CHAP, iv.] EXPLANATION. 135 



lady had much better have presented the voyager and 

 his crew with an enormous and well-seasoned Pigeon- 

 pie to eat, and a barrel of good Scotch ale to drink, on 

 first coming in sight of the ice; for hope deferred 

 maketh the heart sick, both with friends at home, and 

 with sailors abroad. On Sunday, the 13th of November, 

 1850, two strange Pigeons were observed flying about 

 the dovecote at Annan Hill, which being under repair 

 at the time was unfortunately shut. Suspicion was 

 excited, and on next Thursday they were traced to the 

 seat of a neighbouring gentleman, and one was secured. 



The fact of their being captured elsewhere, proves 

 that they were only a pair of stray Pigeons, in search 

 of a home they knew not where, and not Miss Dunlop's 

 Pigeons come back again. 



" Its feathers were ruffled and somewhat torn, showing, 

 very probably, that the dispatch attached to it had worn 

 off in the long and weary flight of somewhere about 

 2000 miles. Unfortunately, therefore, there is no 

 written intelligence from the explorers. The other 

 bird has not been caught. We remember no similar 

 feat being performed by a Pigeon," &c., &c. 



In the " Manchester Guardian," Mr. J. Galloway 

 throws discredit on the whole affair, in the following 

 very sensible remarks : " Those who know anything of 

 the habits of Pigeons, or the careful training requisite 

 to enable them to accomplish long flights, will not easily 

 be led astray by the clumsy invention of some ignorant 

 wag, desirous of practising on the credulity of the pub- 

 lic. Two Pigeons were said to have been seen at a 

 considerable distance from their cot, because it was 

 shut up. This would be contrary to their habits ; they 



