64 LIFE OF TEGETMEIER 



minutes and sent to render the required aid. 

 There seemed every prospect that the pigeon 

 service would become a regular institution in 

 the work of life-saving all round our coasts. 

 So well pleased were the Brethren of Trinity 

 House with the service that, in 1881, they 

 presented the originator of it with a testi- 

 monial in the shape of a cheque for twenty-five 

 guineas. 



But the success of the first years did not 

 continue. Tegetmeier knew more about pigeons 

 than any other man in England — perhaps than 

 any other man in Europe : but he did not know 

 (how could he know ?) that the birds would 

 deteriorate under the conditions of their existence 

 on board the lightships. Of necessity they had 

 to be confined in their cages often for weeks 

 together, as release meant instant departure 

 for " home " — the lighthouse loft at Harwich : 

 yet pigeons are kept in similar confinement on 

 shore without hurt. This drawback of ship life 

 was one which could not have been foreseen : 

 the continual motion of the light-vessels 

 proved detrimental, and the pigeons suffered 

 from what can onty be called sea-sickness, 

 and this, with the conditions of ship-board life, 

 made them unreliable when required to 

 fly. Tegetmeier had warned the lighthouse 

 authorities that the birds would be useless 

 in foggy weather, but this discovery that 



