348 



The Albatross 



conscious of any effort, except to restrain myself from 

 shooting past her. I got to know the appearance of 

 the creatures on deck, as they certainly got to know 

 me, for often I would poise myself quite low down to 

 windward and gaze with fuU, unwinking eyes upon 

 their faces, while they in turn stared most curiously 

 at me. I grew quite to like them, especially as they 

 fed me bountifully, although I grieve to say that I 

 was often shamelessly robbed by the small fry that 

 clustered in the vessel's wake and because of their 

 insignificance were able to descend and arise very 

 much quicker than I could. For the same reason 

 they were able to evade my righteously angry attempts 

 to deal with them as they deserved. 



Then a horrible thing happened. The wind died 

 away until the ship lay almost motionless, and because 

 there was no use in flying continually around her now 

 that she was still, and as I was loth to leave her, I sat in 

 quiet dignity on the water near her. Presently I saw 

 a beautiful piece of fat floating near me, tugged at by 

 some Cape pigeons who were unable to rise with it for 

 some strange reason. I drove them away, for how 

 dared they thus encroach upon my preserves ? and 

 seized it myself. No sooner had I done so than I 

 found myself being dragged through the water forward 

 by my head. In vain I spread my wings, shook my 

 head vigorously from side to side, held my broad feet 

 out in front of me. I found myself lifted in air and 

 suddenly dropped upon a smooth white surface, very 

 hard to my feet. I became violently sick and ill, but 

 I was surrounded by the creatures I had so long seen 

 standing on the ship, and they only jeered at me. 

 Worse than that, one seized my beak, while another 

 riveted a small chain around my neck, and daubed 

 circles round my eyes with some red sticky stuff. 



