378 HisTony of 



sigTied it. It is very pleasant, on tliis occasion, to behold with 

 what sagacity they portion out the lake or the canal where they 

 are upon duty. They hunt about, they plunge, they rise a 

 hundred times to the surface, until they have at last found their 

 prey. They then seize it with their beak by the middle, and 

 carry it without fail to their master. When the fish is too large, 

 they then give each other mutual assistance : one seizes it by 

 the head, the other by the tail, and in this manner carry it to the 

 boat together. There the boatman stretches out one of his long 

 oars, on which they perch, and being delivered of their burden, 

 they fly off to pursue their sport. When they are wearied, he 

 lets them rest for a while :, but they are never fed till their work 

 is over. In this manner, they supply a very plentiful table ; but 

 still their natural gluttony carniot be reclaimed even by educa- 

 tion. They have always while tbey fish the same string fastened 

 round their throats, to prevent them from devouring their prey, 

 as otherwise they would at once satiate themselves, and discon- 

 tinue their pursuit the moment they had filled their bellies." 



As for the rest, the cormorant is the best fisher of all bii'ds ; 

 and though fat and heavy with the quantity it devours, is never- 

 theless generally upon the wing. The great activity with which 

 it pursues, and from a vast height drops down to dive after its 

 prey, offers one of the most amusing spectacles to those who 

 stand upon a cliff on the shore. This large bird is seldom seen 

 in the air, but where theie are fish below ; but then they must 

 be near the surface, before it will venture to souse upon them. 

 If they are at a depth beyond what the impetus of its flight 

 makes the cormorant capable of diving to, they certainly escape 

 him ; for this bird cannot move so fast under water, as the fish 

 can swim. It seldom, however, makes an unsuccessful dip ; and 

 is often seen rising heavily, with a fish larger than it can readily 

 devour. It sometimes also happens, that the cormorant has 



is supposed that when they are at a very considerable distance from all land, 

 they are enabled, by means of their completely palmated feet, to repose upon 

 the sea. They make their nests in the holes of precipitous rocks, or in the 

 hollows of trees. The young-, yet in the nest, gatheied up in a ball, and 

 covered with a down of the most brilliant white, have a resemblance to 

 powder puifs. Of the long- tail feathers, (sometimes twenty-four inches,) 

 the Otaheitans make plumes for their warriors ; and the Caribs used to pass 

 tiiem through the cartilage of the nose, to render themselves more hand, 

 some, or more terrible. 



