4 i 8 THE TROPIC BIRD. 



tertials. Some of the feathers in it are tipped with white, and others 

 are edged with it, whilst others again are quite black. The outer 

 web on the first five feathers is black, and nearly half of the inner 

 web is of the same colour ; the ends of these feathers being irregu- 

 larly tipped with white, which prevails more in the first feather than 

 in the remaining four. A tuft of dark-coloured feathers with white 

 edges adorns the thighs, and falls gracefully under the coverts of the 

 tail, which coverts are of a similar colour. The shafts of the tail 

 feathers are black for two-thirds of their length, the remaining third 

 being white. The tail itself is cuneiform, the two covert feathers of 

 which measure nineteen inches in length. The bird, from the tip of 

 the beak to the extremity of the tail, is two feet and a half long. 

 Its legs are of an orange colour. The webs of the feet down to the 

 toes are dark-black, except that part which divides the first toe from 

 the small one, it being of the same colour as the legs. 



I have been minute in describing this marine wanderer, as it is 

 by no means common in our museums. Moreover, I take a more 

 than ordinary interest in the bird on account of its singular habit 

 in going to such an astonishing distance from the land. Its name, 

 too, is very interesting to me, as it brings into my mind pleasing 

 recollections of that Roman poet who has left such sound instruc- 

 tions for the welfare of young country squires, in Apollo's warning 

 to his rash and luckless son. 



On the coast of Cayenne, in South America, there is a rock of 

 enormous dimensions. It is called Le Grand Connetable by the 

 French, and it rises out of the ocean, at some distance from the 

 shore, like an aquatic giant of the first magnitude. On its shelving 

 protuberances are to be found the nests of innumerable sea-fowl. 

 Amongst these winged explorers of the deep it is said that the tropic 

 bird prepares for incubation and rears its young. I say, " It is 

 said," for I have not been there. I once made the attempt, as will 

 be seen in the sequel, but fortune failed me, verifying the remark 

 of Sancho Panza, "Tal vez hay, que se busca una cosa, y se halla 

 otra," Sometimes we go in search of one thing, and find another. 



Having hired a canoe and seven negroes in the town of Cayenne, 

 I set off at six in the evening, and proceeded through the waters of 

 the interior, where they flow betwixt the island of Cayenne and the 



