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'feV its- «' ■ In \ THK Sf,. -, , SOLD AT THB DEPOSITORV, ORBAT QUEEN STREET, LINCOLN •vt ••:fM,F AND BY ALL BOOKSELLERS. 1845. '8 INN FIELDS ; Xi .i«ji i J.^j.. w - / THE OCEAN. BY P. H. GOSSE, ADTnOB OF 'AN INTRODUCTION TO ZOOLOGY;" "THE CANADIAN NATURALIST," btc. POBLISHKD UNDER THB DIRECTION OF THE COMMITTEE OF OENBRAI. LITERATORE AND EI.VCATIOl., APPOINTED BY THE SOCIETY FOR PROMOTINO CHRISTIAN KNOWLBDOB. LONDON: PRINTED FOR THE SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE: SOLD AT THB DEPOSITORV, GREAT QUEEN STREET, LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS ; AND BY ALL tOOKSELLERS. 1845. L G) C £ J . G G / LONDON I rRIWTICD BT 8, &J.BENTt,KT. WtLSOS, AND FL«Y, Baotoi House, Shoe Lana. THE WHALE FISHERY. PREFACE. In the following pages the Autlior has endea- voiired to describe with some minuteness of detail, a few of the many objects of interest more or less directly connected with the Sea, and especially to lead youthful readers to associate with the pheno- mena of nature, habitual thoughts of God. A sub- ject so va.st as the Ocean, might be viewed in a variety of aspects, all of them more or less instruc- tive : the one which has been chosen is that in which it presents itself to the mind of a naturalist, desirous 3-^' IV PREFACE. I of viewing the Almighty Creator in His works. The selections are made chiefly from marine botany, zoology, meteorology, the fisheries, the varying aspects of island and coast scenery, incidents of na- vigation, &c., arranged (if such a word be not in- applicable) in the oruer of geographical distribu- tion; as they might be supposed to present them- selves to the notice of an observant voyager. It may be thought that the Author has touched too frequently, or dwelt with too great prolixity, on objects minute in themselves, and by the gene- rality of) persons considered insignificant and un- worthy of regard. If apology for this be neces- sary, he presents it in the words of Samuel Purchas — " Nicostratus in ^Elian, finding a curious piece of wood, and being wondered at by one, and asked what pleasure he could take to stand, as he did, still gazing on the picture, answered, *Hadst thou mine eyes, my friend, thou wouldst not wonder, but rather be ravished, as I am, at the inimitable art of this rare and admirable piece.' I am sure no picture can express so much wonder and excel- lency as the smallest insect , but we want Nicos- tratus his eyes to behold them. " And the praise of God's wisdom and power lies asleep and dead in every creature, until man actuate and enliven it. I cannot, therefore, altogether con- PREFACE. V ceive it unworthy of the greatest mortals to con- template the miracles of Nature ; and that as they are more visible in the smallest and most contemp- tible creatures, (for there most lively do they ex- press the infinite power and wisdom of the great Creator,) and erect and draw the minds of the most intelligent to the first and prime Cause of all things ; teaching them as the power, so the presence, of the Deity in the smallest insects." London, 1845. ^ u CONTENTS. INTRODUCTION. Beauty and Grandeur of the Sea— Commercial Im,>ortance~ Early Noticeg of Navigation — Proportion of Sea to Land— Changes in ita OuV line— Depth of the Ocean— SaltneM—Lona by Evaporation— Supplied by Rivers— Motions of the Sea— Tides— Currents— The Gulf-stream —Origin of the Phenomenon— Familiar Illustration— Local Currents- Winds— Trade-winds— Monsoons— Land and Sea Breezes— Waves- Power of God— Man's InsensibUity— Reflections . . Page 1 I. THE SHORES OF BRITAIN. Instruction to be gained at Home as well as Abroad— Wisdom in Minutias of Creation— Habitually Submerged Beetie— Marine Watei^ fleas- Searweeds — Of various Interest— Manufecture of Kelp — Sea and Black Wrack— Knotted Wrack— Sea-lace— Various Provisions for securing Buoyancy— Sea- weeds used as Food— Dulse— Tangle— Sea- furbelows- Henware— English Dulse— Laver— Carrageen Moss— Sea- thong— Peacock Vtail — Delesseria — Landscape— Sea-weeds — Parasiti- cal Sea- weeds— Divine Care for these Productions— Corallines— Usee —Sponge— Animal Flowers— Singular Instance of Voracity— Aggre- gated Polypes— Cows'-paps-Corals— Sea-fan— Searpen 23 II. THE SHORES OF BRITAIN, continukd. Fisheries— Structure of Fishes— Scales -Fins— Air-bladder -Mc tion - Spines — Fruitfulness of Fishes — Migrations — The Herring p. i • •• VIU CONTENTS. Fishery— Singular Stranding of a Shoal— Mackarel— Cod— Cod- pools — Flatfishes— Crab-Lobster— Shrimp— Prawn— The Crab and ihe Baillie— Shelled Mollusca— Improperly called Fishes— Interesting Var nations of Structure— Cliffs of Orkney— Searbird Catching— Perilous Enterprises — Gannets Page §5 III. THE ARCTIC SEAS. ^ The Spirit of Geographical Discovery peculiar to Modem Times- Commercial Enterprise— Whale Fishing— Majesty of Polar Seas— Coast of Spitsbergen— Fine Contrasts of Hue— Clearness of Atmosphere— De- ceptive Distance of Land— Architectural Regularity of Rocks— The Three Crowns— Ice- -icebergs— Beauty— Vast Size— Varying forms— Over- turning-Sudden Rupture— Process of Formation— Ice Islands— Dis- ruption of One— Marine Ice— Formation— Ice Fields— Irresistible when in Motion-jPerpendicu]ar Ice-needles- Continual Daylight in Summer — Phenomena of Winter— Aurora— Mock Suns — Fog Bow— Looming —Curious Results — Inversion— Ice-blink- Effects of intense Cold— Frost Crystals— inoir exceeding Beauty —Snow Stars — Antiseptic Power of Frost—Ship tenanted by a Corpse— Vegetation— Whale- Interesting Peculiarities in its Conformation— Whalebone — Arterial Reservoir of Blood— Blowhole- Windpipe— Eye— Blubber— Reflec- tion on the Goodness of God— Whale Fishery— Accidents— Rorqual — Structure of its Mouth— Enemies of the Whales— Arctic Shark- Thresher— Swordfish- Narwhal— Use of its singular Horn— Torpidity of Mackarel— Sea Blubber— Arctic CUo-" Green-water"— Microscopic Animalcules — Diss«ctiiig Crab . . ... . . 