The rocks were strewn with eggs, and the air resounded with the cry of the birds as they saw them gathered up by Owasso.
The old magician took the opportunity to speak to the gulls.
"I have long wished," he said, "to offer you something. I now give you this young man for food."
He then uttered the charm to his canoe, and it shot out of sight, leaving Owasso to make his peace the best way he could.
The gulls flew in immense numbers around, all ready to devour him, but Owasso did not lose his presence cf mind. He addressed them and said:
"Gulls, you know you were not formed to eat human flesh, nor was man made to be the prey of birds. Obey my words. Fly close together, a sufficient number of you, and carry me on your backs to the magician's lodge."
[Original]
They listened attentively to what he said, and seeing nothing unreasonable in his request, they obeyed him, and Owasso soon found himself sailing swiftly homeward through the air.