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318
The Royal Mail: Its Curiosities and Romance
·
James Wilson Hyde
146
CHAPTER
XII.
PIGEON-POST.
The
intellectual
superiority
of
man
has
enabled
him
to
bend
to
his
purposes
the
various
physical
powers
of
the
lower
animals--as,
for
example,
the
strength
of
the
ox
and
the
fleetness
of
the
horse--and
his
observation
has
taught
him
also
to
turn
to
his
use
some
of
the
instincts
of
the
lower
creation,
though
these
gifts
may
lie
hidden
beyond
the
reach
of
his
understanding.
Thus
the
keen
scent
of
the
bloodhound,
and
the
sense
which
enables
the
"ship
of
the
desert"
to
sniff
the
distant
spring,
are
equally
become
subservient
to
the
interests
of
man;
but
it
is
with
reference
to
another
instinct
not
less
remarkable
that
this
chapter
is
written--the
homing
instinct
of
the
carrier-pigeon.
This
gentle
bird
has
long
been
known
as
a
messenger
capable
of
conveying
news
from
one
place
to
another
over
considerable
distances.
It
is
asserted
that
"Hirtius
and
Brutus,
at
the
siege
of
Modena,
held
a
correspondence
by
pigeons;
and
Ovid
tells
us
that
Taurosthenes,
by
a
pigeon
stained
with
purple,
gave
notice
to
his
father
of
his
victory
at
the
Olympic
games,
sending
it
to
him
at
AEgina."
In
Persia
and
Turkey
pigeons
were
trained
for
this
service,
and
it
is
stated
that
every
bashaw
had
some
of
these
birds
reared,
in
order
swiftly
to
convey
news
to
the
seraglio
on
occasions
of
insurrection
or
other
emergency.
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