ement of danger and adventure
which in some slight degree may be said to have invested the exploits
of the other pirates who have infested Lundy.

Benson, having laded a vessel called the _Nightingale_ with a valuable
cargo of pewter, linen, and salt, insured her heavily before she
sailed, ostensibly, for Maryland. But he had arranged with her master,
Lancey, to put back at night and land the cargo at Lundy, and then to
burn and scuttle the _Nightingale_. This was accordingly done, and the
crew took to the boats and were picked up by a homeward-bound ship;
but, as usual in these circumstances, one of the crew, animated by some
personal pique, "blew the gaff," in the parlance of roguery. Lancey
was taken, tried, and hanged, and Benson escaped to Portugal.

Little more remains to be said of the history of Lundy. In 1834 it was
purchased by Mr. Heaven, and remained the property of his family for
over sixty years, till 1906, when it once again came on the market, and
was bid for by Germans, but was withdrawn from sale, and remains in
English possession.

But I cannot close this short account of the island without a brief
reference to the wild life which abounds on the pinnacles of its
inaccessible rocks, on the fern-covered, steep slopes, and in its
numberless sea-washed caves, which are haunted by seals, or were until
within the last few years; for the brutality and selfish carelessness
of chance visitors allowed to land by the courtesy of the owner have
driven away much of the timid wild life which had taken refuge against
the advancing tide of civilization. Seals used to be observed in fair
numbers, particularly at the southern end in a great cave called Seal
Cave, and walruses were occasional visitors. But lobsters and crabs
are still caught in very great numbers, and, together with the
innumerable conies which breed on the island, form the staple industry
of the island.

Lundy is also the last stronghold of the original old English "black
rat," which has been invaded and destroyed throughout England and
Scotland by the common Scandinavian brown rat; Rat Island, at the
south-eastern corner by the landing-stage, commemorates in its name
this last fortress of a dying race.

But it is for its birds that Lundy is perhaps most notable. To those
who first approach its mighty cliffs it might appear to be the haunt of
all the birds in creation. There are gulls of many varieties, falcons,
kestrels, ravens, crows, c