188 THE IMPORTANCE OF BIED LIFE 



ings to every one concerned but the ducks. Upon 

 a cry from the masthead that ducks were in sight, 

 the nose of the vessel would be turned toward the 

 ill-fated "raft." When close enough, tha bow 

 would shoot into the wind, and there would follow 

 the splash of a number of small boats taking to 

 the water. There could be no escape for the vic- 

 tims scoters, eiders, and Labrador ducks; they 

 were surrounded, raked by small cannons loaded 

 to the muzzle with fine shot, clubbed to death with 

 oars, and netted by the ton in large fish seines. 

 Ten thousand could be slaughtered in a day by the 

 crew of one vessel. The small feathers were 

 stripped from their breasts and the bodies were 

 tossed overboard to feed the fish. Untold millions 

 met death in this way within the span of a very 

 few decades. 



There of course could be only one outcome to 

 this promiscuous slaughter. The great flocks 

 were broken up ; the birds were scattered and ex- 

 terminated. Eider-ducks became a rarity along 

 the American coast; by 1878 the Labrador duck 

 was entirely extinct ; 1 and the scoters alone re- 

 mained. Before the opening of the last century 

 "feather" voyages had been discontinued as un- 

 profitable. The hundred-acre "rafts" were gone 

 forever. 



A word now concerning eider-down. For its 



i The last recorded living specimen of that species was shot in 

 1878. 



