THE CARRIER PIGEON. 279 



thus gave two thousand two hundred and thirty millions, two 

 hundred and seventy-two thousand Pigeons ! and yet this he 

 considered to be less than the real number. Computing each 

 of these to consume half a pint of seed daily, the whole 

 quantity would equal seventeen millions, four hundred and 

 twenty-four thousand bushels per day. Heaven, he adds, 

 has wisely and graciously given to these birds rapidity of 

 flight, and a disposition to range over vast uncultivated 

 tracts of the earth, otherwise they must have perished in the 

 districts where they resided, or devoured the whole productions 

 of agriculture, as well as those of the forests. 



When noticing the flight of birds, the rapidity of these, 

 and of our trained Carrier Pigeons, was alluded to.* The 

 Passenger Pigeon is particularly adapted for speed, having a 

 light active body, furnished with long wings, in which the 

 first quill feather is equal in length to the rest, a sure 

 indication of that rapid and long- continued flight which they 

 are known to possess. This faculty, in addition to the 

 possibility of training that particular species, the Carriers, 

 to return without deviation or delay to places from whence 

 they had been removed, was, from very early days, turned to 

 good account. We learn from an ancient historian, Diodorus 

 Siculus, that, above two thousand years ago, they were used 

 as conveyers of intelligence, and about five hundred years 

 ago, relays of Carrier Pigeons formed part of a telegraphic 

 system, adopted by the Turks. Regular chains of posts were 

 established, consisting of high towers between thirty and forty 

 miles asunder, provided with Pigeons, and sentinels stood 

 there, constantly on the watch, to secure the intelligence 

 communicated by the birds as they arrived, and to pass it on 

 by means of others. The note was written on a thin slip of 

 paper, enclosed in a very small gold box, almost as thin as 

 the paper itself, suspended to the neck of the bird ; the hour 

 of arrival and departure were marked at each successive 

 tower, and for greater security, a duplicate was always des- 

 patched two hours after the first. The despatches were, 



* See page 75. 