103 IV. THE ATLANTIC OCEAN. Form cf the Atlantic— Its Bays and Inland Seas— Extent of Coast — Sight of Land— Azores— Picturesque Appearance— Peak of Pico— The Atlantisof the Ancients — Island? swallowed up in Modem Times— Sub- marine Volcano— Stormy Petrels— A Shoal of Dolphins— Their Gam- bols—Capture of One— Gulf-weed— Bamacles—Ocean Crabs — Toad- fish— "Calm Latitudes"— Heat of the Sun— Gorgeous Sunsets— South- en Constellations— The Cross— Tropic Fishes— Coryphene— Pursuit of Flying-fish— White Shark — Bad Physiognomy — Ferocity Teeth CONTENTS. ix —Structure of its Egg— Hammer-phark—Saw-fiah— Capture of one- Homed Ray- Contact of Ships at Sea— A Breeze— The Pilolrfish— Rudder-fish— Sifcking-fiBh— Possible use of its disk— West India Isles —Their varied Beauty— Mangrove Tree— Green Hue of shallow Water -Deceptive Effect-Bottom of the Sea-Green Turtle— Peculiar Struc- ture of the Heart -BriUiance of the Fishes -Yellow-fin— Market-fish — Hog-fish-Cat-fish— Cow- Whale .... Pag 155 V. THE PACIFIC OCEAN. Discovery of the Pacific - Voyage of Magellan -Sea-weeds -Ele- phant-seal-Fur-seal-Sea-lions-Sea-bear-Penguins-Sperm Whale -Adventurous Character of the Fishery -Destruction of a Ship by a ^ hale-Appearance and Habits -Regularity of its Motions-Its Ene- imes-Br^hing-Its Food -Description of th, Fishery -Narrative of a Chase-Strange SaU-Speaking at Sea-Amusing Mistake . 209 VI. THE PACIFIC OCEAN, continued. Islands of .he South Sea-Coral Island- Reef- Lagoon -Formation of Coral- Animals-Structure of a Coral Island -Various Species of Corals-Rate of Activity-Lines from Montgomery -Crystal Island- Caverns -Interesting Legend-Volcanic Island -Natural and Moral ^uty- Advanced Civilization-Reef-Islands at Openings -Beauty of Lagoon-Moonlight-Night at Sea- Natives swimming in the Surf -Sharks-Canoes-Origin of the Population -Various Modes of Fish- ing-Pens-Rafts-Poison-Nets-Spear-Fishing by Torchlight- Hooks-Angling-Albacore-Sword-fish-Predaceous Habits of Fishes - Crabs- Am-mal Flowers- Cuttle- Oceanic Birds - Tropic-bird - AIbatro93-Booby-Frigate-bird-Immense Assemblage of Birds 249 VIL THE INDIAN OCEAN. Indian Archipelago -Proa of the Ladrones- Malay Pirates-Num- ber and Beauty of smaU Islands-Houses over the Sea-Chinese J,mks —Typhoon— Waterspouts- A Chinese Wreck -Esculent BLrd«'-n««ot" \ X CONTENTS. —Their Nature— Modes of obtaining them— Value -Use— Sea- weeds Trepang-Change of the Monsoon— Coming in of the Bore-Beauty wid Smgularity of Fishes -Curious Mode of Fishing -Violetrsnail- Portuguese Man-of-war— SaUee-man— Glass-shells-Clamp-Pearls- Fishery— Floating-weeds— Pelicans — Luminosity of the Sea— Va- nous kinds of Luminous Animals— Conclusion . . Page 312 1 ' ILLUSTRATIONS. iiongships Lighthouse — Frontitpieoe, vaok Whale Fishery iii Marine Entomostraca (Cj/there albo-maculata and Cyclops chdifer) 26 The Sea-girdle {Laminaria diyitcUa) . . . . . 35 The Sea-furbelows {Latninaria bulbosa) 37 The Peacock's Tail {Padina pavonia) . . . . . 44 Bryopsis plumosa . . .46 Coralline {CoraUina officincdia) ... . . . 49 Searfan {Gorgoniaflabellum), and Sea-pen (PenncUula phosphorea) 63 Scales of Fishes 68 Yarmouth Jetty in the Herring Fishery ..... 77 Mackarel Boat off Hastings . . . . . . . 79 Turbot Boat off Scarborough 82 Crab-pots . . . . , . . . . , , 88 The Shrimper ......... 90 Fowling in Orkney 96 Guillemot and Gannet ........ 98 The Bass-Rock 99 Ice-berg seen in Baffin's Bay . . . . . , , 108 Swell among Ice 109 Ships beset in Ice 110 Am'ora Borealis 119 Mock-Suus 123 Distortions of Irregular Refraction 126 Sperm Whale attacked by Sword-fish I47 Spearing the Narwhal 148 Food of the Whale : 1, Limacina Mkina ; 2, 8, 4, Medtiaie ; 5, Clio horealis 1.50 \ Xll ILLUSTRATIONS. PAOE ^'•^^ ,.158 Submarine Volcano jg2 The Southern Cross 170 Coryphene (Cotypfitena) jqq Pursuit of Flying-fi8h ^gg Hammer-Shark (-%««« maUewi), and Saw-fish (Pmtia anliquorum) ] 90 Balboa discovers the Pacific 210 Elephant Seals, fighting , ^ .214 Penguins . 221 Coral Island . oca Section of Corallsland 258 Crystal Island . . . 265 Volcanic Island .... .-..,. 270 Bolabola 274 White Shatk . 284 Fishing by Torchlight 293 Polynesian Fishing-tackle 295 Angling in a Double Canoe .297 Proas of the Ladrones 316 Chinese Junks ooo Ship under bare poles 326 Waterspouts 027 Sea-Cucumbers (Holuthurite) 337 Glass Shells {Hyalea trideiUata^ and Cleodora pyfamidata.) . 346 Noctiluca niiliaris, greatly magnified 359 / THE OCEAJV. INTRODUCTION. Who ever gazed upon the broad sea without emo- tion ? Whether seen in stem majesty, hoary with the tempest, rolling its giant waves upon the rocks, and dashmg with resistless fury some gallant bark on an iron-bound coast; or sleeping beneath the silver moon, Its broad bosom broken but by a gentle ripple just enough to reflect a long line of light, a path of gold upon a pavement of sapphire; who ha^ looked upon the sea without feeling that it has power « To stir the soul with thoughts profound " ? Perhaps there is no earthly object, not even the cloud-cleaving mountains of an Alpine country, so subbme a. the sea in its severe and naked simpHcity. standing on some promontory, whence the eye roams far out upon the unbounded ocean, the soul expands and we concave a nobler idea of the majesty of tha God who hold^ . ,he waters in the hoi; o. .f is hand But it is only when, on a long voyage chmbmg day after day to the giddy elevatL of fh^ imrmmmit an 2 THE OCEAN. '. i mast-head, one still discerns nothing in the wide cir- cumference but the same boundless waste of waters, that the mind grasps anything approaching an ade- quate idea of the grandeur of the ocean. There is a certain indefiniteness and mystery connected with it in various aspects that gives it a character widely different from that of the land. At times, in pecu- liar states of the atmosphere, the boimdary of the horizon becomes undistinguishable, and the surface, perfectly calm, reflects the pure light of heaven in every part, and we seem alone in infinite space, with nothing around