i8S8.] Lucas, Notes on the Great Auk. 28 1 



would have found the area available for breeding purposes 

 limited to a narrow strip on the northeastern point of the North 

 Rock, and a still more restricted portion on its southern side, 

 these being the only spots accessible to a flightless bird like the 

 Garefowl. 



True, in Hakluyt's 'Voyages' Cartier speaks of the Great 

 Apponatz in connection with the lies des Margaulx, as he called 

 these rocky islets, l)ut may this not be a mistranslation of^rassc 

 Apponatz, or a correct translation of a misprint? Never having 

 seen the original French, I make this suggestion with some 

 hesitation, and it must stand for what it is worth, still it derives a 

 little support from the circumstance that where these problem- 

 atical birds are first mentioned they are spoken of as being "ex- 

 ceeding fat" (II y sont excessivement gras"). 



Mr. Grieve suggests in a recent letter that in former times the 

 space at the base of the little rock was much more extended 

 than at present, since Cartier's crew "killed above a thousand of 

 those Godetz and Apponatz" on "the lowest part of the least 

 island," and "in less than one hour might have filled thirty such 

 boats of them." 



This supposition may very well be correct, yet careful obser- 

 vation of the little rock and the depth of water immediately 

 about it leads me to think that the changes it may have under- 

 gone have been the result of the fall of fragments from the over- 

 hanging sides rather than the wearing away of its base. 



Charles Leigh, who visited the Bird Rocks in 153S, does not 

 mention the 'Penguin,' although he landed on the little rock 

 after a skirmish with a herd of Walruses who valiantly attacked 

 the boat and at first put the invaders to flight. 



If the Godetz and Apponatz were Murres and Razorbills it 

 would not Iiave required a very great expanse of clifl' to have 

 furnished foothold for a thousand or two of them, and even now, 

 after long years of persecution, it is quite possible to approach 

 these birds, when sitting on their eggs, sufficiently near to knock 

 them down with a stick. 



That the lies des Margaulx of Cartier are the Bird Rocks of 

 today can scarcely be questioned, although no locality whatever 

 can be found by following the courses and distances given as 

 having been sailed on the 34th and 35th of June, 1534. 



But by following Cartier from Buona Vista northward, 



