THE TROPIC BIRD. 



291 



tunities from Cayenne to Paramaribo occurred but 

 very rarely. 



Cervantes remarks, that where one door is shut 

 against us another is opened to us. Some six 

 months after this, in my passage home across the 

 Atlantic, on board the Dee, West Indiaman, com- 

 manded by Captain Gray, we saw Phaeton sit- 

 ting on the wave, within gunshot of the ship — a 

 rare occurrence. I fired at him with effect ; and as 

 he lay lifeless on the water, I said (without any 

 expectation of recovering the bird), " A guinea for 

 him who will fetch the bird to me." The vessel was 

 then going smartly through the water. A Danish 

 sailor, who was standing on the forecastle, instantly 

 plunged into the sea with all liis clothes on_, and 

 swam towards the bird. Our people ran aft, to 

 lower down the jolly boat, but it was filled with 

 lumber, and had been well secured with lashings for 

 the passage home. Our poor Dane was now far 

 astern ^ and in our attempt to tack ship, she missed 

 stays, and we were obliged to wear her. In the 

 mean time, we all expected that the Dane had gone 

 down into Davy's locker. But, at last, we fortu- 

 nately came up with him ; and we found him buf- 

 feting the waves, with the dead bird in his mouth. 



I dissected it, and prepared it, and have kept it 

 ever since, nor do I intend that it shall leave my 

 house, as the sight of it often brings to my remem- 

 brance an occurrence of uncommon interest, now 

 long gone by : — for it is twenty years and more since 

 I received the tropic bird from the cold and trem- 

 bling hand of our adventurous Dane. 



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