NATURALIST IN INDIA. 7 



three days' duration. At length the hurricane abated, and 

 was succeeded by a dead calm, during which several land 

 birds were seen hovering around the rigging. 



In lat. 36° 37' S., long. 33° 9' E., a little gray fly-catcher 

 flew on board exhausted. Flocks of greedy albatrosses, pet- 

 rels and Cape pigeons crowded around the ship's stern. A 

 hook was baited with fat, when upwards of a dozen albatrosses 

 instantly rushed at it, and as one after another was being 

 hauled on deck, the remainder, regardless of the struggles of 

 the captured, and the vociferations of the crew, kept swim- 

 ming about the stern. Not even did those birds which were 

 indifferently hooked, and made their escape, desist from 

 seizing the bait a second time ! The poor animals seemed 

 half-starved. The wing-bones of the albatross are much in 

 request for pipe-stalks, and purses are made of the skin of 

 the feet. 



Our sailors prognosticated that the unusual famOiarity 

 and tameness of the albatross were certain harbingers of another 

 storm ; and assuredly, towards evening, a mass of dark clouds 

 was seen lowering in the east, and by sunset we had again 

 " hove-to," under close-reefed sail, and were weathering one 

 of the most fearful tropical hurricanes our gray-heade(i cap- 

 tain had ever witnessed. 



We saw no more albatrosses or petrels after passing lat. 

 25° S. Flying-fish began to reappear in great numbers, and 

 seldom a day passed without a tropic bird (Phaeton) to keep 

 us company. The weather, as we again drew near the Line, 

 became more settled ; and we had frequent opportunities of 

 beholding the splendid sunsets of these latitudes — such pic- 

 tures as a Turner never could have painted, or, had he done 

 so, none but those who had witnessed them in nature would 

 credit. 



