in Iceland respecting the Gare-foivl. 391 



perhaps be excused for relating at some length the particulars 

 of their capture, the more so as this will serve to explain the 

 manner followed on former occasions. 



The party consisted of fourteen men : two of these are dead, 

 but with all the remaining twelve we conversed. They were com- 

 manded, as I have just said, by Vilhjalmur, and started in an eight- 

 oared boat from Kyrkjuvogr, one evening between the 2nd and 

 5th of June, 1844. The next morning early they arrived ofif Eldey. 

 In form the island is a precipitous stack, perpendicular nearly 

 all round. The most lofty part has been variously estimated to 

 be from fifty to seventy fathoms in height; but on the opposite 

 side a shelf (generally known as the " Underland^') slopes up 

 from the sea to a considerable elevation, until it is terminated 

 abruptly by the steep cliff of the higher portion. At the foot of 

 this inclined plane is the only landing-place ; and further up, out 

 of the reach of the waves, is the spot where the Gare-fowls had 

 their home. In this expedition but three men ascended : Jon 

 Brandsson, a son of the former leader, who had several times 

 before visited the rock, with SigurSr Islefsson and Ketil Ketils- 

 son. A fourth, who was called upon to assist, refused, so 

 dangerous did the landing seem. As the men I have named 

 clambered up, they saw two Gare-fowls sitting among the num- 

 berless other rock-birds {Uj-ia troile and Alca tarda), and at 

 once gave chase. The Gare-fowls showed not the slightest dis- 

 position to repel the invaders, but immediately ran along under 

 the high clifi", their heads erect, their little wings somewhat ex- 

 tended. They uttered no cry of alarm, and moved, with their 

 short steps, about as quickly as a man could walk. Jon with 

 outstretched arms drove one into a corner, where he soon had 

 it fast. SigurSr and Ketil pursued the second, and the former 

 seized it close to the edge of the rock, here risen to a precipice 

 some fathoms high, the water being directly below it. Ketil 

 then returned to the sloping shelf whence the birds had started, 

 and saw an egg lying on the lava slab, which he knew to be a 

 Gare-fowl's. He took it up, but finding it was broken, put it 

 down again. Whether there was not also another egg is uncer- 

 tain. All this took place in much less time than it takes to tell 

 it. They hurried down again, for the wind was rising. The 



