CARRIER. 



553 



Carrier. CARRIER, a specfes of pigeon, which ! 



* T"""'' reived tli.it name from bein^ employed tu conveying 

 letters from one phu:r to another. It is the Co- 

 lurnba (all lltirta of Linnxus, and is thuscharnct< 

 cere broad, caninculat-, whitish, eyelids naked." 

 I3ut this description is too indefinite to enable ordinary 

 observers to recognise the species ; we may therefore 

 remark, that the carrier is of a larger size than the 

 greater part of pigeons, being 15 inches in length 

 from the point of the bill to the extremity of the 

 tail, and sometimes weighing 1 20 ounces. Its shape 

 is more symmetrical from the length of neck, and 

 closeness of the feathers ; and the breadth of the 

 chest added to these two, are considered not only in- 

 dications of the use, but of the qualities of the indi- 

 vidual. The colour is not a distinguishing mark, 

 the carrier being black or dun, blue, and blue- 

 pyebald, the two latter of which are most esteemed 

 by pigeon fanciers from their rarity. The cere of 

 this bird is very large, extending over half the upper 

 chap of the bill in a white, tuberous, furfuraceous 

 flesh, called the wattle, hanging down on both sides 

 next the head, and terminating in a point about the 

 middle of the bill. On the appearance of this several 

 properties are supposed to depend, which has given 

 birth, to cruel operations on the bird. As the wattle 

 of a good carrier should be broad across the bill, and 

 rise high at the head, a method has been contrived to 

 impose on the less skilful, by artificially elevating the 

 bind part with cork fixed in by wire, in such a man- 

 ner as scarcely to be perceptible. The eyes are sur- 

 rounded by the same furfuraceous substance, extend- 

 ing to about the diameter of a shilling ; and the wider it 

 is, the more the carrier is valued. But the best birds 

 are said to have three peculiarities in the appearance 

 of the bill, three in the wattle, three in the head, 

 and as many in the eye: though some concentrate 

 thrm in one each, to which are added the length and 

 slenderness of the neck, and the length of the body. 

 We are unacquainted with the country of which the 

 carrier is indigenous ; but it is said to have betn im- 

 ported into Britain, where it is now completely na- 

 turalized, from Bussorah. 



Though the superstitious partiality with which 

 pigeons iu general have been viewed, may perhaps 

 be traced to passages in Scripture, the qualities 

 of the carrier were prized before the Christian re- 

 ligion was known, and in countries where it was 

 never recognised. It is the peculiar property of 

 this bird to find its way through the air from incre- 

 dible distances, over which it has been conveyed hood- 

 winked, or in a covered basket, back to its usual 

 abode, which has taught mankind a mode of trans- 

 mitting intelligence by its aid. The Greek and Ara- 

 bic poets, in their figurative language, alike represent 

 the interchange of amatory billets by pigeons ; and 

 Martial describes one as an ominous messenger of 

 welcome tidings. 



Aera per taciturn ddapsa sedcntis in ipsos 

 fluxit AretulUe blunda columba sinus. 



Hecc a Surdoit, tUnforsitan exults oria 

 frotrc rtrcrawro, nunciu. vcnit avis. 



Lib. viii. Eleg. 32. 

 But we are distinctly told by ./Elian, that Tauroa- 



VOL. V. PART II. 



thenes, a victor in the Olympic games, communica. Carrier, 

 ted his success to hi father by means of a pigeon, to * 

 which a purple ligament was i'iinv also nar- 



rates, that a corn- b[, vas carried on by meant 



of pigeons, at the siege of ."-' 



iit/ncifc in ;/i// /'.v if'n\ fitiTf <j,,str,las amtf.rag en 

 rum m-tlitntt olisidi nn-imi nt ca.\!ru ('ontu- 



lum Dn-inio lirnto mittrntr. " Of what avail," he 

 adds, " were centmcls, circumvallations, or nets ob- 

 structing the river, when intelligence could be con- 

 veyed by a. rial messengers." More recent instances 

 are given of the utility of pigeon*, in communicating 

 information to the besiegers or besieged during time* 

 of warfare. It is said that while an army was be- 

 sieging Tyre, in the Crusades, intelligence from a 

 distant quarter was suspected, from a pigeon being 

 frt quently observed hovering over the city. By tome 

 means the besiegers obtained possession of the bird, 

 removed a billet attached to it containing useful in- 

 formation, and replaced it with deceitful intelligence. 

 The pigeon was again liberated ; and having convey- 

 ed the false information, the besiegers were enabled 

 to render themselves masters of the place. In other 

 cases correspondence has been intercepted, where the 

 bird, terrified by thr sight of a hawk, has sought the 

 earth, and thus fallen into the hands which it was 

 most important to avoid. 



In more modern times, the carrier has been employ, 

 ed to convey intelligence, which required immediate 

 communication, to the Turkish government, which 

 practice subsisted in the time of Sir John Mandcvillc, 

 who travelled in the 1 4th century, and is alluded to 

 by Baumgarten, who was at Alexandria in 1507. At 

 a later period, there was a regular chain of posts, 

 kept up by high towers, between 30 and 40 miles a- 

 sunder, provided with pigeons, and sentinels stood 

 there, constantly on the watch, to secure the intelli- 

 gence communicated to each, and transmit it along. 

 The notice was inscribed on a thin slip of paper, en- 

 closed in a gold box of small dimensions, and as thin 

 as the paper itself, suspended to the neck of the bird : 

 the hour of arrival and departure were marked at 

 each successive tower, and, for greater security, a du- 

 plicate was always dispatched two hours after the 

 first. 



It was not uncommon, in the course of the 18th 

 century, for the English merchants at Aleppo to ob- 

 tain intelligence of the arrival of their vessels at Scan- 

 deroon by the same means. Whatever could be com- 

 prised in few words, was written on a slip of paper, 

 and fastened to the pigeon, which immediately took 

 flight. It was usual to stnd down the pigeons from 

 Aleppo, that they might always be ready at the port, 

 and no delay ensue. Maillet, the French consul in 

 Egypt, relates, that a merchant of Aleppo, having 

 accidentally killed one of these feathered messengers, 

 was the first to learn that a scarcity of galls prevail- 

 ed in England, and profiting by the intelligence, he 

 made a speedy transaction, by which he gained 10,000- 

 crowns. This practice of employing pigeons, in Sy- 

 ria, has been discontinued. 



We are not aware that the carrier pigeon, and 



its kindred species, have been used in Britain for the 



regular conveyance of written intelligence. But 



some years ago there were instances, and perhaps ruxt; 



4* A 



