92 DOUGLAS' JOURNAL 



weather of its forbidding, dreary climate. It is only when the wind blows 

 furiously and the ocean is covered with foam like a washing-tub that I 

 could take the Albatross. Diametrically opposite to every account I 

 have read of them, they all say calm. Their voice is like the bleating of 

 goats ; on being taken they emit from the mouth an oily matter of diSerent 

 colours, arising no doubt from the great variety of Physalae, Bene, and 

 other zoophytes on which they live. 



In all, of the brown ones I caught forty-nine, two of which I preserved ; 

 both males ; no females came under my notice. OS the Cape a third 

 species made its appearance, white on the belly and under the wings, 

 back greyish, blackish-brown on the upper side of the wings ; neck, light 

 azure colour ; beak, black upper part and point yeUow ; legs and feet 

 black. Two of this I caught, but only one could be preserved (a male) ; 

 it is a much larger and stronger bird than the other : when he attempts 

 to take the bait, or even to light near it, they all, seemingly with fear, 

 leave it to him. He was very ferocious and would bite at sticks held 

 out to him ; one of the sailors in assisting me to lay hold of him was 

 bitten in the thigh through the trousers — the piece was taken out as if 

 cut with a knife. Their flesh is fishy and rancid. On the same day I 

 caught two petrels of a bluish-white colour, beak and legs partly red ; 

 this species on the water is very graceful and by no means very plentiful, 

 their voice is like the chuckling of young ducks ; the two now sent home 

 are males. 



During the time (ten days) of rounding the Cape the weather was stormy 

 with generally a fine clear sky. The motion of the vessel was great, the 

 waves frequently breaking over it, and no sleep until completely worn out 

 with fatigue. When the wind blows from the south or south-west the 

 cold is insupportable, and yet the thermometer never was lower than 39°, 

 45° the greatest ; there is a piercing rawness in the atmosphere (laying 

 aside being so lately in the tropics and of course more susceptible of cold) 

 quite unknown in the northern hemisphere in similar latitudes. Daylight 

 sixteen hours, sky generally clear azure and beautifully tinted in the 

 evenings just as the sun leaves the horizon. 



November IQth. — ^We were considered round, and gladly we bade adieu 

 to such inhospitable regions. The weather moderated gradually and we 

 soon found ourselves navigating more pacific water. 



November nth. — Caught two of Biomedea exulans ; the largest weighed 

 18 lb. and measured 12 feet 4 inches from tip to tip ; 4 feet from the 

 point of the beak to the tail. Both were moulting and not worth preserving. 

 All the species when sitting on the water raise the wings like the swan — 

 when eating particularly so — ^but do not shake them like the hawk tribe. 

 When rising from the water they partly run, partly fly, tipping the water 

 with the point of the wings and feet for several hundred yards before they 

 are clear of it. They cannot rise from the deck of the vessel. Their 

 flight is quick but steady ; when fishing they soar with wings in a curved 

 direction. 



In the latitude of 54° South 77° West Longitude a curious species of 

 porpoise was seen in abundance with a pure white stripe on each side from 



