AMONG THE WATER-FOWL 



sea broke considerably around on the other side ; 

 but here, fortunately, where the only beach was, it 

 was under lee from the wind, and without any 

 difficulty we ran the boat up on the little strip of 

 stony shingle only a few rods long. 



On the left was a series of ladders spiked to the 

 rock, by which one could climb up the over one 

 hundred feet of cliff, and here by the boat was the 

 famous "crate." a little open box or platform, with 



MURRES AND KITTIWAKES NESTING FROM THE CRATE 



slab sides about waist high. Into this we put our 

 baggage and then climbed in ourselves. The crank 

 above began to turn, and we swung clear of the 

 ground. This was the ordeal which in time past I 

 had somewhat dreaded, but which now seemed the 

 pleasantest and most natural thing in the world. 

 Before we realized it we were well up from the 

 beach, which looked very small and far-away, when, 

 at length, I ventured a downward glance. We 



54 



