88 
THE CARRIER PIGEON. 
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, haying a light actiye body, fur- 
nished with long wings, in which the first quill- 
feather is equal in length to the rest, a sure indica- 
tion 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, pro- 
vided with Pigeons, and sentinels stood there, con- 
stantly 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 succes- 
sive tower, and for greater security, a duplicate was 
always despatched two hours after the first. The 
despatches were, however, not always enclosed in 
gold, but merely in paper; in which case, to prevent 
* Yol i., p. 91. 
