

CRUISE OF LA BELLE MARGUERITE 



from reaching Bald Island near Betchewun 

 on this cruise, we visited it on the 8th and 9th 

 of June by sailing from Esquimaux Point in 

 " La Belle Marguerite." The island is of about 

 a dozen acres in extent, and presents to the 

 sea turreted and arched limestone cliffs from 

 fifteen to thirty feet high. Its flat top was 

 covered with deep black soil, on which a forest 

 of giant stalks of cow parsnip were still stand- 

 ing from the previous summer. In this loose 

 soil and under the rocks were numerous bur- 

 rows of puffins, or perroquets, as they are uni- 

 versally called on the Labrador coast. Each 

 burrow was from two to three feet long, and, 

 at the end, the owner was usually sitting on her 

 single dirty white egg in a nest of straw. 



Extraordinary birds are these puffins, about 

 150 of whom were to be constantly seen flying 

 and swimming about the island. Their large 

 parrot-like red bill, their pale gray spectacled 

 face and black collar, and their short, chunky 

 build made them appear grotesque on the water 

 or in flight, and even more grotesque when they 

 stood bolt upright on the rocks, and comically 

 anxious when they walked about near us. Their 

 bills in the breeding season, when examined 

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