UNCLE IN ENGLAND. 7 



waves, sometimes singly, sometimes in great 

 numbers, when pursued ; but in avoiding one 

 danger they are exposed to another, for it is said 

 that the man-of-war bird has been seen to 

 pounce upon them while in the air. Their flight 

 is generally in a direction contrary to the wind, 

 and seldom exceeds a hundred yards ; nor do 

 they rise high, though Captain M. says he has 

 seen them fall on his deck. He showed me 

 their enemies too, the bonito and the albacore y 

 which, he says, are both of the mackarel tribe. 

 They swim with great rapidity, and are so strong, 

 that they sometimes, in the midst of the most 

 rapid course, leap five or six feet perpendicularly 

 above the surface, and plunge again head fore- 

 most into the waves. 



4:th. I have been looking at Mother Carey's 

 chickens, the least of all the petrels, I believe ; 

 and the fulmar, which is certainly the most 

 beautiful, for its plumage is of a snowy whiteness, 



and, as Mrs. P observed, seems unsoiled by 



the water, though constantly diving. 



7th. It seems a very long time since we have 

 seen land, but I am not yet tired of a sea life. 

 Much as I love all the works of nature, I never 

 felt such admiration for any thing as I do for the 

 sea. Its extent, its depth, and the grand and 

 almost terrific sound of its waves it fills one's 



