130 MANY DEAD TURTLE. 



and frigate-birds and terns' eggs— the latter were 

 excellent, and the former very good, especially when 

 cooked with a little curry powder. 



As night closed in, it was curious to see the long 

 lines and flocks of birds streaming from all quarters 

 of the horizon towards the island. The noise was 

 incessant and most tiresome. On walking rapidly 

 into the centre of the island, countless myriads 

 of birds rose shrieking on every side, so that the 

 clangour was absolutely deafening, like the roar of 

 some great cataract. There were a few turtle tracks 

 on the beach, but we did not succeed in taking any, 

 though many dead ones were scattered about 

 the island, their shells and skeletons remaining. 

 Some of these were lying on their backs, and we at 

 first thought had been turned and left there by some 

 casual visitors. Those in this position, however, 

 were all near the foot of the little cliff behind the 

 6each, and I found one tilted up against it, resting 

 between it and a fallen block, and am inclined to 

 suppose that when feeble, from sickness or age, the 

 turtle have come here to die, and that those lying 

 on their backs had died in a vain attempt to crawl 

 up the broken bank into the interior of the island. 

 We could see no traces of natives, nor indeed of any 

 one else having visited the island. It is too far out 

 of sight of any other land, and too much out to sea 

 for the natives to visit it ; nor is it likely that ships 

 would often heave to, to send a boat ashore where 

 there is no anchorage, and where the smooth water 



