24 THE SOUTHERN CLIFFS 



good as hare soup. But though the birds seemed 

 within shot they failed to be bagged, and it is probable 

 that their great size is often not taken into account by 

 those who think them well within range. The flash 

 of the guns and the eddying flight of the cormorants 

 as they came swinging round the cliffs in the semi- 

 darkness, with the screams of the gulls, made a wild 

 and picturesque " good-night " to the big precipice, as 

 the tide crept on to its foot with fast lessening waves. 



