THE PACIFIC 205- 



One day in the North Pacific, when the ship was about i^^o 

 miles eastward of the coast of the main Japanese Island of Honshu, 

 an albatross of unfamiliar appearance circled the ship and settled 

 upon the water, folding its long wings, which, so graceful when 

 the bird is in the air, appear unwieldy and out of proportion as 

 it gathers them to it after landing. The bird was white above and 

 below but with brown wings and a white back, and, most notice- 

 able, a yellow-tinged head and neck. There was no doubt in the 

 observers' minds that this must be the Steller's Albatross, named 

 after Behring's naturalist. John Swallow was sent for with his 

 camera, but before he was on deck the bird had taken wing, 

 waddling at first across the surface of the sea, wiggling its stern in 

 a most laughable manner. But once the last wave top was cleared 

 the legs were snugged away, the wings set, and the bird became 

 at once a thing of effortless beauty as it sailed away into the mist. 



Experience with albatross told the watchers it would probably 

 return again to the vicinity of the ship, so Swallow stood by with 

 his camera, and two hours later the bird was sighted coming in 

 low over the wavetops like an enemy torpedo plane. This time 

 the bird circled the ship again and again, never very near, but 

 close enough for John with his telescopic lens ; his photos show 

 sufficient evidence for ornithologists to say that Challenger had 

 undoubtedly sighted this rare bird which had been thought ex- 

 tinct by some authorities for fifteen years or more. The story 

 goes that the Japanese fishermen had been in the habit of killing 

 these birds while they were at their nests on the Izu Islands. Here 

 they were easily caught, for they need a long run to become air- 

 borne. Their downy feathers brought a good price in Japan in 

 those days for use as stuffing for pillows and mattresses. Hearing 

 that legislation was being prepared to protect these fast vanishing 

 birds the fishermen struck first and cleared the few remaining 

 birds once and for all, it was thought, from the face of the earth. 

 Perhaps there is still a hope of revival for this much persecuted 

 lovely, lonely bird of the North Pacific. 



The hundreds of fishing and other small craft met during the 

 day's steaming through the Inland Sea to reach Kure, on the 

 island of Honshu, made the Challenger aware how much Japan is 

 dependent upon fisheries and how much inter-island traffic is re- 

 quired for the every-day running of the country. Kure is a former 



