83. The landing at the base of the Rock, showing crate.
84. The landing on top of the Rock, showing crane. The Kittiwakes at the bottom of the picture are shown in No. 85.
Our outfit was speedily placed in the dory, and with the Rock and its birds now looming high above us, we pulled for the bit of rock-fringed beach which constitutes the only available landing place. It was already evident that the island offered endless opportunities to the bird photographer, and as each stroke of the oars brought us nearer I felt a sense of exultation, such perhaps as a miner experiences when he discovers that his claim promises an assured fortune. The boat was beached with a rush, and landing at the base of the cliff,[83] which rose like a wall somewhat over one hundred feet above us one could realize the danger attending an attempt to land here in anything but the calmest weather. We were now introduced to the car or basket in which we were to make actually the final stage of our journey. It seemed a frail, cratelike affair of light strips of wood, and measured about two and a half feet square and three feet high. After our cameras, plates, gun, ammunition, etc., had been snugly stowed, we obeyed the direction to enter the crate and take seats on bits of board placed across opposite corners. The end of the long, dangling rope was attached, in response to Captain Bourque’s roaring “Hoist away!” a faint reply came from the tiny figure which in a sickening way had been leaning over the edge of the rock above, watching our proceedings, and a moment later the rope tightened, strained, and we were clear of the ground and slowly rising. A long experience in elevators had made me anticipate this part of the Bird Rock journey without concern, but the instant after the ascent began I discovered that we were not only going up but around as well, and the twisting motion was so novel, so unlike anything to which I had previously been accustomed, that I confess to a feeling of surprise, to say the least. The sudden jars, as the rope in winding slipped off the preceding coil and dropped suddenly, perhaps an inch, gave us a sufficiently clear idea of the feelings which would attend the beginning of a fall, and it was with a decided sense of having had a narrow escape that, on being hoisted slightly above the level of the summit of the Rock, we saw the arm of the crane[84] pulled inward, bringing the crate over the land, to which we were gently lowered.
The twenty years which have elapsed since Cory visited the Rock have reduced the time required for the ascent from twenty-seven to six minutes. The world moves, therefore, even at Bird Rock.
To a naturalist this slow passage through the air, about six feet from ledge after ledge, crevice above crevice, filled with Kittiwakes,[85] Murres, and Razorbills, with great white banks of snowy Gannets on either side, possesses an almost stupefying fascination. The birds were so abundant and showed such entire lack of fear, I seemed to have reached, if not the heart, at least one of the most important centers of the bird world.
Alighting from the crate, we were greeted by Mr. Bourque’s two assistants and his daughter, a girl of sixteen, who, with a third assistant, now absent on leave, completed the population of the island. There should be added, however, one cow—an important member of the Rock colony, who had reached her elevated position in life by means of the same apparatus with which we had just gratefully parted company. Numerous buildings,[86] which we had barely noticed from the sea, were found to form a miniature village on the grassy, nearly level summit of the Rock, giving to the scene an atmosphere of comfort and homeliness which strongly emphasized one’s sense of isolation.
85. Kittiwakes and young on nests. From the crate.
