THE CORMORANT. 



163 



have cheered its walls. But the tide of prosperity 

 has ceased to flow. Something or other seems to 

 have intervened, and turned it down another chan- 

 nel ; for now the once well-known Buckton Hall is 

 a neglected mansion ; and the stranger, as he passes 

 near it, sees at one glance that it is no longer a 

 place of rendezvous for the great. The present 

 tenant kindly allowed the horse and gig, which I 

 had hired at Bridlington Quay, to be put under 

 cover till 1 returned from the cliff. 



My guide, whose name was Mellor, and who 

 possesses a very accurate knowledge of all the birds 

 in this district, having mustered men and ropes in 

 the village of Buckton, we proceeded across the 

 table land to the Raincliff, which forms a perpendi- 

 cular wall to the ocean, 140 yards high. Whilst I 

 was descending this precipice, thousands of guille- 

 mots and razorbills enlivened the interesting scene. 

 Some were going down to the water, others were 

 ascending from it ; while every ledge of the rock, 

 as far as my eye could reach, was literally covered 

 with birds of the same species. The cormorants 

 stayed not to witness my unwelcome descent into 

 their ancient and almost inaccessible settlement. 

 They all took wing, as soon as we reached the edge 

 of the cliff, and went far away to sea. It was a 

 difficult matter to procure their eggs ; for the nests 

 were built in places where the rocks overhung 

 them ; and it was only by my giving the rope a 

 swinging motion, and then taking advantage of it, 

 as it brought me to the face of the cliffy that I was 

 enabled to get a footing on the ledges which con- 

 M 2 



