78 peesident's addeess. 



state what I have heard from parties very worthy of credit, I 

 should, I fear, be held guilty of telling greater stories than they 

 who have committed themselves in regard to the Scottisli Geese, 

 produced, as they say, from the fruits of certain trees that had 

 fallen into the sea. These Geese the narrators themselves had 

 never seen so produced ; but I will here relate that which I have 

 myself witnessed. 



*' There is a small island, which the Scots call the Bass Island, 

 situated in the open ocean, not far from the shore, of the most 

 abrupt and precipitous character, so that it rather resembles one 

 huge rock or stone than an island, and indeed it is not more than 

 a mile in circumference ; the surface of this island in the months 

 of May and June is almost completely covered with nests, eggs, 

 and young birds, so that you can scarce find free footing any- 

 where ; and then such is the density of the flight of the old birds 

 above that, like a cloud, they darken the sun and the sky ; and 

 such the screaming and din that you can scarce hear the voice of 

 one who addresses you. If you turn your eyes below, and from 

 your lofty stance and precipice regard the sea, there you perceive 

 on aU sides around an infinite variety of different kinds of sea- 

 fowl swimming about in pursuit of their prey ! the face of the 

 ocean is very like that of a pool in the spring season when it 

 appears swarming with frogs. If you sail round the island and 

 look up, you see on every ledge, and shelf, and recess, innumer- 

 able flocks of birds of almost every size and order, more numerous 

 than the stars that appear in the unclouded moonless sky; and if 

 you regard the flights that incessantly come and go, you may 

 imagine that it is a mighty swarm of bees you have before you. 



' ' I should scarcely be credited did I name the revenue which 

 was annually derived from the feathers, the eggs, and the old 

 nests, which, as useful for flring, are all made objects of traffic by 

 the proprietor ; the sum he mentioned to me exceeds credibility. 

 There was this particular feature, which, as it refers to our sub- 

 ject, I shall mention, and also as it bears me out in my report of 

 the multitude of the sea-fowl ; the whole island appears of a 

 brilliant white colour to those who approach it, all the cliffs 

 look as if they consisted of the whitest chalk ; the true colour of 



