284 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Oct. It, igoi. 
wiien I heard a queer noise on the hilT above ns, and 
there were all the oxen galloping down, with eyes rolling 
and horns and tails high in air, bellowing witli joy at the 
sight of human beings again, Now, I ask i£ it is not 
trying for a timid woman to be on a grassy slope ten feet 
from the verge of a perpendicular precipice two hundred 
feet high, and landward twenty-five oxen charging down 
in a body? How was I to know just when those oxen, in 
tl'>e exuberance of their welcome, were going to pause? 
I skipped behind Herr Abrahamsen. and giving my fjeld 
staff to the schoolmaster, hurriedly told him that he had 
advised niy coming to the Holm and on his head rested 
the responsibility of my fate. So he went after them, and 
with the aid of the fjeld staff induced them to be a little 
less demonstrative. After that they followed its as a de- 
voted body guard, standing in an anxiou.s, tronbled row 
wlien we climbed down to places where they could not 
follow, and gamboling around us like dogs when we 
went on again. 
On the western end of Myggenoes Holm live the gan- 
nets, or the "sula," as the Faroe folks call them. Their 
nests are crowded together on the clifT ledges, and on 
great masses of rock which have become detached from 
the island by the action of tlie waves. One of these 
"drangur" looked like an immense plum cake, the effect 
of glittering frosting on top being caused by htmdred.s of 
white gannets which covered the sunmiit. Rows of guille- 
mots were nesting in friendly fashion among the gannets. 
1 noticed that the guillemots whose eggs are unhatched 
sat with their backs to the sea. When the little ones came 
out the mothers face about, looking like rows of prim, 
white-petticoated, hoop-skirted young ladies. Puffins flew 
to and fro, with their peculiar straight flight like shuttles 
iu a loom, scores of oyster catchers, titlarks, curle\V and 
stonechats cried and quavered from the grass fields, now 
and then a pair of razor-billed auks passed, and flocks of 
eider ducks and a few pretty black guillemots (Uria 
trolle), bobbed up and down just beyond the breakers. It 
was a true bird paradise, and its inmates showed little 
fear, for the Holm is seldom visited. 
I doubt if among the sea fowl a more successful bird 
than the gannet can be found. He is charming in looks, 
powerful in flight, graceful, confidant and accomplished. 
I had not expected to see such large birds. The males 
must have measured three feet in length, and weighed 
perhaps six or seven pounds. The snowy white plumage 
cf the breeding birds shone like silver in the sunlight; 
■we- were near enough to see plainly their pale yellow eyes, 
blue eyehds, the black spot on their foreheads and their 
dusky bills. Perhaps the prettiest of all were the three- 
year-olds — those which had attained the soft buff plumage 
of head and neck, and white body, but kept a little mottled 
gray and brown on their wings. 
The breeding birds were more war5' and watchful, but 
these care-free three-year-olds seemed quite fearless. They 
divided their time between the eating of anchovies and 
making the most careful and elaborate toilets. Three 
dandified young fellows seemed to be "showing off" for 
my special predilection. They sat on a ledge just below 
the crest of a cliff, and allowed me to approach within a 
distance of fifteen feet. They would preen each wing 
feather with their long beaks, laying it daintily in place, 
and then smoothing it down with the side and back of 
their sleek heads, turning their supple necks easily from 
side to side, and then glancing confidingly up at me, as if 
to say, "Are we not beautiful?" and I found myself nod- 
ding and smiling assent. 
In April the fjeld men come to the Holm to take the 
adult birds when they have made their nests, but have not 
laid their eggs. Then the birds are left undisturbed until 
September, when the young birds arc almost teady for 
flight. In all, about one thousand are captured in a favor- 
able season, but the Myggenoesers do not encourage too 
large a booty. They are proud of possessing the only 
breeding place in the Faroes of the beautiful ".sula," and 
wish to keep their colony in a flourishing condition. 
The sula catching is very dangerous. It takes place 
always at night, and in April and September the Faroe 
nights are dark. Herr Abrahamsen showed me places 
above a cliff four hundred feet high, where four white 
flat stones in line showed the men where to descend with 
the hne. On the detached "drangur"' no lines are used, 
and it makes one shudder to think 'of the men climbing in 
the darkness on those perilous crumbling ledges. No 
wonder that the sula catchers sing a special hymn — the 
"Sula Song" — as they leave Myggenoes at night for the 
Holm. It has eight verses, and begins as follows : 
"The light of day has passed away 
And night hangs over lis, 
O Jesus Christ, 
Our Lord so dear, 
Be with us now, 
Cheer us, God in heaven," 
And when all is in readiness, whether the men descend 
v/ith lines or go down without them, all kneel on the edge 
of the cliffs and say a silent prayer. 
