His Story 341 



means serviceable. In fact, it was on a par with 

 the shark's backbone walking-stick over which so 

 many weary hours used to be spent, the product 

 being neither useful nor beautiful. The membraneous 

 covering of a sea-bird's feet is double, and if the foot 

 is cut off at the knee-joint by careful manipulation 

 the bones may be withdrawn, all but the nails at the 

 extremities, which are left for ornament. Then the ad- 

 hering webs may be gently separated, and so the foot 

 becomes a bag, the sides having a natural join which 

 does not require a seam. But it does seem a trivial 

 purpose for which to slay a beautiful inhabitant of 

 the sea. Moreover, I can say with certainty that I 

 have never seen one used for carrying tobacco. 



And now, as I have done before in the case of 

 Deep-sea Folks, let me endeavour to sketch for you 

 the career of the young Albatross. He whom we 

 saw but lately hatched out upon an outlying spur 

 of the * Crozets that tusk the Southern Pole.' Let 

 him tell his own story : 



How well I remember following clumsily my 

 mother down to the sea. Until then I had never 

 stirred from the little hollow of sand which was all 

 my world. I was not even conscious that of my own 

 kind there was an enormous company near me. All 

 my sensations centred in one, hunger and its satisfying. 

 I felt myself growing, of course, and every now and 

 then would stretch out stumpy, down-covered wings, 

 but hunger was my only real feeling. My mother 

 fed me continually, as it seemed to me she had hardly 

 left me before she was returning, but even so I was 

 angrily squawking for her before she reached me. 

 And no sooner had the food slipped down my wide 

 gullet than I was ready for more. It was my sole 

 object in life. 



