FLOCK OF GANNBTS. 255 



also collected several species of land-snails, and some specimens 

 of gypsum. We crossed the bay in the afternoon, and found a 

 man who had some fox-skins for sale : he asked five pounds 

 apiece for the black fox, and one dollar and fifty cents for the 

 red skins. The woods here are small, scrubby evergreens, 

 almost impenetrable and swampy beneath. Thermometer this 

 evening 44°. 



" Jvme 15. Day dawned with the weather dull, but the wind 

 fair, and we pulled up anchor and left the Magdalene Islands for 

 Labrador, the ultimatum of our present desires. About ten 

 o'clock we saw on the distant horizon a speck, which I was told 

 was the Eock ; the wind now freshened, and I could soon see it 

 plainly from the deck, the top apparently covered with snow. 

 Our pilot said that the snow, which seemed two or three feet 

 thick, was the white ga,nnets which resort there. I rubbed my 

 eyes, and took my spy-glass, and instantly the strange picture 

 stood before me. They were indeed birds, and such a mass of 

 birds, and of such a size as I never saw before. The whole of 

 my party were astonished, and all agreed that it was worth 

 a voyage across the Bay of Fundy and the Gulf of St. Lawrence 

 to see such a sight. The nearer we approached^ the greater was 

 our surprise at the enormous number of these birds, all calmly 

 seated on their eggs, and their heads turned to the windward 

 towards us. The air for a hundred yards above, and for a long 

 distance around, was filled with gannets on the wing, which 

 from our position made the air look as if it was filled with 

 falling snowflakes, and caused a thick, foggy-like atmosphere 

 all around the rock. The wind was too high to allow us to land, 

 but we were so anxious to do so that some of the party made 

 the attempt. The vessel was brought to, and a whale-boat 

 launched, and young Lincoln and John pushed off with cluba 

 and gims ; the wind increased and rain set in, but they gained 

 the lee of the rock, but after an hour's absence returned with- 

 out landing. The air was filled with birds, but they did not 

 perceptibly diminish the numbers on the rock. As the vessel 

 drifted nearer the rock, we could see that the birds sat so close 

 as almost to touch one another in regular lines, looking like so. 

 many mole-hills. The discharge of a gun had no effect on 

 those which were not touched by the shot, for the noise of the 



