8 OCEAN BIRDS. 



as possible, aud yet very strong, as if well hooked the hauling of the bird ou board is 

 simijly a question of your tackle holding, and from the fact that you are travelling all the 

 time through the water, no give and take, or "playing" your bird, can be indulged in. 

 Farlow of the Strand, Holroyd of Gracechurch Street, and others, make waterproof cable- 

 laid sea-line in lengths of sixty yards, at about five shillings each, and three such lengths 

 will answer the purpose admirably, while for hooks the largest size treble jack-hooks, such 

 as are used on a spoon-bait, are most suitable. For all the other species of Albatross 

 ("Mollies"), and also the Giant Petrel, exactly the same tackle is necessary, only 

 everything on a slightly smaller scale. 



In common with all other fishing, but more particularly here, as the bird is only 

 hooked in the beak, a tight line must be kept. When you commence hauling or winding 

 him in (I always wound up on a winch like a huge log-reel) the bird generally throws 

 back his head, pushes out both his feet, and flaps "hard astern" with his powerful wings. 

 Care must then be taken to prevent his being dragged bodily under instead of along the 

 top ; as, should this happen the bird gets filled with water, and the weight to pull in is 

 immensely increased. Sometimes, however, he rises in the air, especially in certain 

 latitudes with the wind right aft. In my private log the following notes bear on this 

 subject: — "With a N.W. wind, in and about lat. 13° S. and long. 27° W., on the voyage to 

 Australia, — that is, with the right wind aft, — an Albatross when hooked will fly straight up 

 in the air. This has been noticed for years and years by our sporting Captain (Capt. 

 Austen Cooper, E.N.K., of the 'Carlisle Castle'). It is then a difiicult job to bring him 

 on board, as trying to keep a tight line often results in pulling him right over, and he 

 falls on his back in the water, the hook comes out, and — worst of all — the poor bird rarely 

 succeeds in righting himself again." 



I remember once seeing an Albatross caught in a very strange manner. It was on 

 a Sunday afternoon on board one of the old Australian sailing-ships. Sunday fishing was 

 prohibited, so of course the birds swarmed, aud one Albatross in particular kept hovering 

 right over the man at the wheel. The lead-line was lying out to dry, aud the Captain, 

 in a jocular manner, swung it round and round his head and hove it in true nautical 

 fashion, only straight at the bird. The heavy lead took a turn round its wings, 

 aud, to the surprise of all hands, including even the Captain himself, the bird half 

 flew and was half dragged on board. He strutted and swaggered about for some time, 

 fighting furiously with all the dogs, and was finally launched into mid-air off the 

 taffrail, as one of these birds is unable to rise from such a smooth surface as a 

 ship's deck. 