that appears tangible and real save the ship beneath our feet. At other times, particularly in the clear waters of the tropical seas, we look down- ward unmeasured fathoms beneath the vessel's keel, but still find no boundary ; the sight is lost in one imiform transparent blueness. Mailed and glitter- ing creatures of strange forms suddenly appear, play a moment in our sight, and with the velocity of a thought have vanished in the boundless depths. The very birds that we see in the wide waste are mys- terious : we wonder whence they come, whither they go, how they sleep, homeless and shelterless as they seen to be. The breeze, so fickle in its visitings, ris( s and dies away ; but " thou knowest not whence it Cometh and whither it goeth ;" the night-wind moaning by, soothes the watchful helmsman with gentle sounds, that remind him of the voices of be- loved ones far away ; or the tempest shrieking and groaning among the cordage turns him pale with the idea of agony and death. But God is there ; lonely though the mariner feel, and isolated in his separa- INTRODUCTION. 3 tion from home and friends, God is with him, often unrecognised and forgotten, but surrounding him with mercy, protecting him and guiding him, and wilhng to cheer him by the visitations of His grace, and the assurance of His love. " If I take the wings of the morning and dweU in the uttermost parts of tile sea ; even there shall Thy hand lead me, and Thy nght hand shall hold me." The ocean is the highway of commerce. God seems wisely and graciously to have ordained, that man should not be independent, but under perpetual obligation to his fellow man ; and that distant coun- tnes should ever maintain a mutually beneficial de- pendence on each other. He might with ease have made every land to produce every necessary and com- fort of life in ample supply for its own population ; m which case, considering the fallen nature of man, it IS probable the only intercourse between foreign na- tions would have been that of mutual aggression and bloodshed. But He has ordered otherwise ; and the result has been, generally, that happy interchange ot benefits which constitutes commerce. It is la- mentably true, that the evil passions of men, have often perverted the facilities of communication for purposes of destruction ; yet the sober verdict of mankind has for the most part been, that the sub- stantial blessings of friendly commerce are prefer- able to the glare of martial glory. But the tran- sport of goods of considerable bulk and weight, or of such as are of a very perishable nature, would be so difficult by land, as very materially to increase their cost ; while land communication between coun- B 2 vt * THE OCEAN. tries many thousand miles apart would be attended with difficulties so great as to be practically insur- mountable. Add to this the natural barriers pre- sented by lofty mountain ranges and impassable rivers, as well as the dangers arising from ferocious animals and from hostile nations, and we shall see that with the existing power and skill of man, com- merce in such a condition would be almost unknown, and man would be little removed from a state of bar- barism. The ocean, however, spreading itself over three-fourths of the globe, and penetrating with in- numerable sinuosities into the land, so as to bring, with the aid of the great rivers, the facilities of navi- gation comparatively near to every country, affords a means of transport unrivalled for safety, speed, and convenience. In very early ages men availed them- selves of naval communication. We find repeated mention made of ships by Moses ; * and in the dying address of the patriarch Jacob to his sons, he speaks of " a haven for ships ;" f while Job, who was probably contemporary with Abraham, alludes to them as an emblem of swiftness,;}: which would seem to imply that navigation had then attained considerable perfection, nearly four thousand years ago. In profane history the earliest mention of navigation is that of the voyage of the ship Argo into the Euxine, which took place probably about three thousand years ago. What a contrast be- tween her timorous and creeping course, and the arrowy speed and precision of a modem Atlantic Num. xxiv. 24, and Deut. xxviii. 68. J Job ix. 26. ' t Gen. xlix. 13. ren. zlix. 13. INTRODUCTION. 5 Steam ship, rushing to her destination without ask- ing aid from wind or tide ! The proportion which the sea bears to the land m extent of surface has been ascertained with to- lerable accuracy, by carefully cutting out the one from the other, as represented on the gores of a large terrestrial globe, and weighing the two por- tions of paper separately in a very delicate balance. ihe ratio of the water to the land is found to be about 2ito I: the surface of the former being about one hundred and forty-four miUions of square miles, and that of the latter about fifty-two mil- lions. Vast, however, as is the sea, and mighty in its rage. It is restrained by the hand of Him that made 1^:. Water was once the instrument of vengeance upon a guilty world, but He hath made a cove- nant with man, that never again shall the waters become a flood to destroy the earth. He « shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth as if it had issued out of the womb ; when He made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swad- dhng band for it ; and brake up for it His decreed place, and set bars and doors, and said, Hither- to Shalt thou come, but no further, and here shall thy proud waves be stayed ! "* Slight changes are. It IS true, going on in the course of ages, in the relative positions of the land and sea, but these are minute m their extent and slow in their operation. By the sand and mud, which is continually brought down by the rivers, and deposited in the sea, banks and points of land are formed and perpetuaUy in- " Jobxxxviii. 