170 PIGEON FLYING. 



in the morning, and by noon of the same day, thir- 

 teen of them had reached home. The first arrived 

 at half past eleven o'clock. One of the Flemish 

 breed, turned off after the fight for the champion- 

 ship, at Warwick, by Harry England, of the Green 

 Man Inn, Kent Road, performed the ninety-two 

 miles in three hours and thirty minutes. Mr. At- 

 wood made a bet of one hundred sovereigns, that 

 he would fly six pigeons from the high ground near 

 Crostwick, in Norfolk, one hundred and fourteen 

 miles, and that one should arrive at his loft, in 'the 

 Sanctuary, St. George's Fields, within four hours and 

 a half. The other part of the match was, fifty pounds, 

 that the second bird would not be at home in five 

 hours and a half, and a like sum that the third would 

 not in seven hours. The event proved as follows ; 

 the first bird was at the end of his flight in twelve 

 minutes within the given time, and the second bird 

 arrived within five hours; but the others were not 

 heard of during the day. 



In July 1828, fifty-six carriers, brought to London 

 from Liege, were flown in the neighbourhood of 

 Aldersgate-street, at thirty-four minutes past four 

 o'clock, A. M. One of them called Napoleon, reached 

 its destination, a distance of three hundred miles, at 

 about twenty-four minutes past ten o'clock the same 

 morning, having thus accomplished its journey in five 

 hours and fifty minutes, which is somewhat beyond 

 the speed of the eagle, (a heavy bird,) and is stated to 

 be about forty-five miles per hour. The other pigeons 

 followed in succession, and most of them reached 

 Liege at noon. This is a large city in Westphalia, 



