THE ALBATROSS. 393 



skinned, and, having soaked them in salt water 

 until the morning, we parboiled them, then, 

 throwing away the liquor, stewed them in a very 

 little fresh water till they were tender, and 

 had them served up with savoury sauce : thus 

 dressed, the dish was universally commended, 

 and we ate of it very heartily, even when there 

 was fresh pork upon the table." 



I was not aware, until I perused the entertain- 

 ing "Fragments of Voyages and Travels," by 

 Captain Hall, that the Albatross was ever found 

 so near the equator. " On the '24th of May," 

 he writes, " the day before crossing the equator, 

 a number of those huge birds, the Albatrosses, 

 were seen soaring over the face of the waters, 

 and the flying fish, when rising into the air to 

 avoid their natural enemies, the dolphin and 

 bonito, were frequently caught by these poach- 

 ing birds, to the very reasonable disappointment 

 of the sporting fish below, on whose manor they 

 were trespassing. These intruders proceeded 

 not altogether with impunity, however, for we 

 hooked several of them, who, confident in their 

 own sagacity and strength of wing, swooped 

 eagerly at the baited hooks, towed far astern of 

 the ship, and were thus drawn on board, scream- 

 ing and flapping their wings in a very ridiculous 

 plight." 



