I have been working hard at the Birds from Grand Menan, as well as John, who is overcoming his habit of sleeping late, as I call him every morning at four, and we have famous long days.... The hull of the vessel has been floored, and our great table solidly fixed in a tolerably good light under the main hatch; it is my intention to draw whenever possible, and that will be many hours, for the daylight is with us nearly all the time in those latitudes, and the fishermen say you can do with little sleep, the air is so pure. After repeated delays the _Ripley_ sailed from Eastport for Labrador on June 6, 1833, and the journey proved arduous and hazardous enough. Although disappointing in respect to the number of new species of birds discovered, Audubon's visit was well timed; he was aided by a band of devoted and energetic youth, and they spent two months on the coast of a wild country, then but little known save to a nefarious crew of egg robbers and a few enterprising fishermen. His published journal of the voyage shows that he worked to the full limit of his physical powers in studying and portraying the wonderful bird life which the party encountered. Despite the miseries of seasickness, an incompetent pilot, tempestuous weather, and the cramped quarters of a small schooner, where all his drawings had to be done under an open hatch, he accomplished wonders, considering the shortness of his stay. By rising at three o'clock in the morning and working for seventeen hours, he succeeded in completing many large drawings of birds, as well as studies of characteristic flowers; he also journalized voluminously and saw much of the coast and its adjacent islands. From Eastport they passed through the Gut of Canso and steered for the Magdalen Islands, where they landed and made collections. On June 14 they approached the famous Bird Rock, which at a distance seemed to be covered with a mantle of new-fallen snow, an illusion soon dispelled as their vessel bore them nearer and a vast concourse of Gannets rose in great clouds from the rock; "all stood astonished and amazed," said Audubon, and he felt that such a sight had of itself fully repaid them for their journey. On June 17, the twelfth day out from Eastport, they passed Anticosti Island, and soon began to see what appeared like white sails on the horizon; these proved to be snow drifts on the Labrador, and on the 18th they landed at the mouth of the Natashquan River. Ducks, Geese, Auks and Guillemots were there in great multitudes, as well as Gulls and Terns; many were breeding, and all seemed wilder than at points farther south, a circumstance which was explained as soon as they discovered the astounding proportions which the traffic in eggs of sea fowl had attained even at that time.[34]