THE ALBATROSS. 379 



hour on board, by firing at them as they 

 fly about the ship. These little " indefatiga- 

 bles," as some are pleased to term them, are too 

 often doomed to become the subjects of this mur- 

 derous sport. Often and often, with broken 

 wings, they are left to linger on the wide ex- 

 panse of waters, unable to procure any food 

 but that which may accidentally pass them ; 

 buffetted about by the waves, and helpless in 

 themselves, they linger out a miserable existence, 

 until death puts a period to their misery. It is 

 revolting to the feelings to see these beautiful 

 and perfectly innocent birds destroyed, solely to 

 gratify the inclination to destroy. 



In latitude 36° 25' south, longitude 5° 18' west, 

 in July, 1832, the D. fuliginosa, or Sooty 

 Albatross, was first seen flying about the ship ; 

 these breed in great numbers on the island of 

 Tristan d'Acunha. The greatest number I ever 

 saw of this species about the ship, was during 

 strong breezes on the 30th of July, which were 

 attributed to the vicinity of St. Paul's and Am- 

 sterdam Islands, about which islands I have 

 always remarked this species of Albatross to pre- 

 dominate : there were a few resembling Chlo- 

 rorynchus amongst them. We had seen the 

 fuliginosa very rarely since we had arrived at the 



