THE DEAD ALBATROSS AND ITS MESSAGE

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1693, 22 October 1887, Page 3

THE DEAD ALBATROSS AND ITS MESSAGE

Referring to the finding of a remarkable message from the sea m the shapo of a band fastened round the neck of an albatross, the West Australian says that the boy who secured the albatrosi states that the bird was quite warm when he found It, The message on the band is as follows ; — " 13 uaufrages snnt refugees surles lies Orozst, 4 Aout 1837." Translated this roads as follows :— " 13 shipwrecked sailors have t«ken refuse on the islands Crozjt, 4th August 1887." Oar oontemporary In a later issae says : " everyone mast have been astonished at the extraordinary incident of the albat ross found on the North Beaoh carrying its moßssge from the sea. The perhaps moat remarkable part of the incident is the question — what cou'd have induced the bird te leave ita haunts and fl/ 4000 miles straight away? This mast have .< been the first thought of many. An interview with the discoverer of the bird, however, sets the question at rest. Upon being asked If the tin band was fixed tightly on the neck, he said, " Not very ; it was low down and the feathers were rusted ; bat I found a broken shell with the fish In It m the bird's throat above the band" Here then appears to bo the secret. This ahell was probably taken by the bird from its baaota at the Orozet Island*, and being unable to swallow it, discomfort and pain oiused it to wander —as ib usual with all animal life —until it reached oar shores. It may be safely assamed that, had the band of tin caused no obstruction, the bird might have carried the message round its neck m the Southern Ooean for the next half-oentory or more."