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 his 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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