The Royal Mail: Its Curiosities and Romance

In somewhat modern times the best birds were said to be those of Aleppo, which served as couriers at Alexandretta and Bagdad; but many years ago their services in this line had to be given up, owing to the Kurd robbers killing the pigeons in the course of their journey. It does not appear, however, that, until quite recent times, any great use has been made of these birds by Western nations, at any rate under any extended scheme for commercial or peaceful ends. Yet, by what may seem an incongruity, the dove, which is par excellence the emblem of love and peace, has of late years been trained for purposes of war by the great Continental States; and it is impossible to predict how far the fate of nations may be determined hereafter by the performances of these naturally harmless creatures. The following particulars from one of the annual reports on the Post-office will show to what extent service was rendered by carrier-pigeons in keeping up postal communication with Paris when that city was invested during the Franco-German war of 1870-71:-- "As the war proceeded and the hostile forces approached Paris, the risk of interruption to our Indian mails became more and more imminent, and caused serious uneasiness to the Post-office. This feeling, which was not long in communicating itself to the public, the subsequent investment of the capital served to enhance. The mails had now to branch off at Amiens, and go round by Rouen and Tours, at a cost, in point of time, of from thirty to forty hours; but even this circuitous route could not long be depended upon, and nothing remained but to abandon Marseilles altogether as the line of communication for our Indian mails. There was only one alternative--to send them through Belgium and Germany by the Brenner Pass to Brindisi, and thence by Italian packets to Alexandria.