522 STILL BECALMED.
bob-stays with a rope, and after a while managed to secure it by the tail.
Some of the crew then hoisted it on board. When it arrived on deck, it
gave a deep groan, napped with great force, and soon expired. On
opening it next morning, eight hours after death, we found its intestines
still warm. They were arranged in the same manner as those of a pig ;
the paunch contained several cuttlefishes partially digested. The lower
jaw extended beyond the upper about three-fourths of an inch, and both
were furnished with a single row of conical teeth, about half an inch long,
and just so far separated as to admit those of one jaw between the corresponding
ones of the other. The animal might weigh about four hundred
pounds; its eyes were extremely small, its flesh was considered delicate
by some on board ; but in my opinion, if it be good, that of a large alligator
is equally so; and on neither do I intend to feast for some time.
The Captain told me that he had seen these Porpoises leap at times perpendicularly
out of the water to the height of several feet, and that small
boats have now and then been sunk by their falling into them, when engaged
with their sports.
During all this time flocks of Pigeons were crossing the Gulf, between
Cuba and the Floridas; many a Rose-breasted Gull played around by
day ; Noddies alighted on the rigging by night; and now and then, the
Frigate bird was observed ranging high over head in the azure of the
cloudless sky.
The directions of the currents were tried, and our Captain, who had
an extraordinary genius for mechanics, was frequently employed in turning
powder horns and other articles. So calm and sultry was the weather
that we had a large awning spread, under which we took our meals, and
spent the night. At length we got so wearied of it, that the very sailors
I thought seemed disposed to leap overboard, and swim to land. But
at length, on the thirty-seventh day after our departure, a smart breeze
overtook us. Presently there was an extraordinary bustle on board;
about twelve the Tortugas light-house bore north of us, and in a few
hours more we gained the Atlantic. iEolus had indeed awakened from
his long sleep; and on the nineteenth day after leaving the Capes of
Florida, I was landed at Liverpool.
( 528 )
THE KING DUCK.
FULIGULA SPECTABILIS, BoNAP.
PLATE CCLXXVI. MALE AND FEMALE.
THIS beautiful species rarely advances farther south along our eastern
coast than the neighbourhood of the Bay of Boston. I have, however, been
assured by old and trustworthy gunners that the King Duck, about thirty
years ago, was by no means of rare occurrence there during winter, and that
a few had been known to breed in company with the Eider along the coast.
At the period of my arrival at Labrador, the greater number of the King
Ducks had proceeded farther north ; and although some were seen there,
we found none of their nests. I can say nothing of the habits of this
bird, which, although they may be similar to those of the Eider, must
yet differ in many particulars, as is the case with all birds that are nearly
allied in form. The eggs of the King Duck collected by Captain JAMES
CLARK ROSS, R. N., measure two inches and five-eighths by one inch and
three-fourths, and have a smooth shell, of an uniform dujj greenish-colour.
ANAS SPECTABILIS, Linn. Syst. Nat. vol. ii. p. 198.—Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. iL p. 845.
FULIGULA SPECTABILIS, Ch. Bonaparte, Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 389.
SOMATERIA SPECTABILIS, KING DUCK, Swains, and Richards. Fauna-Bor. Amer.
part ii. p. 447«
KING DUCK, Nuttall, Manual, vol. ii. p. 414.
Adult Male. Plate CCLXXVI. Fig. 1.
Bill shorter than the head, much deeper than broad at the base, somewhat
depressed towards the end, which is broad and rounded. Upper
mandible with a soft tumid compressed substance at the base, extending
perpendicularly upon the forehead, and by a medial band of feathers divided
into two broad lobes, the dorsal line beyond this descending to the
unguis, then slightly curved, the ridge broadly convex, the sides sloping
and convex, the edges perpendicular, with about forty-five narrow inter