126 CARRIERS. [CHAP. iv. 



term to the cross between the Horseman and the Tum- 

 bler. 



There is another Horseman, of which the Treatise 

 observes, " It is to this day a matter of dispute, whether 

 this be an original Pigeon, or whether it be not a bas- 

 tard strain, bred between a Carrier and a Tumbler, or 

 a Carrier and a Powter ; and so bred over again from a 

 Carrier ; and the oftener it is thus bred, the stouter the 

 Horseman becomes. 



" The only thing that seems inclinable to favour the 

 opinion that they are original, is a strain of this kind 

 brought over from Scandaroon, which will fly very great 

 lengths, and very swift; but still the answer readily 

 occurs, that they may be bred originally the same way 

 at Scandaroon, and so transmitted to us ; but that we 

 cannot determine." 



CARRIERS are a race of Pigeons which from a remote 

 antiquity have been employed in the office of fetching, 

 rather than of carrying, letters. They thus bring in- 

 telligence home from whatever place, within their 

 power of return, they may have been purposely sent to. 

 They do not carry letters out wherever they are bid, as 

 some have supposed. They are the reverse of the 

 General Post : that forwards a note to any part of the 

 known world ; they will only deliver a note from any 

 part of the world known to them. To avail one's self of 

 the services of Carrier Pigeons, birds must first have 

 been sent to the place from which intelligence is 

 desired : so that in cases where difficulty of access is 

 likely to occur, considerable foresight has to be exer- 

 cised. It would be no use wishing for the arrival of 

 a courier Pigeon from a fortified town, or the Eddystone 



