122 T. H, nelson: A RAMBLE ON THE FARNE ISLANDS. 



we made for Bamburgh, where, as there was no surf on the shore, 

 Cuthbertson landed us in safety. 



The next morning when we looked out we saw there was a strong 

 north-easter blowing, and, on going up to the Castle, a grand sight 

 presented itself to our view ; great waves were rolling in and bursting 

 on the shore with a deafening roar, while, as far as the eye could see, 

 the ' white horses ' were chasing each other shorewards, driven in by 

 the fury of the gale. On the Inner Fame, at short intervals, a 

 volume of spray shot high above the lighthouse. At the time we 

 were puzzled to account for this phenomenon, but learnt afterwards 

 that it was the ' Churn ' at work, and I may as well explain the 

 meaning of it at once : — On the north-west side of the island there 

 is a deep cavernous fissure in the rock communicating with a 

 perpendicular shaft at the inner end, and at low and half tide, 

 when a sea-wind is blowing, the waves are driven into this 

 cave with such great violence as to send a vast column of 

 foam and spray through the ' Churn ' high up into the air, often 

 to a height of eighty or a hundred feet, and visible at a great 

 distance. 



As there was no prospect of getting out to the islands in the face 

 of the sea then running, we started, after breakfast, for a walk to 

 Holy Island, five miles distance, passing the Stag rocks on our way, 

 where we disturbed a party of Curlews ; on the links beyond these 

 rocks the broken shells of several Eiders' eggs were found, apparently 

 the work of some truant schoolboys whom we saw on the beach 

 below. I went down to question them about the broken eggs, and 

 saw they had two Eider ducklings only a few days old. The account 

 of their capture was a rather curious one. It appears that the boys 

 had . seen an old Eider with a brood of young ones on the shore, 

 which, on being observed, immediately made for the sea, and, as the 

 mother was trying to get out through the surf with the little ones on 

 her back, a heavy breaker washed two of them off and drove them 

 ashore, where they were easily caught. I purchased the little 

 creatures, took them home when we left Bamburgh, and kept them 

 in the garden, feeding them on mussels and barley-meal, but they 

 gradually pined away and died in the course of a month. Shelducks, 

 on the contrary, are easily reared, and become very tame. I once 

 procured a pair at Waren Water, and kept them in the garden for 

 some time ; one died, but the other made a companion of a Bernicle 

 Goose, and was a great favourite with all the household ; every day 

 at meal-times it came up to the dining-room window, and would 

 even come into the room for a piece of bread or potato, sometimes 

 persuading the Bernicle to follow it. 



Naturalist, 



