CRUISE OF LA BELLE MARGUERITE 
There is a charm about the barren places of the 
earth not easily described in words, a charm 
that the artist attempts to transfer to canvas, 
and one that appeals often times with especial 
force to the naturalist. 
After an excellent dinner of broiled duck 
in the salle & manger of “‘ La Belle,’’ for I must 
not have the gentle reader imagine that I lived 
only on air and view and philosophy, we turned 
our prow again to the eastward, and sought 
through the stormy sea for the place the 
canards des roches, the curious many coloured 
harlequin ducks, were said to frequent, a place 
known in these parts as Watcheeshoo. On 
peering over some rocks here we saw three of 
these curious birds and watched them swim 
and fly away. 
While I was toasting my toes on the little 
10 X 16 inch stove at the entrance of the cuddy 
that night, listening to the cooing of the eiders, 
the gentle chiding laughter of the saddle-backs, 
and to the roar of the surf on the outer side of 
the island, — while within was calm and peace- 
ful, — watching the sun go down in a golden 
glory, and thinking of our luck in seeing the 
harlequins, a canoe silently glided alongside. 
119 
