288 
LETTERS FROM 
several days. During this time, while at the 
distance of sixty or seventy miles from the 
nearest land, we were visited by a great 
number of birds, many of which were so 
tired that they suffered themselves to be 
taken by the hand. The swallows must 
have been a long time on the wing, for they 
were so exhausted that the boy Diego caught 
upwards of thirty in the space of two days. 
The following is a list of our visitors : swal¬ 
low, marten, sand-marten, wheatear, yellow- 
hammer, little butcher-bird, robin, stone- 
chat, willow-wren, little horned owl, and 
hoopoe. The latter beautiful bird rested on 
the bowsprit for a few seconds only, and 
then took his departuie, but the poor little 
owl was caught by one of the men and con¬ 
fined for several days, when he died, and 
was immediately boiled and eaten by his 
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captor! 