8 — 11. ' ; 6 THE OCEAN. creased, as is particularly the case at the mouths of the Ganges and Mississippi ; while from the same cause the bottoms of inland seas being gradually raised, the water rises in the same proportion and encroaches on the land. The port of Ravenna, once a rendezvous for the Roman fleets, has been filled up by the deposition of the Montone, a small river, so that now it is four miles from the sea. On the other hand, the palace of the Emperor Tiberius at Capraea, on the opposite shore of Italy, is now wholly covered by the water : nor are our own coasts, and especially those of Holland, deficient in examples of once fertile fields, which are now rolled over by the tide. Much ignorance prevails respecting the depth of the ocean: in many places no length of sounding line has yet been able to reach the bottom, and, therefore, our conclusions must be formed from in- ference or indirect evidence. Generally, where a coast is flat and low, the water is shallow for a con- siderable distance, slowly deepening ; on the other hand, a high and mountainous coast usually is washed by deep water, and a ship may lie almost close to the rocks. From these circumstances, as well as from the various depths actually observed by sounding, it is probable that the average depth of the sea is not greater than the height of the land, in propoicicn to its extent. If we were to place a thick coating of wax over the bottom of a dish, taking care to make a very irregular surface with cavities and prominences of all forms and sizes, we should probably have a fair idea of the solid surface INTRODUCTION. 7 of the globe. Let us then pour water upon it, until the surface of the water should equal that part which is exposed, and it is clear the average depth of the one would be equal to the average height of the other. But if we increase the quantity of water until the proportion is as 3 to 1, it is evident the depth will have increased in the same ratio. We may, therefore, with high probability conclude that, as the greatest height of the land is about five miles, the greatest depth of the water does not much ex- ceed twelve or thirteen: while the average depth may be about two or three. Every one is aware of the saltness of the sea. It has been assumed that its object is to prevent stagnation and putrescence. But this reason does not appear to be the correct one, for large masses of fresh water, such as inland lakes, do not stag- nate. Strictly speaking, however, water cannot pu- trefy ; when a small body of it becomes offensive, it is on account of the decomposition of vegetable or animal matters contained in it. But organised sub- stances will decompose, and consequently become offensive in salt water as well as in fresh, as may be easily proved by experiment. Perhaps the reason for the ocean's saltness may be the increase of its weight without the increase of its bulk ; for the decrease of specific gravity of so large a portion of the globe would materially affect the motions of the earth, and perhaps derange the whole con- stitution of things. The increase of its specific gravity makes it more buoyant, and every one is aware with how much less effort a bather swims in 8 !i THE OCEAN. the sea than in a river. Now, superior buoyancy seems an important advantage in a fluid which bears on its bosom the commerce of the world. It is highly probable, then, that our gracious God had the convenience and benefit of man in view, when he ordained the sea to be salt. The ocean contains three parts in every hundred of saline matter, chiefly muriate of soda, or the common salt of the table, wliich is a chemical compound of muriatic acid and soda. The proportion is rather larger in the vicinity of the equator. If we considered only the immense amount of evaporation which is daily going on from the sea, we might suppose that, like a vessel of the fluid exposed to the sun, it would diminish in volume and increase in saltness, until at length nothing would be left but a dry crust of salt upon the bottom ; on the other hand, looking alone at the many millions of tons of fresh water which axe every moment poured into its bosom from the rivers of the earth, we might apprehend a speedy overflow, and a second destruction by a flood. But these two are exactly balanced : the water taken up by evaporation is with scrupulous exactness restored again, either directly, in rain which falls into the sea, or circuitously, in the rain and snow which, falling on the land, feed the mountain streams and rivers, and hurry back to their source. This interesting circulation had been long ago observed by the wisest of men : " All the rivers run into the sea ; yet the sea is not full ; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither tL ^y return again."* And a ■■?8. (. /. INTRODUCTION, 9 very beautiful and instructive instance it is of that unerring skill and wisdom with which the whole constitution is ordered and kept in order, by Him, who, with minute accuracy, "weigheth the moun- tains m scales, and the hills in a balance." • The ocean is never perfectly at rest: even be- tween the tropico. in what are caUed the calm latitudes, where the iinpatient seaman for weeks together looks .vistfully but vainly for the welcome breeze ; and where he realizes the scene so gra- phically described in " the Rime of the Ancient Mariner :" — *• Day after day, day after day, We stuck, nor breath nor motion j As idle as a painted ship, Upon a painted ocean ;" even here the smooth and glittering surface is not at rest; for long, gentle undulations, which cause the taper mast-head to describe lines and angles upon the sky, are sufficiently perceptible to tan- talize the mariner with the thought that the breeze which mocks his desires, is blowing freshly and gaU lantly elsewhere. The most remarkable of the mo- tions obseirable in the sea, are the tides, periodical ri.mgs and fallings in the height of the surface, whio] take pi,c. twice every twenty-four hours, or ^^euiv It is now well ascertained that these mo- tions are caused by the attraction of the sun and mooii but more particularly