412 THE ALBATROSS. 



" And 'tis further observed, that when there is great 

 plenty of them, the Lent corn of the country is so much the 

 better, and so the cow pastures too, by reason they pick up 

 all the worms, and the fern flyes, which though bred in the 

 fern, yet nip and feed on the young corn and grass, and 

 hinder their growth." 



We next come to the largest sea-bird that flies, the 

 Wandering Albatross (Diomedea exulans), of which we have 

 already partly spoken; but large as they are to the eye, 

 they are not so in reality, for so abundantly covered are they 

 with feathers, that when plucked, they appear not above half 

 their original size, and when cleaned, their weight is com- 

 paratively trifling. With this light body, and an immense 

 spread of wing, our surprise is lessened at their being able 

 to venture so far from land ; Captain King^ having met with 

 them almost a thousand miles from the 'nearest shore. 



It is a pleasing relief to the eye, when sailing over the 

 landless oceans frequented by the Albatross, and where, 

 except now and then a passing sea-bird, nothing meets the 

 sight but a tract of boundless water, to observe this superb 

 bird sailing in the air, in graceful and elegant movements, 

 seemingly under the influence of an invisible power; for, 

 when once elevated in the air, there is scarcely any visible 

 movement of its wide wings. Rising, as if some concealed 

 power guided its various motions, without any muscular 

 exertion of its own, and then descending, it sweeps the air 

 close to the stern of the vessel, with an independence of 

 manner as if it were monarch of all it surveyed. 



It has been remarked by an observer, who has given the 

 best account of these birds,f that they could lower themselves 

 even to the water's edge, and then again rise without any 

 apparent impulse. Whether with or against the wind, seems 

 to be a matter of indifference to them. No tempest troubles 

 the Albatross, for he may be seen, with equal vigour, 

 sportively wheeling in the blast and carousing in the 



* KING'S Australia, vol. ii. 

 t BEN NET'S Wanderings in New South Wales. 



