the common English water-hen for many
minutes walking along at the bottom of a stream, apparently as much in
its element as if on shore, pecking and feeding as it walked."

"You say that aquatic birds can not remain long at sea,--where do they
go to?"

"They resort to the uninhabited islands over the globe, rocks that
always remain above water, and the unfrequented shores of Africa and
elsewhere; there they congregate to breed and bring up their young. I
have seen twenty or thirty acres of land completely covered with these
birds or their nests, wedged together as close as they could sit. Every
year they resort to the same spot, which has probably been their
domicile for centuries,--I might say since the creation. They make no
nests, but merely scrape so as to form a shallow hole to deposit their
eggs. The consequence of their always resorting to the same spot is
that, from the voidings of the birds and the remains of fish brought to
feed the young, a deposit is made over the whole surface, a fraction of
an inch every year, which by degrees increases until it is sometimes
twenty or thirty feet deep, if not more, and the lower portion becomes
almost as hard as rock. The deposit is termed guano, and has, from time
immemorial, been used by the Peruvians and Chilians as manure for the
land; it is very powerful, as it contains most of the essential salts,
such as ammonia, phosphates, etc., which are required for agriculture.
Within these last few years samples have been brought to England, and as
the quantities must be inexhaustible, when they are sought for and
found, no doubt it may one day become a valuable article of our carrying
trade. Here comes Mr. Fairburn; I hope he intends to continue his
notices of the Cape settlement."

"They have interested me very much, I must confess; he appears well
acquainted with the colony."

"He has had the advantage of a long residence, and during that time an
insight into all the public documents: this you may be certain of, that
he knows more than he will tell."

As soon as Mr. Fairburn joined them, Alexander requested him to
continue his narrative, which he did as follows.

"You must not suppose, Mr. Wilmot, that because the English had now
possession of the colony, every thing went right; governors who are
appointed to the control of a colony require to be there some time
before they can see with their own eyes; they must, from their want of
information, fall into the hands o