the latter, upon the particles of water, which moving freely among them- selves with Httle force of cohesion, readily yield to * Isa. xl. 12. B 5 10 THE OCEAN. the attracting influence, and move towards it. The time of high water in the open sea is about two hours after the moon passes the meridian, owing to the impetus which the waters have been receiving not ceasing immediately ; just as the hottest part of the day is not noon, but o.bout two hours after it; and the hottest month of the year is not June, but July. On the coast, however, high water is delayed to a greater or less extent by the obstructions of straits, mouths of rivers, harbours, &c. It appears strange that the sea should be elevated, not only on the side next the moon, but also on the side which is diametrically opposite ; so that it is high water at the same moment on two opposite points of the globe, each of which points follows, so to speak, the moon in the daily revolution, and, consequently, every part of the surface of the ocean is raised twice in each day. This singular phenomenon is thus ex- plained : the attraction of the moon elevates the particles of water on the nearest side, by slightly separating them from each other, which their im- perfect cohesion readily admits : it also affects the earth itself: but this being a solid body, the cohe- sion of its parts caimot be overcome, and the whole mass is therefore moved towards the moon, while the particles of water on the farther side remain, owing to their freedom, nearly in the same position as be- fore. The fact is, that the earth is drawn away from the water on the remote side, and then the water is drawn away from the earth on the near side. The sun is greatly larger than the moon, but his attrac- tion, owing to his great distance, does not affect the INTRODUCTION. H tides to more than one-fourth of the moon's extent. When the power of these luminaries is exerted in the same direction, the result is a higher elevation, called the spring tide; and for the reason already explained, the same occurs when they are in oppo- site quarters of the heavens. On the other hand, when they are in quadrature, that is, when appa- rently separated by just one-fourth of the heavens, the influence of the sun neutralizes, in the ratio of one-fourth, that of the moon, and hence we have the lowest tides, called neap-tides, soon after the first and third quarters of the moon. Local circumstances greatly affect, not only the time but also the height of the tides. In some long bays, which grow gradually narrower, in the form of a funnel, the whole of the increased water which en- tered the mouth of the bay, being confined within very narrow limits, rises rapidly to a great height. Near Chepstow, in the Bristol Channel, for example, the tide rises from 45 to 60 feet, and on one oc- casion after a strong westerly gale, it even reached to 70 feet. Again, in the Bay of Fundy, in North America, the spring tides sometimes rise to the astonishing elevation of 120 feet. At the mouths of some large rivers, where the shore is very level to a considerable distance inland, the tide rolls in under the form of one vast wave, w^hich is called the bore : something of this kind occurs in Solway Frith on our own coast, and it is said, that if, when the tide is coming in, a man upon a swift horse were place?! at the water's edge, and bidden to ride for his life, the utmost efforts of his steed would not preserve II ). 12 THE OCEAN. him from the overwhehning wave. Tlirough the Pentland Frith, between Scotland and the Orkney Islands, the spring-tide rushes at the rate of nine miles an hour. The tide in inland seas is so slight as to be scarcely observable, probably owing to the smallness of the volume of water which they con- tain ; and hence the astonishment which the soldiers of Alexander, accustomed to the equable condition of the Mediterranean, felt, when at the mouth of the Indus, they beheld the sea swell to the height of thirty feet. That some purpose, important in the constitution of our world, is eflfected by these periodical ebbings and flowings of the mighty sea, is highly probable ; but our acquaintance with the arcana of nature is too slight to point it out. In navigation they are useful ; the flood-tide permitting ships to sail up rivers, even when the wind is adverse; and often admitting deep vessels to pass into harbours, over banks or bars, impassable at the ordinary depth of the water. Besides the tides, the sea has other motions of great regularity, called currents. The principal of these is the notable Gulf-stream, a strong and rapid river, as I may say, in the sea, whose banks are almost as well defined as if they were formed of solid earth, instead of the same fickle fiuid as the torrent itself. It first becomes appreciable on the western coast of Florida, gently flowing southward until it reaches the Tortugas, when it bends its course easterly, and runs along the Florida Reef, increasing in force, till it rushes with amazing ra- mli ' INTRODUCTION. 13 irough the the Orkney ite of nine is so slight ving to the I they con- the soldiers e condition mouth of le height of jonstitution cal ebbings r probable ; f nature is »n they are to sail up and often aours, over ry depth of motions of jrincipal of f and rapid banks are formed of fluid as the ible on the southward t bends its )rida Reef, imazing ra- pidity through the confined limits of the Strait of Florida, and pours a vast volume of tepid water into the cold bosom of the Atlantic. Here, unrestrained, it of course widens its bounds, and slackens its speed, though such is its impetus, that it may be distinctly perceived even as far as the Great Bank of New- foundland. Nor is its strength then spent; for many curious facts seem to warrant us in con- cluding, that even to the coasts of Scotland and Ireland, and down the shores of Western Europe, this mighty marine river continues to roll its won- derful waters. The temperature of this current is