$8
Their numbers
by the
fea-fide.
General Pro-,
jpertieit
N A T U R A L H I S T O R Y of N O R W 4 .Y ,
the. pousitties-4 yiBg-©ppo&fce, tag*, Scotland and the Orkneys;
pseroerne and Iceland; there are-pfiheW%aiii that I never .eould
find out any where elffe, as far ks myintelfigenee could reach ; and
this is certainly one of thofe bounties,: not fufficiently regarded,
the great Creator has bellowed on Ihls-Goniitiy, that particularly
the weft, fide, which, With its numberlefs harbours, creeks, iflsuids,
high cliffs, hollow mountain and caves,^ is fortified, hy the Wife
and good Creator, as a particular refuge and afylum for an incotti-
prehenfible, and indeed alfnoft incredible number of Sea and
Shore-Fowls, which fGmetimes are obfetved olB at lea, kt3%he
diflanefe of two or three Notway miles*, in fudh large flights,
that they obfcure the heaVe'ns^and -one wojlid imagine all the
Sea-Fowl of the univerfe were gathered together in One flock f.
Thefe Birds, with their, feathers and, down, which ate*, gathered
and feat to foreign part%' and partly with their 'flefh and eggs
together, afford the inhabitants a very goad maintenance, bfefides
the extraordinary good grajfs that grows after the manure
left by the dung of thefe Birds, Oh the iflahds, and even in the
ecfean, which frequently looks white, and as if if- were c&vdfed
with itrand thfe jeggs in the aefts of th^ : Strand Birds.
Not all the eggs, but forafe foTt of them, are as good as hens
eggs, and great quantities come to market in this town, where
the bakers in particular know hew to ufe them] the fhells arfe of
various , colours and fizes, as fhall afterwards be obferved Concerning
each of them, a»: fin? as fay ihtelligehm reaches • knoft Of them
aje white, green, or brown, and^lmoftiallJaaVis blstck' lpoes^on
them ; the Water Fugle egg-fhell ii-fomething thicker, and alfo
the white in a greater quantity, than in others-;. Jbcwhich Ooniit
Aloyfiiis Marfili, in his Dariub. Panom Tom. v. p. i i ^ aMibes
this reafon, that the young Sea' Birds, which are npudfhed by
* One Nbrway mile is about fix fipgliih miles.
f The large quantity of Sea .Fowl that are in Norway, agrees "with what Dr. Harvey
writes of the Scotch, efe GePeiat. Animal-, exercit. xi. withDeufiftg.in fine Diflertat.
de Anreribus Scoticis. Eft infuk- parva, Scoti Bofie nominaiit, haud amplius mills
pafiimm cireuitu amplitudo ejtis clabditur. Hujus infill« fiiperficies, menfibus Maio &
Jump, nidis, oyi's piillifque propempdum fota inftrata eft, acfee ut vix,. prasieoruro
copia, pedem libere ponere liceat :■ tantaque fupervolantium turba, ut nubium inffiar,
folem coelumque auferant: tantufque vbciferantium Clangor & ftrepitus, ut prope al-
loquentes vix audias. Si firbjeftum mare inde, tanquam ex edita turn & altilfimo
praecipitio delpexeris, idem quoquoverfum, infinitis divOrlbWPK 'gencrum ,. ayi-bus-
natantibus pr«da?que inhiantibus, opertum videas. Si 'circum.navigando-immiasncem.
cliyum fiifpicerfe libuerit; videas in fihgulis prasrupti loci crepidinibus & reccfiibus,
avium cujuflibet generis & magnitudinis, oWK'nis -inmJmeraibiles, plures fane quam
nofte, fencnocario, ftellas corffpickintur. Si advolantes avplantefque emihus adfpexeris,
apu'm profiiSfo ingens examen credas. Haud facile dixerim, quantus reditus quotannis
*S plumis bVohjrrrque cofiorum Gommercio poHeffori acced'at j adeo quod.ipfe mihi
jaarravit, fidem exfuperat. What Harvey has laid of the way of boiling the Sea-fowls
eggs to fell them with great profit, is not ufcd in. Norway ; the reft agrees.
' the
m A T t r R A t H I S T O R Y of N O kW A T . §9
-the white of thefe éggs^iite'longer in haifiching than others, oil
account of > the coldi% s ltho3: thi« d o ^ -öét' agree with my observations,
as will b6 • de4n «in‘ th é foU@#hi£ pagès. But certainly
there is to be feen th e providence^ of our- great and benevolent God’s jrovi-
Creator, iifi givmgsfihefe'. ^ g s è> thicker fliell, without doubt, dence\
according to Mr. Anderfoii’s- obfeievations, in-his délbription;-óf
Iflands, L. b ^ ËU^^^ltO- preVént their, përifhihg with the
cold, which is owingjto their- being near th e water, and the
dam’s fengr^bfence i n ’fearch of-feod j ;tho’ moil forts of Water
Fugle live, for that reafbn, in a kind o f martiéd ftate, and Orderly
take their iturris,’- ithe ■ cocto and hen ; aitêrnately th é
eggs j and when -tfis the hen’s turn, the cock bft‘eii Hands at
fomr diftance a? a Watch or cefitinel, to guard f e ti1 ^Thofè that
•leave theifi eggs, and coEpe agaiii to them in the -hollow dracks
and holes of thè cliffs -and rocks, where hundreds are dating'
together, nevermffs th iir cr^n, th o ’ a man could not- diffinguifhi
them. See Zor^dragöf Groenlan^fchsir-!Vifcher, P. ii. fe. 14.
P*. t 5 i i
v . The flefh of certain Water Birds, particularly the Dock’s,;! and
that of fome others, is very fat and-eatable, ö ïh è t s , from the fifhy
tafte which they acquire bji eatitigifafcSatid ill-tailed ate not
Very fit for the table, unlefs they^ile firfl parboiled in vinegar j
others again are pickled by the farmer«, and are very good that
way ; by that means other meat is faVted, and may be fent to town
to be fold. But the principal advantage they yield is their
feather^, particularly the Edder-fuglèns, Lundens, and Alkens,
which are frequent every where on- this coaft; but the fineft and
mofl profitable are got in the Nordknd diftriös ; they „are gathered
and annually fififi down to the Mèïchants'ln it Bergen.
■ Frideric Martens obferVes in his Spitsbergenske Travels,
cap. ii; p. éö,,that aM Sea Birds in the hardeft ftorms turn their
heads againft the wind, that it may’nt fpread their feathers, hut
rather clofc them together to keep the body warm.
S E C T . III.
How each of thefe different forts of Birds are taken will appear
in the following pages; and as far as I can find, th e y are
obliged to ufe different methods. But firfl I fhall give the reader
♦ Quia ex fete afbumlne foetus ïbrmat»r; fongummtólöminus tempus reqciHtur,
■ ufquedum ad perfaftionem five, exclufionem pervenerit, ob .impedimentum humi-
diut.cis feui frigoris,» guo^pfeatiant ia, pidls fyis, .quo* feunper ip, put .circa -aquas
êxftrqunt. I'
I ' ■ fome