They had to climb a little to reach the eggs, but there were certainly plenty of them when they got there. The ground was covered with the rough nests,—just a few sticks with no art in the construction,—but there were hundreds upon hundreds of them, far beyond the children’s power to count. There were eggs in all stages of incubation from fresh-laid to fully hatched, and awkward squabs tumbled about, while the air was rent by the discordant cries of the older ones.
The unpleasant odor arising was so strong that Jennie sickened and quickly retreated to the beach below, where the fresh air was untainted, but Esther and Davie were undaunted by the noise or the smell and remained to be taught the difference between fresh eggs and stale ones. The eggs were smaller than the ordinary hen’s egg, being more slender and pointed, with a pale-blue chalkiness, which was not so apparent in eggs that had been for some time sat upon.
Neither Delbert nor Marian had seen these islands before or any others like them, but Clarence had, and they remembered his teaching and soon had all the fresh eggs they could carry away. Delbert also picked out a couple of half-grown squabs, whose necks he wrung as soon as he reached the beach; and soon they had their kettle full of eggs simmering, while the squabs roasted before the fire.
DELBERT PICKED OUT A COUPLE OF HALF-GROWN SQUABS
Cormorants’ eggs have a slight fishy flavor, but the Hadley appetite did not stick at that, nor at the fact that the white does not coagulate solid, but remains a quivering jelly of a pale-green color, through which the yellow yolk can be plainly seen. The flavor of the squabs, too, might not have been appreciated at Delmonico’s, but Marian’s company was not so fastidious as some people are. That which could be eaten they ate without ado.
And after they had eaten all they wanted, they examined the island. There was nothing of importance upon it but the birds and the eggs. There was some driftwood, to be sure, which they threw up on the high banks out of reach of the tides, in case they might want it some time; and down on the narrow little beaches the children found great numbers of little clamshells, from the size of Davie’s little fingernail up to as large as a quarter, and of various assorted colors, which they gathered with great enjoyment.
Their fire at home having been carefully covered as usual, they did not need to take any embers back with them, and so used the ashes to pack eggs in, putting into the barrel and the old demijohn all they thought they could use up before they would spoil. It took several trips up to the nests to get enough, and they took a dozen half-grown squabs as well. These, with their legs tied together, were also put into the barrel, where in spite of all precautions they managed to break quite a number of eggs before they were landed at Smugglers’.
As it chanced, they had a tide in their favor on the way home, and they arrived in good time. They carried their eggs up to the Cave and they picketed the squabs out, tying each one where it could not get entangled with its neighbors.