tains. As soon as the mouth of the river was reached
the ship's course was laid a little south of east, the dull green of the
water on soundings changing to the navy-blue of the broad ocean. We were
then fairly launched on our twelve-hundred-mile voyage. The prevailing
winds of the season blow from the west, which with the Australian
current and the Antarctic drift were all in our favor, and so the good
ship sped bravely on her way. The "Mararoa" is a fine vessel of
twenty-five hundred tons' measurement, possessing most admirable
passenger accommodations; so fine, indeed, were her appointments as to
make her seem to us rather out of place upon a track of ocean so little
frequented by travellers. It appeared on inquiry, however, that she was
originally built for the route between San Francisco and Australia, but
proved insufficient in freight capacity.

The tedium of the voyage was beguiled by watching critically the
graceful movements of the wandering albatross, the fateful bird of
nautical romance, which is seen in large numbers below the thirtieth
parallel of south latitude. The peculiarities of this sea-bird's flight
are a constant marvel, for it scarcely ever plies its wings, but
literally sails upon the wind in any desired direction. What secret
power, we wondered, could so propel him for hundreds of rods, with an
upward trend at the close? If for a single moment he partially lights
upon the water to seize some object of prey, there is a trifling
exertion evinced in rising again until he is a few feet above the waves,
when once more he sails, with or against the wind, upon outspread,
immovable wings. With no apparent inclination or occasion for pugnacity,
the albatross is yet armed with a tremendous beak, certainly the most
terrible of its kind attached to any of the feathered tribe. It is from
six to eight inches long, and ends in a sharp-pointed hook of extreme
strength and hardness.

A preserved specimen of the albatross was mounted in the saloon of the
"Mararoa," as an ornament appropriate for a vessel sailing in the
latitudes where this bird-monarch roams. This was easily measured, and
though not of the largest size reached by them, its dimensions seemed to
us extraordinary. The body measured three feet in length, from the beak
to the end of the short tail; the spread of wing from tip to tip was ten
feet eight inches. The web-feet were seven inches across, and armed with
three sharp claws an inch and a quarte