BuLLEK. — Observations on an Ocean Voyage. 183 



less pure albiuoes of Ossifraga gigantea, one of these having 

 not a vestige of colour on any part of the body. A fellow- 

 passenger, however, Mr. William Temple, who came out to 

 New Zealand by the E.M.S. " Arawa," informs me that last 

 Christmas, when about half-way between the Cape of Good 

 Hope and Hobart, an exceedingly large Albatros, of snowy 

 whiteness, without a single dark feather of any sort, came up 

 astern, and followed the steamer for some time. The chief 

 engineer was induced to stop the engines for half an hour, and 

 lines were thrown out in the hope of taking this beautiful bird. 

 It came very near being caught ; but, after one of the ordinary 

 kind had been hoisted on board, the engines were put in motion 

 again and the albino was left behind. These birds are known 

 to live to a great age, and for years to come, in all probability, 

 this majestic Albatros will sweep with its snow-white pinions 

 the dark waters of the South Pacific. Let us hope that at the 

 breeding-season it will repair to one of the great Albatros 

 nurseries periodically visited by the Government steamer 

 " Hinemoa," and that Captain Fairchild, who is ever on the 

 lookout for novelties, may have an opportunity of annexing it 

 for science. These "nurseries" are doubtless a long way off 

 from where the bird was seen, but, as will presently appear, 

 distance is as nothing to an Albatros. 



To return, however, to my bird now in attendance on the 

 ship. But for the black-tipped wings this magnificent 

 Albatros might have been the one that so narrowly escaped 

 being hooked by the " Arawa" passengers. He cruises about 

 amongst the other Albatroses, but always at a distance from 

 the ship. The individuality of this bird is so pronounced that 

 it can be distinguished from the rest at almost any distance, 

 and it will be interesting to note how long it will follow the 

 steamer. 



It seems to me that we have not yet solved the problem 

 involved in the flight of the Albatros — a rapid, well-sustained 

 motion, ever against the wind, with scarcely any visible move- 

 ment of the wings. There are some very sensible observa- 

 tions on the subject in Dr. Bennett's "Gatherings of a 

 Naturalist in Australasia"; Professor Hutton has grappled 

 with the mechanical principles it rests upon ; and the Duke of 

 Argyll has treated the question in a masterly way in his 

 " Reign of Law\" But, after all, can it be said that the prob- 

 lem has been satisfactorily solved? I think not. Sir James 

 Hector believed, with myself, that it might be explained by 

 some peculiar mechanism in the wing of this bird; and at 

 a meeting of our society some years ago he elaborated a very 

 ingenious theory on the subject, exhibiting at the same time 

 an Albatros-wing specially prepared to illustrate his argument. 

 In 1889 he took the trouble to send to England a fine adult 



