■nil'. \\\Mii,i;iN(i Aiiivi'Koss. 



" How uli, thou wrtiuUivr ol' ihc bloniiv (U't|i, 

 Is the poor sea-boy wakened from liis driam 

 or home and iKnne's delights : when half-ask'cp, 

 High in (he shrouds, he hears thy startling seriain. 



Sate in tlie storm, unhnrt hy wave or wind, 



Or througli the fearful tempest dost thou sour, 

 The fleetest vessels leaving far bi'liind, 



Uneheckcd amidst the elemental loar. 



Alas I how sure the hand that guides tliy wing, 



How safe the rudder, instinct, shapes thy course ; 

 Ah I how unlike things nuule by liands of clay, — 



'Jliy piercing eyes, thy phiions' matchless force." 



The Waiuk'i'ing Albatross is the largest of all the bivd.'S that f'renueiit the sea-coast ; it 

 iiieasiire-s three i'eet in length, while the extent of its wings i.s \ ariousl}' stated. Forster 

 says it is about ten feet ; Parkins, eleven feet seven inches ; Cook, eleven feet ; another 

 authority says twel%c feet — a specimen in the Lcvcrian Museum measured thirteen 

 leet — and Ives describes one, shot o3" the Cape of Good Hope, which measured 

 seventeen feet and a half from wing to wing. " How powerful," says Dr. Arnott, " must 

 be the wing muscles .of birds which sustain tliemselves in the air for hours together! 

 The great albatross, with wings extending fourteen feet or more, is seen in the stormy 

 solitude of the Southern Ocean, accompanying ships for whole days, without even resting 

 on the waves." 



The albatross has been called by the Dutch, the Cape sheep, on account of its 

 exti'eme corpulence. The beak of the bird is very powerful, but it seldom acts except on 

 the defensive. It gets rid of the sea-gulls, who are constantly teasing it, in a singular 

 manner, by descending rapidly through the air, and jolunging the assailant into the 

 water. The general colour is a dull white, clouded with pale brown, the wings being 

 black ; the bill is yellow ; the legs flesh-colour. Its weight has been variouslj' stated 

 at from twelve to twenty-eight pounds. 



Small marine animals and the spawn of fishes form the chief food of this bird ; but it 

 also greedily devours all kinds of fishes when they can be obtained. So voracious is it 

 that it may be taken with a hook and line, baited merely with a piece of sheep's skin. 



To the flying fish these birds are peculiarly obnoxious ; driven by the dolphin out of 

 the water, to vibrate their finny wings in a short flight through the air, they sweep 

 upon them, and seize them with their powerful beak, the edges of which, in both 

 mandibles, are sharp as a knife. Fish of many pounds in weight are securely grasped by 

 this formidable instrument, and borne away with the utmost ease. Their voracity is equal 

 to their powers, and tliey^ are capable of swallowing a verj* large fish at a single bolt. 



A poor fellow who fell overboard from a man-of-war, oft' the island of St. Paul's, in 

 the Southern Indian Ocean, was immediately perceived by two or three albatrosses ; the 

 boat was lowered with all speed, but nothing was fovmd excepting his hat, pierced 

 through and through with the violent stroke of their beaks, tlio first of w'hich had, most 

 probably, penetrated the skull and caused instant death. 



From the great weight of the birds they have much difficulty in raising themselves 

 into the uir, which they do by striking the surface of the water with their feet, but when 

 once on the wing their flight is rapid. It is apparently performed with great ease, as 

 they appear to do little more than sway themselves in the air, sometimes inclining to 

 the left and at other times to the right, gliding with great rapidity over the surface of 

 the sea. It is onty in bad weather that their flight is at any great elevation. Their 

 voice resembles the braying of an ass. 



* J)iomcde>i cxul.iu.-. 



