TO THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 91 



seasons, resor^ in immense numbers to the high and precipitous rocks 

 of the coast, to breed. The boys visit these communities at the time 

 when the birds are known to be silting, and silently approaching the 

 nest, quickly and adroitly pluck the two long feathers from the tail 

 without doing other injury to the anxious parent. By this mode so 

 many feathers are procured, that on almost any day, in the Island of 

 Oahu, at least fifty bunches of the size of a man's arm might be pur- 

 chased from the boys, who hawk them about for sale. 



A large brown Albatross (which I have named Diomedea Jusca) in- 

 habits these seas. It differs considerably from the common white spe- 

 cies which is so abundant around the two great Capes. Though smal- 

 ler than the Cape Bird, it yet measures from twelve to fourteen feet 

 across the wings. No one who has not seen this noble bird in flight 

 can form any idea of the extreme ease and grace with which it skims 

 over the foaming billows. Its long, falcate wing seems never to tire. — 

 Sometimes it seeks the higher regions of the atmosphere, sailing, with- 

 out any apparent motion of its pinions, and performing the most sub- 

 lime aerial evolutions. Again, it descends to the surface, and floats over 

 the dashing and sparkling waves ; now lost to sight in the deep trough 

 of the sea, and instantly re-appearing on the crest of the next billow. — 

 On, on, he flies over the wild and wasteful ocean, without ever appear- 

 ing to rest, except when he alights to pick up something floating on its 

 surface. As an instance of the most incredible endurance of the Alba- 

 tross, ] will relate a circumstance which occurred during my voyage 

 from Chili to the United States. About five days after leaving the port 

 of Valparaiso, a single Albatross made his appearance, the first we had 

 seen — I happened, at the time, to be practicing with a pair of large horse- 

 man's pistols ; my target being a porter bottle suspended from the fore- 

 yard. As the bird hove in sight, our Captain seized one of my pistols 

 and fired. The ball passed through one of the wings, breaking a long 

 feather, but doing the bird no further injury. Strange to say, this bird 

 kept with us, being easily recognizable by the broken and dangling 

 feather. It became a habit with me each morning, to look for the Al- 

 batross, and I never was kept long waiting. Indeed the huge bird seem- 

 ed to have taken a fancy to our ship, (although it must be acknowl- 

 edged he had not been treated very kindly by us,) and night or day he 

 appeared never to leave us. Whenever the moon gave light, our con- 

 sort^ (as we were wont to call him,) was always near us, and for the 

 space of more than three weeks, during which time we voyaged about 

 two thousand five hundred miles, we never knew him to alight upon 

 the surface of the sea. Finding it impossible to procure specimens of 