Five j^ears ago, on Myggenoes Holm, an event occurred 
v/hich made a stir among the ornithologists of Great 
Britain and Denmark. Johannes, my companion of the 
puffin-snaring morning, shot an albatross (Diomedea 
■liielanophrys) as it sat with the sula on one of the 
drangurs at the west end of the Holm. As the most 
northern limit of this species in the Atlantic is 23° 9' 
south latitude, and its usual habitat from 40° to 50° south, 
this event was in itself of great interest. But this Myg- 
genoes Holm albatross had made itself an ornithological 
wonder by coming every February with the sula to 1:he 
Holm, spending the summer with them, and leaving with 
them in September, and doing this for thirty-four conse- 
cutive years. It was first observed in May, i860, by a 
party of twelve men of Myggenoes, all keen, intelligent 
fjeld men. Thereafter, every year, it was seen on the 
Holm, leading a solitary life, and it was never known to 
breed. There is some story about one queer-looking sula 
having been captured with a strong large beak, unlike 
that of the other birds, and some people think it may have 
been a young albatross, but this is only conjecture. The 
Myggenoesers had never seen or heard of an albatross 
and thought this a very large sula. It was called the 
"konge sula," the "gannet king," and the men noticed 
that the other birds treated it with the greatest respect 
and made way for it when it approached. 
Johannes did not mean to kill the "konge sula." He 
happened to have his gun with him, and he fired, wishing 
only to make the bird fly up, so he could see its great 
wings, when to his surpri.'^e and regret it fell dead. It 
was .sent to Herr Pederson, on Naalsoe, a local ornith- 
ologist, and a skilled taxidermist, and later forwarded by 
hnn to Copenhagen. It was a female, well developed and 
in beautiful plumage. Inquiries were at once made, 
affidavits taken and pamphlets written both in English and 
Danish, but no satisfactory explanation has been given of 
the motives that caused an albatross to forsake the sphere 
in which it had pleased Providence to place her, and 
spend thirty-four summers in solitary living among sea 
fowl that granted to her at best only a respectful 
tolerance. Johannes did not know, and I of course did 
not tell him, how he had tempted Fate. He might, if he 
knew, think of it in some bad moment on the cliffs or at 
sea. But to kill an albatross, and such an albatross, makes 
it highly improbable that Johannes will ever die the 
"straw death" disdained by his Viking forefathers. A 
pity it is, for Johannes is a fine man among a race of 
fine men. He seems to have invisible wings attached to 
his Faroe moccasins, so lightly does he step. His face 
lias a serious look, as befits one who looks so much on 
mighty .seas, but his face and eyes light up with a bright 
quick smile. 
Were creature comforts more plentiful, and Mother 
Nature less prodigal of storm, fog and cold, a long sum- 
mer stay in Myggenoes would be delightful. But I have 
been here twenty-two days, and in all that time we have 
bad three days when the weather was fine from dawn to 
.sunset. Little can be done when heavy fog makes all 
dismal, drenching the^ grass and shutting out from sight 
the fjelds and bird clilTs. So I end this letter from B6, 
v.-liither I came this morning with a crew of Bible-named 
Myggenoesers — Abrahams, Isaacs, Zachariahs and Mat- 
thiases. We had planned to -start- at 9, but at 7 some of 
the men came to my door, and I heard that dreaded 
word "brenning" .; there would be surf, and I must come 
at once. So I hurriedly packed my traps, and in half an 
hour was on my way to the boat houses. There was 
brenning ! I looked with dismay at the big waves surging 
ever the reefs and flooding the embarking place. "I dare 
not go !" I exclaimed to Herr Abrahamsen. _ "Yes, yes," 
he replied reassuringly, "look at the sea outside. All will 
go well when you once get out, and every little while 
comes a quiet time." "Don't be afraid," shouted up the 
men, "we can make it!" So I climbed down and waited 
on the rocks for a lull, while the men kept the boat in a 
quiet spot under some cliffs across the inlet. "Now!" 
cried a man, who was watching the sea. The boat shot 
forward to where I stood, I tumbled in anyhow^, waved 
a farewell to those on shore, and in an instant we were 
tossing high in a whirl of white water between the reefs, 
cutting through masses of foam, and reaching the open 
sea just before the next big wave broke. There we were 
safe; there Avas little wind, and the great waves swept 
shoreward in unbroken lines. We could easily climb 
them and race down their outer slopes. It was a glorious 
da3^ No Venetian skies ever shimmered with more lovely 
tints than those that showed on the bare ranges of Vaagoe 
and Stromoe, while the sea gleamed with royal purples 
and intense blues. And yet with all this unusual display 
of color, we seemed to be in one of those "non-sounding 
areas" that puzzle the scientists. All round the coast the 
surf broke high against the cliff's, sending clouds of spray 
forty feet in the air. But it came to our ears only as a 
soft hushed thunder, and above it my men's voices rang 
clearly as they sang the "out-going song," "I turn now 
to Thy help." 
Bo smelt to heaven this morning with a mighty smell of 
pitch. The village, church and all, has just received its 
annual coat of tar, and shines like a polished stove pipe. 
And I had planned to make a sketch of the charming 
weather-worn houses here. Bo has lost all interest for 
me. I will tarry here no longer, but return to Hans 
Kristoffen's comfortable house at Midvag. and see how 
my floAA'er seeds have thrived that we planted in his pretty 
garden. Elizabeth Taylor. 