much higher than that of the surrounding water, and this is so uniformly the case that an entrance into it is immediately marked by a sudden rise of the thermometer. Another unfailing token of its pre- sence is the Gulf-weed {Sargassum Vulgare), which floats in large fields, or more frequently in long yellow strings in the direction of the wind, upon its surface. The cause of this vast and important current seems to be the daily rotation of the earth. If we turn a glass of water quickly upon its axis, we shall perceive that the glass itself revolves, but that the particles of water remain nearly stationary, owing to the slightness of their cohesion to the glass. To a very minute insect attached to the vessel, it would seem that the water was rushing round in an op- posite direction while the glass remained stationary. Now the earth is whirled round with great rapidity from west to east, and the greatest amount of this rapidity is of course at the equatorial regions, being the part most remote from the axis : but the par- ff 14 THE OCEAN. tides of water for the same reason as those in the the glass, to a certain extent, resist the influence of this rotation, and appear to assume a motion in the opposite direction, from east to west. With respect to all the phenomena to be explained, this apparent motion is exactly the same as if it were real, and we shall consider it so. Now, examine a globe, or a map of the Atlantic, and you will see that this westerly " set " of the equatorial waters, meeting the coast of South America, is slightly turned through the Caribbean Sea, until it strikes the coast of Mexico, which like an impregnable rampart opposes its progress. The stream, impelled by the waves behind, must have an outlet, and the form of the shore drives it round the northern side of the Gulf of Mexico, until it is again bent by the peninsula of Florida. But here the long island of Cuba meets its southerly course, and like the hunted deer, headed at every turn, the whole of the broad tide that entered the Gulf, now pent up within the compass of a few leagues, rushes with vast impetus through the only outlet that is open, between Florida and the Bahamas. It is as if we propelled with swiftness against the air a vdde funnel, the mouth being outwards, the tube of which was long and tortuous, and which terminated at length nearly at right angles to the mouth : it is easy to imagine that a strong current of air would issue from the tube, exactly as the waters of the Gulf stream do from their narrow gorge. The waters of the Pa- cific have the same westerly flow, but its force is broken, without being turned, by the vast assem- INTRODUCTION. 15 blage of islands which constitute the eastern Ar- chipelago; it may, however, be recognised in the Indian Ocean, and when bent southward by the African coast, and confined by the island of Mada- gascar, it forms a current of considerable force, which rounds the Cape of Good Hope, and merges into the Atlantic. Besides these, there are other more local currents, which are not so easily ex- plained, such as that which constantly flows out of the Baltic, and that which flows into the Me- diterranean. In each of these cases, while the main current occupies the middle of the channel, there is a subordinate current on each side close to the shore, which sets in the opposite direction. As in the case of the tides, it is obvious how serviceable these motions of the sea often are in aiding navigation, particularly as they are most strong and regular in latitudes where calms often prevail. And this leads us to consider the action of the winds upon the sea, which, though affecting only the surface, are the most powerful agents in producing the irregular motions of this element. By them the freighted bark with her hardy crew, is wafted to the wished-for haven ; and by them the crested billows are roused up, which dash her upon the sharp-pointed rocks, or swallow her up in fathomless depths, leav- ing none to record her destiny. The origin of wind has usually been attributed to the rarefaction of the air by heat : a stratum of air near the earth being heated by the sun's rays, or by radiation from the surface, becomes lighter, and consequently rises to a 16 THE OCEAN. higher elevation. The empty space thus left is in- stantly fiUed by the surrounding air rushing in, pressed by the weight of the atmosphere above : this motion communicated to the air has been supposed to constitute a wind blowing in the direction of the spot where the heat was generated. It must be confessed, however, that the cause thus adduced does not seem adequate to produce the effects at- tributed to it; though probably some of the cur- rents of the air are owing to variations of its tem- perature. And as these variations are perpetually occurring, dependent on causes which are difficult to detect, and as the aerial currents resulting from them act and re-act on each other, variously modi- fying their direction, force, and duration, the or- dinary winds are irregular and inconstant even to a proverb. Some observations, however, recently made, have revealed some particulars of a highly interesting character, concerning the winds of the temperate zones, one of which is, that they blow in a circular direction ; that is, the course which a storm has taken, if marked out on a map or globe, would describe a circle, often of many de- grees in diameter. The direction of the gale in the circle is not arbitrary, but seems to be inva- riably from north to west, south, and east, in the northern hemisphere, and in the opposite course in the southern. These winds appear to be inti- mately connected with magnetism : it is a curious fact, that in the midst of the southern Atlantic, where magnetic influence is at the lowest degree of intensity, storms are unknown, while the meri- 13 INTRODUCTION. 17 dians of the magnetic poles, that of the American cutting the West Indies, and that of the Siberian the China Sea, are peculiarly liable to tempests; the hurricanes of the former, and the typhoons of the latter being well known.