Narrative of a Bird Quest in the Vicinity 

 of Cape Horn' 



Hv 1M> L L (> II. i; !•; (• K 



0\ I'm-: twenty-oiirlith of IV- 

 eoiul»or, 1!M4. wo hoisted nn- 

 chor at five thirty o'cloi'k in 

 the morning and started soutli fioiii 

 Herniite Ishind for the Horn. Ho fore 

 an liour had passed fog was pouring 

 over Hcrmite Ishuul, and the wind in- 

 creased to a strong hreeze. We headed 

 in behind Jerdin Ishmd and dropped 

 anchor once more. The wind died 

 down in the evening, and on tlio twenty- 

 ninth we turned out again at five 

 o'clock and got under way. A light 

 northeast wind carried us down to 

 Horn Island, and we rounded the Horn 

 in flying style as the wind freshened on 

 Hearing the cape. Being in a small 

 boat and the wind off shore, we passed 

 close along the southern side of the 

 island, taking photographs of the cajie 

 from different angles and, although at 

 times sailing with the rail under water 

 in the sudden fierce gusts that swooped 

 down off the high cliffs of 

 the promontory, we en- 

 joyed to the full this 

 pleasant passage of the 

 Horn— a trip I had many 

 years longed to make. 

 Shearwaters and alba- 

 trosses swung high and 

 low around us, and the 

 rapacious skuas hurried 

 from one flock of fishing 

 birds to another in search 

 of food, while the timber- 

 strewn beach reminded us 

 that the stories of wrecks 

 credited to this point were 

 not all fables. 



We sailed to the south- 

 ward about ten miles, but 

 the breeze freshenins, we 



tiiriic(l linck. jiiiil Uy thr tiiiic Ilorsohd 

 Island was gained a heavy wind hur- 

 riod us up tlio South Soa Pass to an 

 anchorage at tlio southornniost point of 

 WolJasfon Island. Wo wore held at 

 WoUaston Island a week by ])rolonged 

 gales, but found much of interest 

 there, discovering and photographing 

 sooty shearwaters' nests being the most 

 ini]iortant work. iSTear the top of a 

 rocky ridge I found my first nest of 

 this shearwater, and glancing up as I 

 reached it, saw Cape Horn looming 

 over Herschel Island just below me. 

 When I thought of the thousands of 

 sooty shearwaters I had seen about the 

 islands of southern Alaska, and the 

 hundreds of thousands in ]\Ionterey 

 Bay, California, it seemed as if I had 

 made a long journey before I finally 

 laid my hands on my first nest within 

 sight of Cape Horn. For ferocity in 

 nesting birds I have vet to see the 



When making long vo.vages the sextant is one of tlie instru- 

 ments used by the navigator to determine his position. The 

 above scene suggests to the initiated that eight bells soon will 

 be struck and the man at the wheel relieved 



' Conclusion of article begun in the January Journal. Article and illustrations copyrighted. 



1918, by RoUo H. Beck 



111 



