THE GULL. 31 



tremble instinctively as we think of the hardihood so 

 wantonly and foolishly displayed. What would have 

 been the feelings of the rest, if one of these frail depen- 

 dencies had given way, and, while the body had fallen 

 mangled on the beach, the spirit had been hurried into 

 the presence of God ! And yet such a catastrophe 

 might easily have occurred, and would doubtless have 

 arisen, but for the interposition of Him, whose goodness 

 was never recognized amidst the thoughtless hilarity of 

 youthful days. 



In the hazardous enterprise of taking the young, and 

 the eggs of the birds that dwell on their rocky coasts, 

 the inhabitants of the Hebrides, the Feroe, and other 

 northern islands, frequently engage to earn their sub- 

 sistence. Sometimes they provide themselves with a 

 long rope, having a strong stick about three feet long 

 attached to the end. One of them then fastens one end 

 about his waist and between his legs, and supporting 

 himself partly by the stick, is lowered down by several 

 others. A small line attached to his body enables him 

 to give signals that he may be raised, lowered, or shift- 

 ed from place to place. Imagine a man thus dangling 

 in mid-air, and little appears between him and death ; 

 but his peril will be still more apparent when it is re- 

 membered that, as his position is changed, fragments of 



