The National tribune., 1900-11-01
Hunting the Guacharo Bird.

| We stood in an immense rocky dome,
says William i. Hornaday, Director of
the New. York Geological Park, in Frank
Leslie's Popular Monthly for November,
about 10 feet in hight and 80 wide at its
| widest part. Its floor was covered with
a bed Of dry and spongy brown guano of
nungent odor, strongly suggestive Of the
Peruvian product. No fewer than 200
birds were wheeling and circling in the
| top of the cavern close to the roof, or
fitting noiselessly, like huge brown bats,
within 10 feet of our heads. Although
they were thoroughly alarmed, not one
of the foolish creatures flew out by the
| passage, whittier all might have escaped
| in two minutes, had they only known it.
The cave literally swarmed with them,
and their peculiar grating cries blended
] into a perfect tempest overhead. Outside
| the surf doomed up against the rocks, fill
ing the cave with reverberations. Inside
| the swells came rolling through the pas
| sage and swaShing loudly up the pebbly
beach, while to all this the c5iacharO birds
| joined their ceaseless din, drowning our
own voices so completely that we could
| be heard only by shouting in each others
ears.
At first the darkness was so complete
we were utterly unable to shoot any of
the birds. In sheer helplessness we began
to search for nests and eggs to occupy the
time while our eyes were becoming accus-
toned TO the darkness.
We soon found nests a-plenty, on a huge
mass of fallen rock, which on one side
of the cavern formed a series of lodges 80
feet high. On climbing up we found the
rocks covered to a depth of several inches
with loose guano, on which the nests lay
like so many brown cheeses, from seven
to nine inches in diameter, and three to
six inches high. They are composed
chiefly of undigested fruit skins and seeds.
We found between 40 and so nests, and
the number of eggs in each varied from
one to four.
By the time we had collected salts
factory lot of nests and eggs our eyes had
so adjusted themselves to the place that
we could dimly see the birds that still
circled about in the top of the dome. With
the first shot the cavern roared like peal
Of thunder, but no bird fell. 1t was like
shooting at midnight in forest. Many a
shot we fired in vain, and friend Basanta
shouted out his fear that the heavy and
continued reverberati0ns would bring
down rocks upon us.
At last we found way to bring down
birds. The reflected light from the water
in the passage threw n broad though
feeble beam across the cave, and against
the opposite wall, well up. We found
that as the birds few across this beam
we could see them well enough to aim,
and our guns began to bring them down.
The next moment, so it Semed to us,
Basanta came running up from the wat
ers edge, and shouted in our ears:
The sea is rising, men. We must get
out of this, quick, or we'll get caught"
We stood not upon the order of our 60
ing. Dead birds, nests and eggs and guns
were hurriediy deposited in the boat, and
three of us took our places. The negroes
tiOated the boat, and wa9ed beside it I'M
til Rasanta shouted Now them when
they leaped in and pulled hard for day
light.
Half way out a big roller met us, lifted
the boat with a vicious jerk, banged its
bow against the rocky roof of the tunnel,
and filled it nearly half full of water be-
fore it passed on. Another like it would
surely swamp lis. No wonder the ne
grOes pulled hard and quick, and yelled.
As we cleared the mouth of the passage
our rudder gently kissed the outer edge
of n murderous looking rock we had safe
ly passed over, but which had been in
stantly laid bare by the on-rushing wave.
The water that raced and foamed off its
ragged top fairly hissed with baffied rage; |
and on both sides of us, less than an oars |
length away, lay other rocks like that.
When we reached deep water we lay on |
our oars, baled out the water, and count |
ed our trophies. We had Is adult birds, |
three young ones, three nests and 70 eggs. |
Both before and since that time l have |
been boating in several bad places, but |
never in another which was so thoroughly |
dangerous as that. 1t was a great day; |
and in whalebOat management, Basanta |
and his two boatmen were genuine artists |