310 APPENDIX. 



fourfold since 1835." The same writer adds, in a note, 

 " By the same returns, I have ascertained that the ex- 

 port of eggs is now nearly doubled, bordering on a 

 million sterling." 



From the small rocky islands off the coast of La- 

 brador, considerable traffic is carried on by a class of 

 persons called " eggers," who follow principally, or ex- 

 clusively, the avocation of procuring the eggs of wild 

 birds, with the view of disposing them at some distant 

 port. Their great object is to plunder every nest when- 

 ever they can find it, no matter where, and at whatever 

 risk. They not only gather all the eider down they can 

 find ; yet so cruel and inconsiderate are they, that they 

 kill every bird that comes in their way. The eggs of 

 gulls, guillemots, and ducks are searched for with care ; 

 and the puffins, and several other birds, they massacre 

 in vast numbers merely for the sake of their feathers. 



The business is generally carried on with small dirty, 

 cabinless shallops, of a few tons burthen, manned with 

 eight hands, who lie and sleep in the hold at the foot of 

 a tottering mast. " Much had been said to me," says 

 Mr. Audubon, from whose work the following graphic 

 sketch is taken, " respecting these destructive pirates 

 before I visited the coast of Labrador, but I could not 

 entirely credit all their cruelties until I had actually wit- 

 nessed their proceedings, which were such as to inspire 

 no small degree of horror. But you shall judge for 

 yourself. 



" There rides the filthy thing ! The afternoon is half 

 over. Her crew have thrown their boat overboard ; they 

 enter and seat themselves, each with a rusty gun. One 

 of them sculls the skiff towards an island for a century 

 past the breeding place of myriads of guillemots, which 

 are now to be laid under contribution. At the approach 

 of the vile thieves, clouds of birds rise from the rock 

 and fill the air around, wheeling and screaming over 

 their enemies. Yet thousands remain in an erect 

 posture, each covering its single egg, the hope of both 

 parents. The reports of several muskets loaded with 

 heavy shot are now heard, while several dead and 

 wounded birds fell heavily on the rock or into the water. 