* It is pretty certain, also, that the changes in the atmosphere produced by electricity, which is but another development of the same principle as magnetism, have considerable influence in the production of the variable winds of temperate regions. Our knowledge of these sub- jects, however, is yet in its infancy; and though in all ages until the present, navigation has been entirely dependent on the aid of the winds, no laws for their certain prognostication have yet been dis- covered, and much obscurity, at least in detail, still hangs over their production. But within the tro- pical regions there are winds, which possess great regularity, and may be depended upon with nearly the same precision as the great marine currents already noticed, which indeed they very closely re- semble, not only in their direction and their utility, but also in their origin. I refer particularly to the Trade-winds, so named from the facility they afford to commerce, which blow constantly within the tro- pics, from the north-east, on the north side of the equator, and from the south-east, on the south side, the two currents merging near the line into one, which takes an easterly direction. The dividing line, how- ever, is not exactly at the equator, but a little to the north of it. The air in the equatorial regions be- comes strongly heated by the rays of the vertical sun, • See Reid on Storms. ?t 18 THE OCEAN. 'ijll I i 1\ and rises ; while that from the polar regions moves in to supply its place ; thus a northern and southern current are produced towards the equinoctial. But the earth is revolving from west to east, and the equatorial parts are, as we have before seen, those in which the velocity is greatest : the free air cannot at once acquire this velocity, and is left behind : the effect being that an apparent motion in the contrary direction is given to it, which combining with the one already possessed by the polar cur- rents, makes the direction of the northern one, north-east, and of the southern, south-east. The point directly beneath the sun, also, is continually travelling westward, which increases the effect. The heat radiated from the surface of large masses of land being superior to that from the sea, while the former is subject to much variation from differences of elevation, and other circumstances, the trade- winds are disturbed, and become very irregular in the vicinity of land, but, in open sea, they blow with much precision. A singular deviation from the uniformity of the trade-winds occurs in the Indian Ocean, which it seems difficult to explain. From 30° south lati- tude, to within about 10** of the equator, the trade is pretty constant from the south-east ; but to the north of the latter parallel, the wind blows six months from the north-east, namely, from Oc- tober to April, while during the remainder of the year, from April to October, it blows with equal pertinacity in a direction diametrically opposite. These are called respectively the north-east and INTRODUCTION. 19 south-west monsoons, but the former is the regular trade, the latter alone is the anomaly, and needs explanation. The cause usually assigned, is the rarefaction of the air on the continent of Asia during the summer months, when the sun is north of the equator ; the air from the Indian Ocean flowing in to supply its place. This would suffi- ciently explain why the wind should be southerly, but leaves its westerly inclination entirely unac- counted for ; and this seems the more inexplicable, because one would suppose that the air over the burning deserts of Arabia and North Africa would be much more heated, and that the direction of the supplying current would be south-east. Strange, however, as the fact is, it is perfectly uniform in its occurrence, and is obviously a very gracious or- dination of God's beneficent providence, in dimi- nishing the uncertainties of navigation. There is yet another phenomenon connected with the wind, in the climates of which we speak, that requires notice; it is the alternation of the land and sea breezes. Every one who has resided near the coast in tropical countries is aware of the eager- ness with which the setting in of the sea-breeze is looked for. Usually about the hour of ten in the forenoon, when the heat of the sun begins to be oppressive, a breeze from the sea springs up, in- vigorating and refreshing the body by its delight- ful coolness, and continues to blow through the whole day, gradually dying away as the sun sinks to the horizon. Then, about eight in the evening, an air blows off the land, until near sunrise, but this so THE OCEAN. 1 i ^ 11 is somewhat variable and irregular, always fainter than the sea-breeze, and dependent on the proximity of mountains. The application of what has been already said of the causes of wind in general will readily be made to these particular cases, the air on the surface of the water being cooler during the day, and that on the mountains during the night. . Either is a grateful alleviation of the oppressive sultriness of the climate. But for the winds, the surface of the sea would ever present, notwithstanding its intestine motions, an unbroken and glassy smoothness. The playful ripple which breaks the moon's ray into a thousand sparkling diamonds, and the huge billows that rear their curling and crested summits to the sky, would be alike unknown. If the direction of the breeze were exactly horizontal, it is difficult to imagine how the surface could be ruffled at all ; but doubt- less the wind exerts an irregular pressure obliquely upon the water, a few particles of which are thus forced out of their level above the surrounding ones ; these afford a surface however slight, on which the air can act directly, and the effect now goes on in- creasing every moment, until, if tne wind be of suf- ficient velocity, the mightiest waves are produced.