THE GREAT AUK 93 



colonists barrelled them up for winter use, and the 

 great abundance of the birds was set forth among 

 other inducements to encourage emigration to 

 Newfoundland. The immense numbers of the 

 Auks may be inferred from the fact that they 

 withstood these drains for more than two centuries, 

 although laying but a single egg, and consequently 

 increasing but slowly under the most favourable 

 circumstances. Finally someone conceived the idea 

 of killing the Garefowl for their feathers, and this 

 sealed its fate. When and where the scheme 

 originated, and how long the slaughter lasted, we 

 know not, for the matter is rather one of general 

 report than of recorded fact, although in this 

 instance circumstantial evidence bears witness to 

 the truth of Cartwright's statement, that it was 

 customary for several crews of men to pass the 

 summer on Funk Island solely to slay the Great 

 Auks for their feathers. That the birds were slain 

 by millions, that their bodies were left to moulder 

 where they were killed, that stone pens were 

 erected, and that for some purpose frequent and 

 long-continued fires were built on Funk Island, 

 is indisputable." The final extinction of the Great 

 Auk in America was almost coincident with its 

 extirpation in Europe, the work of slaughter going 



