xxviii LUNDY ISLAND. 



first-rate sport." But after all the chief interest of Lundy is to 

 be found in the hosts of sea birds whicli throng its rocky cliffs, 

 of these, the most important in olden days were the Gannets, 

 which " appear at one time to have been very plentiful. They 

 are continually referred to in the old record as constituting one 

 of the chief sources of the riches and revenue of the island." 



A journal of 1787, quoted by Mr. Chanter, furnishes the 

 accompanying narrative of fowling, as then practised on Lundy 

 Island ; " After dinner we walked to view the rocks on the 

 western part of the Island and saw vast quantities of wild fowl, 

 and the method of taking them in nets, which the inhabitants use 

 for the advantage of their feathers. The nets are just the same 

 as those commonly used for taking rabbits on warrens. They are 

 fixed on the rocks, and sometimes on the ground on sticks in the 

 breeding places. Every morning and evening the natives watch 

 their nets and take out the birds that are entangled. They catch, 

 in a good season, 1700 or 1800 dozen, and make one shilling per 

 pound of their feathers." Mr. Chanter furnishes other statistics, 

 showing that " The eggs are still taken in considerable numbers 

 by the youths on the Island, as well as by fishermen from the 

 neighbouring coasts." On Lundy the eggs are used for cooking 

 purposes, or sold to visitors at Ilfracombe. 



