Note 816 — THE THIRD VOYAGE NORTH-WARD TO THE KINGDOMES OF CATHAIA and China, in Anno 1596.

The 22 of July, we hauing so good a gale of wind,816 when we came to Cape de Cant,817 there we went on land to seeke for some birds and egs, but we found none; so we sayled forwards. But after yt, about ye south sun, we saw a clift818 yt was ful of birds; thither we sailed, and casting stones at them, we killed 22 birds and got fifteene egges, which one of our men fetcht from the clift, and if we would haue stayed there any longer we might haue taken a hundred or two hundred birds at least; but because the maister was somewhat further into sea-ward then we and stayed for vs, and for that we would not loose that faire fore-wind,819 we [speedily] sailed forwards [close] a long by the land; and about the south-west sunne we came to another point, where we got [about] a hundred [and] twenty fiue birds, which we tooke with our hands out of their neasts, and some we killed with stones and made them fal downe into the water; for it is a thing certaine yt those birds neuer vsed to see men, and that no man had euer sought or vsed to take them, for else they would haue flowne away,820 and that they feared no body but the foxes and other wilde beastes, that could not clime up the high clifts,821 and that therefore they had made their nests thereon, where they were out of feare of any beastes comming vnto them; for we were in no small daunger of breaking of our legges and armes, especially as we came downe againe, because the clift was so high and so stepe. Those birds had euery one but one egge in their neasts, and that lay vpon the bare clift without any straw or other [soft] thing vnder them, which is to be wondred at to thinke how they could breed822 their young ones in so great cold; but it is to be thought and beleeued that they therfore sit but vpon one egge, that so the heat which they giue in breeding so many, [having so much more power,] may be wholy giuen vnto one egge, and by that meanes it hath all the heat of the birde vnto it selfe, [and is not divided among many eggs at the same time]. And there also we found many egges, but most of them were foule and bad. And when we left them,823 the wind fell flat against vs and blew [a strong breeze from the] north-west, and there also we had much ice, and we tooke great paines to get from the ice, but we could not get aboue it.824 And at last by lauering825 we fell into the ice; and being there we saw much open water826 towards the land, whereunto we made as well as we could. But our maister, (that was [with his boat] more to sea ward,) perceiuing vs to be in the ice, thought we had gotten some hurt, and lauered to and againe along by the ice; but at last seeing that we sailed therein,827 he was of opinion that we saw some open water,828 and that we made towards it (as it was true), and therefore he wound also towards vs and came to land by us, where we found a good hauen and lay safe almost from all winds, and he came thither about two houres after vs. There we went on land, and got some eggs and [picked up] some wood to make a fire, wherewith we made ready829 the birds that we had taken; at which time we had a north-west wind with close830 weather.