84 EGGERS OF LABRADOR.
how the filthy lubbers stretch out their arms and yawn ; you shrink back,
for verily " that throat might frighten a shark."
But the master, soon recollecting that so many eggs are worth a dollar
or a crown, casts his eye towards the rock, marks the day in his memory,
and gives orders to depart. The light breeze enables them to reach another
harbour a few miles distant, one which, like the last, lies concealed
from the ocean by some other rocky isle. Arrived there, they re-act the
scene of yesterday, crushing every egg they can find. For a week each
night is passed in drunkenness and brawls, until, having reached the last
breeding place on the coast, they return, touch at every isle in succession,
shoot as many birds as they need, collect the fresh eggs, and lay in a
cargo. At every step each ruffian picks up an egg so beautiful that any
man with a feeling heart would pause to consider the motive which could
induce him to carry it off. But nothing of this sort occurs to the Egger,
who gathers and gathers, until he has swept the rock bare. The dollars
alone chink in his sordid mind, and he assiduously plies the trade which
no man would ply who had the talents and industry to procure subsistence
by honourable means.
With a bark nearly half filled with fresh eggs they proceed to the
principal rock, that on which they first landed. But what is their surprise
when they find others there helping themselves as industriously as
they can ! In boiling rage they charge their guns, and ply their oars.
Landing on the rock, they run up to the Eggers, who, like themselves, are
desperadoes. The first question is a discharge of musketry, the answer
another. Now, man to man, they fight like tigers. One is carried to his
boat with a fractured skull, another limps with a shot in his leg, and a
third feels how many of his teeth have been driven through the hole in
his cheek. At last, however, the quarrel is settled; the booty is to be
equally divided; and now see them all drinking together. Oaths and
curses and filthy jokes are all that you hear; but see, stuffed with food,
and reeling with drink, down they drop one by one; groans and execrations
from the wounded mingle with the snorings of the heavy sleepers.
There let the brutes He.
Again it is dawn, but no one stirs. The sun is high ; one by one
they open their heavy eyes, stretch their limbs, yawn, and raise themselves
from the deck. But see, here comes a goodly company. A hundred
honest fishermen, who for months past have fed on salt meat, have felt a
EGGERS OF LABRADOR.
desire to procure some eggs. Gallantly their boats advance, impelled by
the regular pull of their long oars. Each buoyant bark displays the flag
of its nation. No weapons do they bring, nor any thing that can be used
as such save their oars and fists. Cleanly clad in Sunday attire, they arrive
at the desired spot, and at once prepare to ascend the rock. The
Eggers, now numbering a dozen, all armed with guns and bludgeons, bid
defiance to the fishermen. A few angry words pass between the parties.
One of the Eggers, still under the influence of drink, pulls his trigger, and
an unfortunate sailor is seen to reel in agony. Three loud cheers fill the
air. All at once rush on the malefactors ; a horrid fight ensues, the result
of which is, that every Egger is left on the rock beaten and bruised.
Too frequently the fishermen man their boats, row to the shallops, and
break every egg in the hold.
The Eggers of Labrador not only rob the birds in this cruel manner,
but also the fishermen, whenever they can find an opportunity ; and the
quarrels they excite are numberless. While we were on the coast, none
of our party ever ventured on any of the islands which these wretches
call their own, without being well provided with means of defence. On
one occasion, when I was present, we found two Eggers at their work of
destruction. I spoke to them respecting my visit, and offered them premiums
for rare birds and some of their eggs; but although they made
fair promises, not one of the gang ever came near the Ripley.
These people gather all the eider down they can find; yet so inconsiderate
are they, that they kill every bird that comes in their way. The
eggs of Gulls, Guillemots, and Ducks are searched for with care ; and the
Puffins and some other birds they massacre in vast numbers for the sake
of their feathers. So constant and persevering are their depredations,
that these species, which, according to the accounts of the few settlers I
saw in the country, were exceedingly abundant twenty years ago, have
abandoned their ancient breeding places, and removed much farther north
in search of peaceful security. Scarcely, in fact, could I procure a young
Guillemot before the Eggers had left the coast, nor was it until late in July
that I succeeded, after the birds had laid three or four eggs each, instead
of one, and when nature having been exhausted, and the season nearly
spent, thousands of these birds left the country without having accomplished
the purpose for which they had visited it. This war of extermination
cannot last many years more. The Eggers themselves will he
the first to repent the entire disappearance of the myriads of birds that