of dozens upon every large rock. I have nowhere 

 seen such countless myriads of birds. The rotchie, or little 

 auk, lays its single egg upon the bare rock, far within a crevice 

 beyond the reach of fox, owl, or burgomaster gull. We shot 

 a couple of hundred during our short stay on shore, and, by 

 removing the stones, gathered several dozens of their eggs. 



The huge predatory gulls, long ago named " Burgomasters" 

 by the Dutch seamen (because they lord it over their neigh- 

 bours, and appropriate everything good to themselves), have 

 established themselves in the cliffs, where their nests are 

 generally inaccessible : we were a month too late for their 

 eggs ; the young birds were as large as spring chickens. 

 Of course we obtained specimens of the red snow, but had 

 to seek rather diligently for it ; its colour was a dirty red, 

 very like the stain of port wine : very few patches of it 

 were found. 



