43 NIMROD OF THE SEA; OR, 



false alarms were raised from the mast-head ; ships were seen . 

 and passed ; none spoken. We watched the little pilot-fish un- 

 der the bows, and the great albatrosses as they sailed about 

 the ship or floated gracefully on the water. About the Bra- 

 zil Banks several of these great birds were taken by baiting a 

 floated hook with fat pork. As the " Antient Mariner" hath 

 it : " It ate the food it never had eat ;" and, in consequence, 

 it fell into the hands of those who had not the awful warn- 

 ing of the slayer of albatross before their eyes. We caught 

 and killed them to obtain the long, hollow bones of the wings, 

 for ornamental needle-cases for the " girl I left behind me." 

 One grand old fellow, whose stretch of wing was guessed as 

 twelve feet, and whose great, hooked beak seemed little in- 

 jured by his capture, we preserved from death to convert 

 into a messenger. Writing the words " Chelsea, of N. L., 



Captain B ; all well; lat. 2'7°S.,long. 36°W.,"we secured 



the paper in oiled silk. This was waxed, varnished, render- 

 ed perfectly water-proof, and secured by a cord around the 

 base of the bird's neck. A red ribbon streamer was attach- 

 ed to attract attention. All being prepared, we headed our 

 messenger by compass a true course for our " sweethearts 

 and wives," and launched him on the wing with a loud hur- 

 ra. Forty-two months from this time we learned the con- 

 clusion of our venture. Five months after we had released 

 the bird in lat. 27° S., it was shot from a pilot-boat off the 

 harbor of New York, and our dispatch, with the manner of 

 conveyance, made an item in the papers of'iH&t city. This 

 was the first news our friends had received of the wild wan- 

 derers. Thus the albatross had come like a voice from the 

 sea to many anxious hearts, bearing a welcome message five 

 thousand miles, and, like the messenger from Marathon's 

 bloody field, dying in delivering it. As I have anticipated 

 in the case of the albatross, let me do the same with the lit- 

 tle pilot-fish which leads our good ship on her way. From 



