8 4 
PIGEON-POST. 
forty miles asunder, provided with pigeons, and sentinels 
stood there constantly on the watch, to secure the intelli¬ 
gence 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 despatched two hours after the 
first. The despatches were, however, not always enclosed 
in gold, but merely in paper, in which case, to prevent the 
letters being defaced by damp, the legs of the pigeon 
were first bathed in vinegar, with a view to keep them 
cool, so that they might not settle to drink, or wash 
themselves on the way, which in that hot climate they 
were often doing.” 
The modern mode of transmitting messages by pigeon- 
post is much more ingenious, and less irksome to the 
bird. The slip of paper is rolled up very tightly, and 
inserted in a small quill, which is stitched to one of the 
tail-feathers. 
Formerly it was not an uncommon thing to send a pair 
of doves or pigeons as a present— 
“ I have brought you a letter and a couple of pigeons 
here .”—Titus Andronicus , Act iv. Sc. 4. 
The constancy evinced by pigeons towards each other, 
