-44 NATURALIST'S CABINET. 



Goldsmith's observations. 



even the island, nor do they return till night-fall. 

 All this time they are diligently employed in 

 fishing for their young; so that their retreats on 

 land, which in the morning were loud and cla- 

 morous, are now still and quiet, with not a wing 

 stirring till the approach of dusk, when their 

 screams once more announce their return . What- 

 ever fish, or other food, they have procured in 

 the day, by night begins to suffer a kind of half 

 digestion, and is reduced to an oily matter, 

 which is ejected from the stomach of the old 

 ones into the mouth of the young. By this they 

 are nourished, and become fat to an amazing 

 degree. When they are arrived to their full 

 growth, they who are entrusted by the lord of 

 the island, draw them from their holes; and, 

 that they may more readily keep an account of 

 the number they take, cut of one foot as a token. 

 Their flesh is said to be excessively rank, as they 

 feed upon fish, especially sprats and sea-weed; 

 however, when they are pickled and preserved 

 with spices, they are admired by those who are 

 fond of high eating. We are told, that formerly 

 their flesh was allowed by the church on Lenten 

 days. They were at that time, also taken by fer- 

 rets, as we do rabbits. At present, they are 

 either dug out, or drawn out, from their burrows, 

 with an hooked 5 stick. They bite extremely hard, 

 and keep so fast hold of whatsoever they seize 

 upon, as not to be easily disengaged. Their 

 noise, when taken, is very disagreeable, being 



