CRUISE OF LA BELLE MARGUERITE 
from reaching Bald Island near Betchewun 
on this cruise, we visited it on the 8th and 9th 
of June by sailing from Esquimaux Point in 
‘‘ La Belle Marguerite.” The island is of about 
a dozen acres in extent, and presents to the 
sea turreted and arched limestone cliffs from 
fifteen to thirty feet high. Its flat top was 
covered with deep black soil, on which a forest 
of giant stalks of cow parsnip were still stand- 
ing from the previous summer. In this loose 
soil and under the rocks were numerous bur- 
rows of puffins, or perroquets, as they are uni- 
versally called on the Labrador coast. Each 
burrow was from two to three feet long, and, 
at the end, the owner was usually sitting on her 
single dirty white egg in a nest of straw. 
Extraordinary birds are these puffins, about 
150 of whom were to be constantly seen flying 
and swimming about the island. Their large 
parrot-like red bill, their pale gray spectacled 
face and black collar, and their short, chunky 
build made them appear grotesque on the water 
or in flight, and even more grotesque when they 
stood bolt upright on the rocks, and comically 
anxious when they walked about near us. Their 
bills in the breeding season, when examined 
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