1.Think of hundreds and hundreds of these strange birds standing in solemn rows along the shore.At a distance they look very much as if a great school of little children with pinafores on were standing on adesert island!
2.Penguins are generally found very far south,on islands near the southern parts of South America and Africa.They make their nests on barren shores where men do not live.They have seen so little of man that they are not at all afraid of him,and they will sit still and allow themselves to be killed with a stick.
3.In the water they are graceful,beautiful birds;but on land they roll and waddle about most awkwardly,falling flat and scrambling up again with the help of those queer flippers which they have in place of wings.When they are in a hurry they sometimes use their flippers as fore legs,and then they look more like beasts than birds.
4.They are very kind to their young ones,and feed them in a funny way.They open their mouths,and the young bird pushes its head away down the mother's or father's throat!The young one eats out of the parent bird's crop.
5.Far out in the South Atlantic Ocean,about midway between Africa and South America,and over a thousand miles from land,there is a group of threes mall islands.On the largest of the group there are about a hundred people,who live together very happily.
6.They have no policeman,lawyer,or judge.There is a minister,who says that drunkenness or crime is quite unknown among them.The son-in-law of the first man who settled on the island is treated as the chief.
7.Two runaway sailors,who had visited this peace-ful spot,thought that they would like to live with these plain people;but perhaps the people did not care to have them.At any rate,they were told that it would be much better if they would settle on an island about twenty miles farther south.
8.This island is called "Inaccessible"-not a very promising name,is it?-for no one can land on it.
except in calm weather.Still the two sailors were told that seals were plentiful there,and they thought they would give the place a trial.
9.They built a hut on a smooth place near the shore,where they had a beautiful waterfall of sweet spring water near them.Great steep rocks all around shut them off from the interior of the island;but by catching hold of the strong grass on the cliffs they could climb up to the high land,where wild pigs and goats were found.
10.For six months the sailors lived very comfortably,and killed a good many seals.Then a sad accident happened:they set fire to the grass,and in a moment their only way of climbing out of their little nook was gone.As the boat they had brought with them was broken,they were shut up in that little hollow,with winter coming on,and nothing to eat but a small supply of vegetables which they had raised.
11.The poor men grew very thin and weak,and were beginning to give up all hope of life,when great flocks of penguins came swarming up the beach.The sailors knocked over some of the young ones,and found their flesh good,though that of the old ones tasted rank .
12.In a few weeks they were able to get plenty of penguin eggs,which are very good eating;and soon they were so pleased with their island,that when a ship stopped there,they sold their seal-skins and some penguin eggs,and made up their minds to stay on.But after another year they were tired of the company of penguins,and took passage on a ship to the Cape of Good Hope .
13.They said that the penguins came in great flocks,and made their nests on the island,and reared their young ones.After they had stayed for about three months,and their young ones were able to swim (for though they are birds,penguins never fly),they all went away in one night towards the south.
14.Penguins are very noisy birds,and have often warned sailors,by their cries at night,that they were sailing too near islands which were hidden by the darkness.Their cry is like that of a gruff-voiced man crying "Wha-at?"The birds are easily tamed,and in Peru they are sometimes kept as pets,and will follow their masters about from place to place.