THE ALBATROSS. 371 



ness of danger displayed by them on our ap- 

 proach : they never showed the least disposition 

 to move out of our way : even when kicked, or 

 pulled off their nests, they made not the smallest 

 show of resistance ; but quietly returned to their 

 post, or stood still until we passed on. 



" Their plumage is of the finest order, copious, 

 and without the slightest stain. They find great 

 difficulty in getting on wing, and must run 

 twenty or thirty yards along the ground with 

 expanded wings, before they can get fairly under 

 way. We had the curiosity to take one of them 

 by the point of the wings and fling it over the 

 rock ; yet, though it had several hundred feet 

 of a clear fall, it never recovered itself, but 

 dropped down like a stone. On this account, 

 when not engaged with their young, they usually 

 rest upon the edge of the precipice, from which 

 they can launch at once into the air; and on enter- 

 ing again upon that difficult part of our route, we 

 had to kick upwards of a dozen of them to the 

 right and left of us before we could get on." 



It is almost incredible the distance these birds 

 will fly : this has been repeatedly ascertained by 

 marking birds that had been captured, and then 

 suffering them again to be at liberty, watching 

 how long they remain constant about the ship : 

 they follow the vessels for the sake of the offal, 

 _ B B 2 



I 



