DIOMEDEA EXULANS 145 



Birds of Australia, vii, pi. xxxviii, 1848 ; Oustalet, Miss. Sci. Cap Horn, 

 Ois., p. 157, 1891 ; Salvin., Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., xxv, p. 441, 1896. 



Habitat. — The Southern Ocean. 



There is a Wandering Albatross, found dead inland, roughly 

 stuffed but in good condition, in Mr. A. A. Cameron's house 

 at Useless Bay Settlement, 



On my voyage in the " Milton " I remarked this Albatross on 

 August 2nd, in lat. 22°: 00' S ; long. 40° : 25' W— the furthest 

 north I ever remember having seen it on many Atlantic voyages. 



How poetical is this bird's name, yet how characteristic of 

 its existence ; its home the ocean at its greatest breadths and 

 depths, from the tropics, throughout the roaring forties, to the 

 remote islands in the Antarctic ; wandering at will over the face 

 of the waters ; — that 



" Glorious mirror, where the Almighty form 

 Glasses itself in tempests ; in all time, 

 Calm or convulsed — in breeze, or gale, or storm, 

 Icing the pole, or in the torrid clime 

 Dark-heaving ;— boundless, endless, and sublime — 

 The image of Eternity — the throne 

 Of the Invisible " ! 



All who sail the seas and are the least observant must be 

 familiar with the Wandering Albatross ; but, in a modern mail 

 steamer, amidst a crowd of passengers, awninged and screened 

 from sky and sea, one does not realize it as in a sailing ship, or in 

 an ocean tramp such as " goes a long way in a long time." 



" Wouldst thou , . . 

 Learn the secret of the sea. 

 Only those that brave its dangers 

 Comprehend its mystery." 



Then, at one's leisure, in complete quiet amongst deep-sea 

 men, one may note what a feature it is in a sea-scape 

 limited only by the curve of the earth, and the impression 

 remains on the mind for ever. No other creature is as 



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