256 LEFE OF AUDUBON. 



birds stunned all those out of reach of the gun. But where the 

 shot took effect the birds scrambled and flew off in such multi- 

 tudes and such confusion that, -whilst eight or ten were falling in 

 the water dead or wounded, others shook down their eggs, 

 which fell into the sea by hundreds in all directions. The sea 

 became rougher, and the boat was compelled to return, bringing 

 some birds and some eggs, but without the party being able to 

 climb the rock. 



" The top of the main rock is a quarter of a mile wide from 

 north to south, and a little narrower from east to west ; its ele- 

 vation above the sea is between three and four hundred feet. 

 The sea dashes around it with great violence : except in long 

 calms it is extremely difficult to land on it, and much more 

 difficult to climb to its platform. The whole surface was 

 perfectly covered with nests, about two feet apart, in rows as 

 regular as a potato field. The fishermen kill these birds and 

 use their flesh for bait for cod-fish. The crews of several vessels 

 unite, and, armed with clubs, as they reach the top of the' rock 

 the birds rise with a noise like thunder, and attempt to fly in 

 such hurried confusion as to knock each other down, often 

 piling one on another in a bank of many feet thickness. The 

 men beat and kill them until they have obtained a supply, 

 or wearied themselves. Six men in this way have killed five or 

 six hundred in one hour. The birds are skinned and cut into 

 junks, and the bait keeps good for a fortnight. Forty sail of 

 fishermen annually supply themselves with bait from, this rock 

 ill this way. By the twentieth of May the birds lay their eggs, 

 and hatch about the twentieth of June. 



" Jtme 17. The wind is blowing a gale, and nearly all my 

 party is deadly sick. Thermometer 43°, and raining nearly, 

 all day. We laid to all night, and in the morning were in sight 

 of Anticosti Island, distant about twenty miles. It soon became 

 thick, and we lost sight of it. 



" Jwwe 18. The weather is calm, beautiful, and much warmer. 

 We caught many cod-fish, which contained crabs of a curious 

 structure. At six P.M. the wind sprung up fair, and we made 

 all sail for Labrador. 



" June 19. I was on deck at three o'clock A.M., and although 

 the Sim was not above the horizon it was quite light. The sea 