A Summer on the Labrador. 
{Continued from last week.) 
As we left Okak we passed several Eskimos in their 
ka3-aks engaged in seal hunting, and in the distance the 
high land of Cape Mugford towered above the surround- 
ing country. Mugford Tickle connects the inside with the 
outside passage, and is perhaps half a mile wide at its 
narrowest part, while on both sides the rocky cliffs rise 
perpendicularly to a height of 3,000 feet. The wind is 
always either "fair" or "head" in the Tickle, and that 
it blows sometimes with tremendous fury was evidenced 
by several wrecks piled up against tlie rocks. The alti- 
tude of the coast line had changed much since leaving 
Nain, the land now rising continuously in jagged irregu- 
lar snow-capped peaks to heights of three and four 
thousand feet. 
We steamed past Nannoutuk (White Bear), Watch 
Island and numerous small icebergs during the afternoon 
and approached Hebron just at dark. As the unusual 
sound of the steamer's whistle echoed through the hills, 
natives could be seen running along the shore toward the 
station, and as we came to anchor the same scene of 
eager happiness was enacted as at Okak. It is no wonder 
that both missionaries and Eskimos rejoice at this event, 
bringing as it does letters and news to people cut off 
most of the year from all communication with the outside 
world, and provisions and fuel for another long winter. 
The Hebron station was opened in 1830, and has about 
250 Eskimos. W^e did not land, but were not deprived of 
the company of the natives on that account, for they came 
aboard in unusually large numbers, and showed a great 
interest in everything about the steamer. They seemed 
especially interested in the working of the winch as goods 
v/ere brought up out of the hold. Taking a prone posi- 
tion on the deck, they filled the air with expressions of 
wonder and surprise at the work done without any 
physical effort, and the effect of the flickering light of the 
torch shining on their swarthy faces and blanket clothing 
made the scene one to be long remembered._ 
The passengers did considerable "truckying" here, ex- 
changing old clothes, tobacco and sometimes money for 
skin boots, seal skins, stone lamps and carved ivory. Old 
clothes seemed to be the most desirable traiding material, 
for tobacco they can get from the missionaries, and money 
they have but little idea about. The nature of the article 
mattered but little so long as it could be turned into 
something useful or ornamental, and one of my trades 
consisted of a pair of white duck pants, a pair of heavy 
socks and a worsted bag given for one dressed seal skin. 
The native girl went oft' happy with her new possessions, 
as I did with mine, and may have started by this time an 
innovation in feminine Eskimo dress. 
The customary summer dress among the men is a 
blouse with hood made from thick woolen "dulBe," and 
fishermen's summer home. 
Photo by J. Westall Borden. 
trousers, either of the same material or of seal skin. The 
women's upper garment is a similar blouse, but while 
that of the men is cut off short at the hips, the women's 
has a tail which extends dow» and rounds off below the 
knees. Skin pants are not uncommon among the women, 
and the only footwear that is known are the seal skin 
boots, the bottoms of which are made from tough square 
flipper, and the upper of harp seal, and sometimes — on 
the children — caribou hide moccasins. In the wititer their 
clothing is entirely of seal skin or caribou hide, which is 
worn over the lighter blanket clothing, and the mittens 
are of the same material. 
We steamed away from Hebron toward Rama early in 
the morning. The coast continued as before, very h gli 
ESKIMO IN KYAK. 
Photo by J. Westall Borden. 
and bold, broken up into many sharp peaks, some of 
which reach into the clouds, and all were more or less 
covered with snow. No growth of any kind could be 
seen, however, for we were now above the timber line, and 
within ninety miles of Cape Chidley. Nothing grows 
within 100 miles of Rama, an impossible distance to trans- 
port timber over the hills which rise here from four to 
five thousand feet. All wood for the missionary house 
and chapel at Rama was brought by schooner, and the 
Eskimos live in huts built under ground. A difference in 
the temperature and the absence of mosquitoes were two 
very noticeable facts. Vegetation is impossible, owing to 
the short and cold summer season. 
Rama is a comparatively new station, having been 
ON THE WAY TO NAIN. 
Photo by J. Westall Borden. 
opened in 1870, after the post at Nachvak had been aban- 
dcned and the Hudson Bay post established there. It i- 
i^n extremely bleak and desolate spot, surrounded on 
three sides by high rocky cliffs down which in the spring 
flow^s an avalanche of ice and water. Two missionaries 
with their wives and children are in charge of the station 
and have a farhily of about eight}' Eskimos. 
It is characteristic of the Eskimos of the Atlant'c line 
01 the peninsula that two out of every three met have a 
cough and evidently lung trouble in some stage of de- 
i-tlopment. This is caused principally by their habits and 
exposure, and is the cause of a large number of the deaths 
among them. Formerly, and even to-day among tlie 
prim 'five natives of further north, the method of burial 
was to place the body either in a sitting position or on 
its back on the bare rock and to cover over with a sk'n. 
By its side were placed the gun, spear, stone lamp ancj 
