THE CARRIER PIGEON. 
279 
thus gave two thousand two hundred and thirty millions, two 
hundred and seventy- two thousand Pigeons ! and yet this he 
considered to he less than the real number. Computing each 
of these to consume half a pint of seed daily, the whole 
quantity would equal seventeen millions, four hundred and 
twenty-four thousand bushels per day. Heaven, he adds, 
has wisely and graciously given to these birds rapidity of 
flight, and a disposition to range over vast uncultivated 
tracts of the earth, otherwise they must have perished in the 
districts where they resided, or devoured the whole productions 
of agriculture, as well as those of the forests. 
When noticing the flight of birds, the rapidity of these, 
and of our trained Carrier Pigeons, was alluded to.^ The 
Passenger Pigeon is particularly adapted for speed, having a 
light active body, furnished with long wings, in which the 
first quill feather is equal in length to the rest, a sure 
indication of that rapid and long-continued flight which they 
are known to possess. This faculty, in addition to the 
possibility of training that particular species, the Carriers, 
to return without deviation or delay to places from whence 
they had been removed, was, from very early days, turned to 
good account. We learn from an ancient historian, Diodorus 
Siculus, that, above two thousand years ago, they were used 
as conveyers of intelligence, and about five hundred years 
ago, relays of Carrier Pigeons formed part of a telegraphic 
system, adopted by the Turks. Regular chains of posts were 
established, consisting of high towers between thirty and forty 
miles asunder, provided with Pigeons, and sentinels stood 
there, constantly on the watch, to secure the intelligence 
communicated by the birds as they arrived, and to pass it on 
by means of others. The note was written on a thin slip of 
paper, enclosed in a very small gold box, almost as thin as 
the paper itself, suspended to the neck of the bird ; the hour 
of arrival and departure were marked at each successive 
tower, and for greater security, a duplicate was always des- 
patched two hours after the first. The despatches were, 
* See page 75. 
