midday
I do n't want the death of any more o ' them birds laid to my door than what there 's actooal need for , for they 're purty creeturs , and , when all 's said and done , God made 'em , same 's He made you and me . But I 'm afeard that a few of 'em 'll have to die , so the job might as well be done at once . I 'll go down below and get them shot guns , and you and Mr Temple might as well go ashore directly after dinner . '' Accordingly , as soon as our midday dinner was over , the gig -- our gig -- was hoisted out , and Cunningham and I , with two hands for a crew , and with a shot gun each , together with a double pocketful of cartridges , went ashore to perform the exceedingly unpleasant but necessary task of frightening the birds so effectually that they would not be likely to interfere to any very great extent with our pearling operations . At the last moment , just before shoving off from the schooner 's side , Cunningham shouted to the cook to pass down into the boat the biggest basket that he could find , and this the `` Doctor '' did , with the result that when we landed on the island we carried with us a basket capable of holding quite one hundred gulls ' eggs . We had already decided that the southern extremity of the island was the proper place upon which to deposit our oysters , when obtained , because by placing them there the exceedingly offensive odour which would be generated by the process of decay would be carried away by the wind over the open sea , while by anchoring the schooner as far to windward as possible we might hope to escape in a very great measure , if not altogether , the annoyance of the smell ; therefore , upon landing , we started operations at the south end of the island by driving the birds away from there . But our task was by no means so easy as we had anticipated ; for so extraordinarily tame were the birds that they positively refused to rise at our approach , actually permitting themselves to be caught and their necks to be wrung rather than take the trouble to get out of our way .