ALBEMARLE 152 



ing, and is readily caught with a line and hook 

 baited with a piece of meat. The albatross 

 seeks land only to breed, selecting some lonely 

 island or desolate coast. One large white egg 

 is laid on the ground, no nest of any kind 

 being made. The young bird, which is hatched 

 in about forty days, is covered with a sooty, 

 fluffy down and does not acquire its beautiful 

 plumage for several months. Four species of 

 albatross are found on the Pacific coast of 

 North America, but they are considerably 

 smaller than the true albatross of the Southern 

 006ML 



The most conspicuous reference to the alba- 

 tross in literature occurs in Coleridge's poem, 

 The Ancient Mariner (which see). E.T.S. 



ALBEMARLE, al' be marl, SOUND, a great 

 bay in the northeast lowlands of North Caro- 

 lina, extending from the mouths of the Chowan 

 and the Roanoke rivers eastward to the Atlan- 

 tic Ocean, from which it is separated by a long 

 island. Its length is about fifty-five miles, and 

 its width from four to fifteen miles. The water 

 is shallow and nearly fresh, and the sound is 

 not greatly affected by the ocean -tides. 



ALBERT, FRANCIS CHARLES AUGUSTUS 

 EMANUEL (1819-1861), the husband of Queen 

 Victoria of Great Britain, known popularly as 

 the Prince Consort. His rank of nobility was 

 PRINCE OF SAXE-COBURG-GOTHA. He was born 

 near Coburg, in Germany, and was educated 

 under private tutors and at the University of 

 Bonn. In 1840 he was married to Queen Vic- 

 toria, with whom he lived most happily until 

 his death. 



ALBERT I (1875- ), king of the Belgians 

 since 1909, one of the most heroic and most 

 pathetic figures of the twentieth century. At 

 the end of July, 1914, King Albert was ruling 

 in peace over a prosperous, peaceful nation; 

 two months later he was still king of the Bel- 

 gians, but almost the whole of his country 

 was in the hands of invaders, and he, with the 

 remnant of the Belgian army, was defending 

 lust corner of Belgium over which the Bel- 

 gian flag still waved. The War of the Nations 

 made Albert the idol of his people. He per- 

 sonally commanded the Belgian army, resisted 

 the German advance at every point, and, 

 although repeatedly urged not to expose him- 

 sr-lf to the hardships and dangers faced by his 

 soldiers, refused to yield the active leadership 

 to others. 



King Albert was born on April 8, 1875. He 

 is the son of Philip, Count of Flanders, younger 

 brother of King Leopold II, and the grandson 



ALBERT 



of King Leopold I, the German prince who 

 was elected king of the Belgians in 1831. He is 

 a second cousin of King George V of Great 

 Britain and Ireland and of former William II 

 of Germany, and distantly related to former 



KING ALBERT OF BELGIUM 



King Ferdinand I of Bulgaria. At the death 

 of King Leopold II, on December 17, 1909, 

 Albert became king, because Leopold left no 

 sons and his three daughters were excluded 

 from succession by the Salic law (which see). 

 As a boy Albert was carefully educated, and 

 later made a special study of economics and 

 social science. He traveled extensively, made 

 a study of railways in the United States under 

 the guidance of James J. Hill, and studied con- 

 ditions in the Belgian Congo at first hand. 

 Long before he became king his liberal and 

 democratic inclinations were well known, and 

 since 1909 have frequently shown themselves 

 in the affectionate care he has lavished on his 

 people. 



King Albert's private life, unlike that of his 

 predecessor on the throne, has been above 

 reproach. On October 2, 1900, he married Prin- 

 cess Elizabeth of Bavaria, who was conspicuous 

 at the outbreak of the War of the Nations for 

 her courage and her loyalty to her adopted 

 country. Their eldest child and the heir to 

 the throne is Prince Leopold, born in 1901. 

 There are two other children, Prince Charles, 

 born in 1903, and Princess Marie-Jose, born in 

 1906. W.F.Z. 



