THE OCEAN VOYAGE 113 



On Saturday, the 9th of August, we had quite a heavy 

 thunderstorm accompanied by lightning as early as half- 

 past seven in the morning; on the 10th, 11th and 12th 

 the winds blew at intervals from all directions, with great 

 force, particularly on the first-named day. That kind of 

 weather causes the sailors a great deal of work, as they 

 have to adjust the sails and rigging constantly, now 

 changing them from one side to the other, then repairing 

 this or that one, now setting and then again laying them 

 to. During the whole voyage we had not had as much 

 rolling and cruising as in these few days, although the 

 sea did not go so very high. 



The first albatross reached our ship on Monday, the 

 eleventh of August, shortly after sun-set. At first we saw 

 but little of these web-footed birds, but the further we 

 went South, the more numerous they became. Flying, the 

 albatross resembles the stork, on account of its snowy 

 plumage and black tipped wings, though there is in re- 

 ality very little resemblance if one looks at it close by. 

 It is generally as large as a swan but has a short, thick 

 neck; its beak is extraordinarily strong, often more than 

 three inches long and crooked like that of a hawk. 

 Mamuris made their appearance next; they closely re- 

 semble the albatross witli the exception that their 

 plumage is quite dark-grey. AYe caught one which meas- 

 ured seven feet from tip to tip. The further we went 

 South the more numerous became the birds; and many 

 beautiful species surrounded our vessel. They are all ex- 

 ceedingly handsome, with an unusually fine and soft, 

 thick plumage. Being exceedingly greedy, one can catch 

 thorn without much trouble with a strong fish-hook baited 

 with bacon. YYe had generally several lines out, if the 

 weather was favorable; and it was by no means an un- 

 common occurrence to see a dozen or more of these pretty 

 birds run about our deck; the peculiar fact is, that these 

 birds can only raise themselves out of the water or man- 

 age to fly from high points. Whenever we got tired play- 

 ing with them we would wind gay ribbons around their 

 necks and retain tliem to freedom. 



