One of this class was so stimulated with alcoholic strength and courage, that suiting his action to the word or impulse, he threw his spear with all his might into the broadside of one of the huts, and it passed within a short distance of the captain's head. He at once concluded it was time for him to seek a place of safety a little farther off, out of the reach of such dangerous missiles thrown by irresponsible hands. He was careful, however, as it was necessary for our protection, not to exhibit any signs of fear in their presence. They had a regular, thorough-going drunken time. Allow us to say, that _excessive_, _moderate_, or _occasional_ drinking of alcoholic stimulants from love to the "dear creature," makes fools not only of the poor natives inhabiting the shores of the Arctic, but also fools, and greater ones too, of those dwelling in the more civilized, and even Christianized, portions of the earth. In the month of May Captain Norton took a short cruise into the interior, about one hundred miles, with the head man and several others, accompanied by their dog teams. The settlement he visited was called _Souchou_. The principal food among the natives there was deer meat. Articles of traffic carried from the coast were whalebone, whale, walrus, and seal's blubber; in return the natives bring to the coast deer meat, tobacco, spirits, &c. In order to while away our time at East Cape before ships would make their appearance, or the ice break up, we would frequently go bird's-egging. The cliffs facing the ocean were high and steep, and various kinds of birds would make their nests and lay their eggs in the crevices and holes of the rocks. No one could ascend them unaided from the bottom, nor would any one dare descend them from the top of the cliff. We would, therefore, lower down one and another from the top by means of ropes, or walrus cord, fastened around his body; with this precaution, he could penetrate into recesses in the cliff, and obtain as many eggs as were wanted, and then those at the top would draw him up again. This exercise furnished a source of amusement, emulation, and personal daring; and the last, though not the least, the eggs thus obtained gave an agreeable variety to our "bill of fare." One incident occurred which came near having a sad termination. Mr. Osborn fell down a steep declivity ten feet or more, and in his descent he happened to strike a narrow, shelving piece of rock, "just large enough," he said, "to stand upon," which saved him from instant death. The distance below him was more than one hundred and fifty feet. The Orkney Islands are a famous resort for fowls, which build their nests in the caverns of perpendicular cliffs; and individuals obtain eggs in those places in the manner before described, by letting down one and another from the top of the cliff by means of ropes.