6 AT SEA. 



that of catching these birds with fishing lines ! They were 

 very easily caught by baiting the hooks with salted pork. 

 Scarcely had the line reached the water when many of these 

 birds pounced on the baits, and one was caught, the hook 

 penetrating in its upper mandible. Then it was an easy task 

 to hoist it on board. We skinned several specimens. The 

 Cape pigeon, or Daption capensis, is a bird belonging to the 

 family of petrels, or Procellaridae. It is snow-white, beauti 

 fully spotted with brownish black. Hence their vulgar name, 

 draught, or damier in French. The flesh of these birds is 

 oily, and has a bad taste, nevertheless the sailors eat it. 



On the 2ist, we saw for the first time some albatrosses, or 

 Cape sheep, as they are vulgarly called by sailors. We fished 

 one of them, and made a fair skin of it. The albatrosses, 

 the largest sea-birds known, belong also to the same family of 

 Procellaridae. Many species are known; but the two usually 

 met with in the South Atlantic are the Diomedea ciilminata and 

 the giant albatross, or Diomedea gigantea. They are especi 

 ally characterized by their beak being as long as their head, 

 formed of several pieces and sharply hooked at the tip, their 

 nostrils tubular at the base or on the side of the bill, their hind 

 toe elevated and consisting merely of a claw, and the tarsi 

 being reticulated, and usually shorter than the middle toe. 

 They are oceanic birds, and generally found at sea at great 

 distances. Their flight is rapid and powerful, and apparently 

 they can keep it for days and nights together. When the sea 

 is agitated, and the winds high, is when many are seen, seeking 

 their food in the midst of the agitated waves. Sometimes 

 they are seen resting on the waves, and it is with difficulty 

 that they can take their flight again. They live chiefly on 

 fishes, crustaceae, and carcases. They seldom seek the land, 

 except at the breeding season, when they build their nests in 

 the holes of rocks. The flesh is a very poor eating. From the 

 bones of the wings, sailors make pipe stems. The palms of 

 the feet are made into tobacco pouches, and very good pillows 

 and quilts are made with the feathers. The heads are kept 

 as curiosities. The specimen we caught was about thirteen 

 feet wide from the extremity of one wing to the other. 



On the 22nd, we sighted PATAGONIA, Cape Blanc, and 

 Pingouin s Islands were distinctly visible. In the evening we 

 passed the Gulf of St. George. We saw many birds, vulgarly 

 called fools (Sula bassana) , and many stormy petrels (Procel- 

 laria pelasgica) , called satyrics by the sailors. This is the 

 smallest known species of petrels. Seven species are known,. 



