46 ON TIIE BEACH AT DAYTON A. 



land of the free is a great country. Here, 

 let us hope, the parallel ends. Whether 

 on the banks of Newfoundland or elsewhere, 

 it cannot be that the great republic would 

 ever snatch a fish that did not belong to it. 



I admired the address of the fish-hawks 

 until I saw the gannets. Then I perceived 

 that the hawks, with all their practice, were 

 no better than landlubbers. The gannets 

 kept farther out at sea. Sometimes a scat- 

 tered flock remained in sight for the greater 

 part of a forenoon. With their long, sharp 

 wings and their outstretched necks, like 

 loons, but with a different flight, they 

 were rakish-looking customers. Sometimes 

 from a great height, sometimes from a lower, 

 sometimes at an incline, and sometimes ver- 

 tically, they plunged into the water, and 

 after an absence of some seconds, as it 

 seemed, came up and rested upon the sur- 

 face. They were too far away to be closely 

 observed, and for a time I did not feel cer- 

 tain what they were. The larger number 

 were in dark plumage, and it was not till 

 a white one appeared that I said with as- 

 surance, " Gannets ! " With the bright 

 sun on him, he was indeed a splendid bird, 



