268 THE GANNET 



hailstorms, yet not with too much snow, by night with a 

 moon in her wane. The catch proceeds in the following 

 manner. One or two boats with the necessary crew betake 

 themselves to the Holm, only a few fathoms distant from 

 the island [Myggenses] and carry with them one end of a line, 

 of which the other end is made fast to the mainland so that 

 thereby necessities can be hauled to the Holm in case 

 the surf should hinder boats from landing again on the 

 island. The crew divide into parties, provided with lines, 

 according to the different ledges (?) of rock [literally 

 ' rock-offsets '] on which the Solans breed. One party 

 remain lowered 43 fathoms to a broad Rouk [Faroese 

 word, Professor Newton supposes =rock] (ledge of rock or 

 Hylla [Faroese word again]), whence again 3 of the parties 

 are lowered down 30 fathoms further to other ledges of rock. 

 It must be observed that the lowering should never happen to 

 be over the Solans, for the small stones and gravel displaced 

 by the lowering would awaken them. After the crews 

 have come to the Solans' sleeping place, the catch proper 

 begins. So soon as the fowler can distinguish the chalk- 

 white birds he goes to them on the cliff and throws himself 

 over them, so as to get as many as possible under him, in 

 order that he may wring their necks. Sometimes a man 

 can take 12 Solans at once. When it [the bird] gets hold 

 with its beak of a man's clothes or any other object, it holds 



