191 



SEAFOWL OFF THE NORWEGIAN COAST. 



The north and north-west coast of Norway abound 

 with various species of seabirds. Speaking of these 

 winged fowls of the air, Pontoppidan says, " Their 

 feathers and down, which are collected and sent to 

 foreign parts, together with their flesh and eggs, afford 

 a good living to many people, and the good grass 

 which grows from the manure left by the dung of the 

 birds on the islands and holms on the coast." The 

 bishop goes on to state, that the ground on the nume- 

 rous islands off the coast is so covered with nests that 

 it is difficult to find a bare spot for one's foot ; and as 

 for the myriads of seabirds in the air, read what the 

 same learned divine says about them : " Tantaque 

 supervolantium turba, ut nubium instar, solem coelumque 

 auferant ; tantusque voci/erantium clangor et strepitus, 

 ut prope alloquentes vix audias." 



As the feathers of seafowl are so valuable, it will be 

 easily understood that the poor fishermen on the coast 

 readily underwent danger and trouble in procuring 

 them. On the west coast of Finmark small dogs are 

 trained to go into holes in the rocks for the purpose of 

 dragging out the puffins, auks, and guilbmots that 

 had ensconced themselves there. I have been in- 

 formed that a small species of dog is trained for the 

 purpose, and that the little animal goes in, seizes a 

 bird by the tail, that bird seizes another, and so on in 

 succession, until the dog backs out of the hole, 

 dragging a string of birds after him ! Relata refero. 



In Pontoppidan's amusing work on the natural his- 

 tory of Norway, a woodcut is given of the " NordlansJc 

 fugle -fangst" or method of obtaining seafowl and their 



