SPCA inspector Mr. Louis Ray has dreamt all his life of finding a message in a bottle.

But his 10-year-old granddaughter has now beaten him to it, with the discovery of a note that has travelled more than 2,000 miles in two years.

The message was launched from a yacht about 200 miles west of the Canary Islands.

It was found in a corked wine bottle by Mr. Ray's granddaughter Melissa Scott at Vicker's Bay, Devonshire.

"We were out walking and she came across this bottle in a hole,'' said Mr.

Ray. "She was so excited by the little letter inside.

"I've been trying to find one of these ever since I was a little boy.'' The message, which was damaged by water, gives an address in St. Tropez, in the south of France. Melissa's mother plans to reply.

The note also says the finder could win a case of Cotes de Provence rose wine.

MESSAGE FROM AFAR -- Bermuda Institute student Melissa Scott, 10, from Paget, picked up this message in a bottle after it travelled more than 2,000 miles.