*i remember the first albatross i ever saw. it was during a prolonged gale, in waters hard upon the antarctic seas. from my forenoon watch below, i ascended to the overclouded deck; and there, dashed upon the main hatches, i saw a regal, feathery thing of unspotted whiteness, and with a hooked, roman bill sublime. at intervals, it arched forth its vast archangel wings, as if to embrace some holy ark. wondrous flutterings and throbbings shook it. though bodily unharmed, it uttered cries, as some king’s ghost in supernatural distress. through its inexpressible, strange eyes, methought i peeped to secrets which took hold of god. as abraham before the angels, i bowed myself; the white thing was so white, its wings so wide, and in those for ever exiled waters, i had lost the miserable warping memories of traditions and of towns. long i gazed at that prodigy of plumage. i cannot tell, can only hint, the things that darted through me then. but at last i awoke; and turning, asked a sailor what bird was this. a goney, he replied. goney!