Litchfield enquirer., 1855-03-15
THE ALBATRoss.

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 One fine afternoon, when our ship witi
 her crowd of passengers was in the South
 ern Atlantic, or more properly, the South
 ern Indian Ocean, and farther ts the south | ward than the tracks of most vessels being as remember, in latitude as high as forty five degrees, the albatross came about us in unusual numbers. The weather was light, the bird was eager for slush or anything that. fell from the slip, and our passengers eager for sport, it being the first week after We had got into the , bird attitudes. The mate who had the deck was willing-probably with the cap. tain's knowledge-to indulge them. Fas- tening a large hook to a spare log line, and 1 batting it with big piece of pork, he soon had victim out of the focks that were fol- ,, lowing close astern, and landed him, not without assistance, over the taffrsil upon the poop. We were all astonished at his size, which was so much larger than ap- peared from the deck, and as may be sup posed, had peculiar curiosity respecting 1 the bird of $ the Ancient Mariner"
 The albatross is the most poetic object on 1 the ocean. There is nothing iE all nature 90 noble, free, notwithstanding animate, , that SO brings the sense of intinity, and ' mystery, ana boundless space into the day light. His home is in the Southern Oceans, below twenty degrees south of the line =
 Here he ranges alone or in company, over wastes of water that 1t takes fast ships from forty-6ve to sixty days to sail across His flight is not high; It is long. low swings, mile or two each way. Except In alighting and getting under weigh again lie rarely moves his wings. only some times giving few grand. strong flaps i; then sailing away, now on one side, now on the other, now far astern, again across the ships bows; he may be watched in any weather, going over d hundred miles of distance to the ships one. No gale sends him to Ieeward, no calm lessons the swift ness with which he "shaves with level wing the deep" Sometimes there come hundreds of this kind at once, at others have watched solitary one for days to- gether. l never saw one aight except to pick up something that had fallen or was thrown from the ship. Their alighting and rising is goose-ike and ungfaceiui, but once afoat, their motions have an almost supernatural-sublime beauty. It is possi- ble they may sleep at night on the waves, but we never fell in with them as we did with Cape Pigeons, in the dark. have thought l could perceive when the latter were tired, after several days of rough weather, but never the albatross.
 Onthe ships deck they are powerless, exceptto bite with their long hooked bills
 So far from being able to perch on mast or shroud, they are web-footed-and cannot fly from the deck or even stand upon it, ex- ,cept momen,arily. Their plumeags is white, spotted, often most beautifully, with various shades of brown and black. Eff teen f.rt is low average for their stretch of wing. Some that we caught measured more than this, and heard of one being ta- ken that reached twenty two. The ex- precision of their eyes, as they look around them helpless on the deck, is that which 1 might be ascribed to a proud, noble wo- man, made the mock of pirates. Nothing ! not human ever wore a look SO high, So imploring, yet so dauntless. confess that it filled me with grief and anger, and shame for my species, to see the captives abused hy dog and men more cruel than dogs.- l knew them to be stupid, foolish birds, in tent only on filling their s,omachs with disgusting garbage, and cruel even 10 eat each other. tearing and devouring a disa- bed one that may he thrown to them with out mercy. Yet could not bear to see our enterprising young gentleman" cut of l their wings 10 make pipe stems of the lit tie bones, and skinning their feet for purses, while the poor, ignorant things were alive. felt the superstition of the poem, though, among sailors, there is not only no such superstition, but the birds are regarded as fair game. A retired whaling Captain told me that once in the South Pacific, when Il was blowing fresh, the parral of yard, l on which were seven men, gave way, and the yard swung to ieeward, precipitating the msn into the sea. He said the gonies had them before boat could reach them.- They saw them from the deck pick at them as they were swimming, and when the boa, reached the place, there were tra. css of blood on tho water. The blood might have been occasioned by the fall, and the birds attracted by that, or only by curiosity.-N. Y. Courier and Eaqu,er.
 1 THr GRAVE OF Ex- PRESIDENT HARRISON. There is not, in nature. more truly beautiful spot wherein the dead should lie, than that at North Bend. But, alas how rude hands of unfeeiing visitors have desc crated it. Eqerything bore evidence oi
 neglect, decay, and sacrilegious pillage.-
 The door covering the steps which lead te
 the vault was off its hinges-:orn off, as we
 are told, by some pick-nic parties, to serve
 as table on which to spread their provl
 sions and drinks, and after being thus used it had been thrown down the hill. where |
 was lying. leaving the entrance 10 the tomt
 open and exposed 10 the winds and rains l The fence, too. which encioses the spot
 was bloken. The whole thing inised wat a ruin. and 90 it remains. The family a 1 North Bend hsya done all in their power (