BIRD ROCK 159 



pelled them to continue their voyage to the north- 

 ward. 



Ajjparently the first naturalist to set foot on 

 Bird Rock was Dr. Henry Bryant, of Boston, who 

 hxnded there June 23, 1800. This was before the 

 days of the lighthouse, and Dr. Bryant reached the 

 top of the Rock only after a climb which he charac- 

 terizes as both " dilBcult and dangerous." In addi- 

 tion to the Gannets, which he found resting on the 

 ledges on the face of the Rock, he found these birds 

 nesting over the entire northerly half of the sum- 

 mit, and after measuring the surface occupied by 

 them, he estimated that this one colony alone con- 

 tained no less than one hundred thousand birds, 

 while the number living on the sides of the Rock 

 and Little Bird he j^laced at fifty thousand. 



The position of the Rock, at the gateway to 

 Canadian ports, makes it particularly dangerous to 

 vessels plying in these waters, and in 1869 a light- 

 house was erected on its summit. Wliile construct- 

 ing the light keeper's dwelling and storehouses, the 

 Government built two cranes— one on the north- 

 erly, the other on the southerly side of the Rock — for 

 use in hoisting supplies. There are also now three 

 other places where by means of ladders and ropes 

 one may ascend. The top of the Rock was thus 

 made more accessible, and the birds were conse- 

 Cjuently less protected from the attacks of fisher- 

 men. It is said, also, that the light keepers did not 

 appreciate the companionship of the Gannets, and 

 made special efforts to drive the birds from the 

 nesting site which they so long had held undis- 

 turbed. 



