476 TRAVELS IN 
When this kind of intercourfe was rendered 
impradlcable by high winds and a too ftormy 
fea, we had recourfe to another, that of mu- 
tually writing letters, of which the gulls and 
terns were the carriers. 
Thefe birds, beaten by the winds and tired 
with their flight, would pitch upon our yards 
to reft themfelves, where the failors eauly 
caught them. Having faftened our little epif- 
ties to their legs, we then let them fly, and, 
making a noife to prevent their alighting 
again on our veflTel, obliged them to wing 
their courfe to the next. There they were 
caught again by the crew, and fent back to us 
in the fame manner with anfwers to our let- 
ters. This curious ftratagem has fomething 
kind and affedionate in it, which tranfporj^ 
me to other regions ; and it is one of the cir- 
cumftances of my travels which I always re- 
collefl: with additional pleafure. 
In the latitude of 10^ 15^ north, and lon- 
gitude 355^5 w^e met with a calm that delayed 
us feveral days, and in the interval I witnefled 
a phenomenon, which, though known to the 
crew, was to me perfedly new. 
Jin enormous flat fifli, of the ray genus, 
caiTie 
