102 THE ARCTURUS ADVENTURE 



For all averred I had killed the bird 

 That made the breeze to blow. 

 "Ah wretch !" said thej, "the bird to slay, 

 That made the breeze to blow!" 



The extreme of ridiculous theory is to be found 

 in a very old book by Wiquefort, who says "thefe 

 birds are often f een fleeping in the air, entirely re- 

 mote from land, with their head under one wing, 

 and the other employed in beating the air!" 



There came a day when the homes of these birds 

 were discovered, usually a tiny coral focus of the 

 scattered individuals which roam so far and wide 

 over the oceans. One island became known to some 

 Japanese who had neither pity nor superstitions, 

 and before President Roosevelt could enforce his 

 sanctuary legislation they had starved or carved 

 alive nearly a million albatrosses for their wing 

 feathers which were sold to milliners as eagle 

 plumes. Then sentiment and kindness again be- 

 came dominant — the feather markets in our cities 

 were closed and wardens appointed on the tiny 

 islets, and if the desire which museums have for 

 endless series of skins can be controlled, it may be 

 that for many years these magnificent birds will 

 continue to share this good earth with us. 



There is an authentic record of an invaluable, 

 although it must be admitted involuntary, benefit 

 rendered to man by an albatross. Some years ago 

 there fell exhausted and dying from starvation 

 upon the beach at Freemantle, West Australia, a 

 great albatross. When found, it had a tin plate 



