52 



such other important aftairs, as rendered it impossible that he should come 

 to their relief. Upon the reception of this letter the city was immediately 

 surrendered to the Christians ; upon the third day, the Sultan arrived accord- 

 ing to his promise, but perceiving how matters went, returned again with 

 his army." 



146. — That passage of making the Pigeon fall to the ground by the 

 shout of the soldiers, seems a little too much to savour of E omish super- 

 stition ; for it appears a little unphilosophical, to imagine that the air could 

 be so far broke by a shout, as to render the strong pinions of so swift a 

 bird useless. 



147. — Ovid likewise, in his Book of Metamorphoses, tells us that Tau- 

 rosthenes, by a Pigeon stained with 'purple, gave notice of his victory at the 

 Olympic games, the very same day on which he gained it, to his father at 

 -^gina. 



148. — WiLLOUGHBY also in his Ornithology, and with that I shall con- 

 clude the account of this bird, produces the example of the ancients in 

 making use of Pigeons for the conveyance of letters ; thus Hiritius and 

 Brutus at the siege of Modena, by means of Pigeons held a mutual corres- 

 pondence with each other. 



147, 148. (Eaton.) — The Carrier, no doubt, derived its name from its great cunning, 

 sagacity, its love for its native home, which it appears never to forget or forsake — the 

 home where it was reared. Imagine a sweep had bred and reared one of the 

 most imdeniably best Carriers that ever was reared, and it had its liberty to fly about. 

 It afterwards so happened that, for its elegance and properties, it was purchased to 

 adorn our MostGracious Majesty's poultry house or pigeonary at Windsor, confined two 

 years to breed from ; its young, as a matter of course allowed to fly, would stop, being 

 at home ; but the parent bird, at the expiration of its two years' confinement — having 

 been pampered with all the best food and seeds that could be procured for it — do you 

 suppose it would stop 1 Many woiild suppose it would, being in such comfortable 

 quarters. You may suppose it comfortable quarters ; the Carrier, longing, by power- 

 ftd instinct, for its first home, might consider it captivity. The keeper of the Pigeons, 

 sensible he had got several of this bird's strain, some equally as good, if not better, 

 that flew and stopped at home, and fancying the parent bird was losing flesh, becom- 

 ing mopish, and out of condition, owdng to having been so long pent up, determines to 

 give it its liberty at all hazards, knowing where to flnd the bird at its original home. 

 Do you suppose this Carrier would stop, after all the kindness, as some would call it ? 

 The Carrier did not consider it kindness ; on the contrary, captivity. Certainly it would 

 not stop after it was let out ; it might plume its feathers ; it would then mount the ele- 

 ments and look for its native home^ which it would reach m about half-an-hour, for 

 they are known to fly a mile a minute, as you may often see in BelVs Life, The Field, 

 Cottage Gardener, The Poultry Chronicle, and other papers. 



There are people in the world who suppose from hearing of a Carrier Pigeon carry* 

 ing and bringing home a letter or message, that it will act the part of a postman ; that 

 you have only to write a letter or note, twist it round the leg, inform the bird where to 

 take it to, or put on the direction, viz. : — • 



Fuzzamuzzy Aldiberontickosphofogo, Esq., 



14, Straight Street, Crooked Lane, 

 Near Tooley Street, 



In the Borough. 

 (Haste— Private.) S. E. 



Carrier Pigeons cannot be made to play the part of a postman. They will not 

 take a letter to your next door neighbour, although it will bring home a letter, mes- 

 sage or note, neatly twisted and secured round its leg, from a distance of one hundred 

 miles or more ! 



