59 
our guns, and the boatmen shouted all to- 
gether, when such a scene took place as I 
had never witnessed : in an instant our 
ears were assailed and deafened by the va- 
ried and continued cries of at least 100,000 
birds— Gannets, Cormorants, Shags, Puf- 
fins, Razor-bills, Gulimots, and the various 
kinds of Gulls, raised their discordant 
notes at the same moment, and by their 
numbers formed a canopy over our heads 
that darkened the air, while their excre- 
ment, occasioned by the sudden alarm we 
had put them in, fell in a thick shower on 
every side. After this confusion had some- 
what subsided, we proceeded to the west 
end of the island, and ascending to the 
summit, found ourselves above the cliffs, 
where the Gannets were setting close to 
each other, on their eggs. We crept cau- 
tiously down amongst them, and so atten- 
tive were they to their occupation of sitting, 
that it was with difficulty they could be 
forced from their 'eggs, though at other 
times they are extremely shy. — They lay 
but one egg, which is perfectly white, and 
in shape and size nearly resembliug that of 
a crocodile ; it is placed on the bare rock, 
V OL. III. I 