* * The perpendicular elevation of even the highest waves is, however, much over-rated. Viewed from the deck of a vessel, the immense undu- lating surface causes them to appear much higher than they are ; while the ever-changing inclination of the vessel itself produces a deception of the senses, which increases the exaggeration. Experienced practical men have, however, made some observations, which show us their height. Taking their st8,tion in the shrouds, they have proceeded higher dnd higher, until the summit of the loftiest billow no longer intercepted the INTRODUCTION. 21 " For He commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. They [the ma- riners] mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths : their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their vnt's end." The Holy Spirit thus alludes to the terrific raging of the tempest as eminently calculated to draw man's attention to the power and majesty of God, while the wondrous deliverances He has so often wrought from its fury, are so many claims on man's grateful love and praise. Let us, then, in contemplating a few of the in- numerable objects of interest which the ocean pre- sents to us, endeavour, in dependence on His own gracious aid, to recognise His hand, to discern the greatness of His power in creating and upholding all things. His unerring skill and vnsdom in arrang- ing and carrying out His designs, and the careful and provident benevolence which He continually exercises towards the sentient part of His creation. The varied tribes of living beings that throng the deep, from the wallowing whale to the luminous animalcule, visible but as a sparkling point ; the multifarious forms of marine vegetation, displaying view of the horizon. After watching for a sufficient length of time to venfy the deductions, they descended, and measured the height of the point of. sight from the ship's water-line ; deducting half of this distance for the depression of the hollow below the level of the surface, the remain- der gives the elevation of the highest wave. It is thus found that waves do not usually exceed six feet in height, except when cross-waves over- run each other ; and probably in no case do the very loftiest rise above ten teet above the general level. 2» THE OCEAN. exquisite structure and elaborate contrivance; the golden sands of the smooth shore, the hoary cliffs hollowed into caverns by the restless billows, and, not least, the restless billows themselves, speak to us in language not to be nistaken, of the glorious attributes of the Mighty God, ** the Lord of Hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working." 1 1 :i! THE SHORES OF BRITAIN. Before we launch forth to investigate the won- ders of the vast ocean, a little time will not be mis-spent in observing a few of the curious pro- ductions which it brings to our very doors. We shall greatly err, if we suppose that only in dis- tant parts of the world the works of God can be so studied as to illustrate His infinite power, and skill, and benevolence: we may have to search distant regions to find the giants of the deep, the huge whale, the Indian cuttle, or the island madrepore; but in the most minute crustacean that hops above the retiring wave, or the most fragile shell that lies upon the shingle, there is the indelible im- press of the mind and hand of God. Indeed, it may be asserted, that of two created objects of dif- ferent magnitude, but possessing similar organs, equally adapted to their requirements, that one in which these organs are of minute size is the more calculated to excite our admiration. Our own shores swarm with little creatures of many kinds, some so small as to escape the eye of any one but a naturalist, which yet are well worthy of being examined, and studied. Take one example. Walk- ing along a sea-beach, where the loose shingle rattles under the retiring waves, we may find a 24 THE OCEAN. minute beetle, knovm to entomologists by the name of ASpus fulvescem, whose habits may well excite our astonishment. Formed, like all other beetles, to breathe air alone, it deserts the haunts of its fel- lows, and betakes itself to the sea, choosing to dwell among the pebbles so low down on the beach that the water covers it constantly, except for a day or two twice every month, when, at the lowest ebb of the spring-tide, it is for a few minutes exposed. Now, during the weeks of its submersion, how does this little creature breathe ? Oxygen it must have, or it will assuredly die. Many of the beetles that shoot hither and thither in our fresh-water ponds are clothed with a coat of thick but very fine down, in which air is entangled and carried beneath the surface. But our little A^pus is not furnished with a coating of down. If we examine it, however, with a magnifier, we shall discover that its whole body and limbs are studded with long, slender hairs, and when it plunges under water, each of these hairs carries with it a little globule of air from the atmosphere, and these, uniting, form a bubble of air surrounding the body of the insect, and serving it for respiration. But, subjected to the rolling of the tide, it would be liable to be perpetually washed away from its dwelling-place, were there not an especial provision graciously made for its stability. For this end the feet are fur- nished with claws of unusual size, to cling firmly to the projections of the stones, and in addition to these the last joint but one of the feet has a long curved spine meeting the claws, giving it an THE SHORES OF BRITAIN. 25 extraordinary power in grasping, as well as aiding it in obtaining its prey. In other respects, with regard to its eyes, its antennae, its jaws, we shall find, if we carefully examine it, that minute as it is, being scarcely an eighth of an inch long, its wants have been accurately remembered and well supplied. A few other British insects, likewise very small, dis- play similar instincts, some of them inhabiting holes in the sand, very near low-water mark, and there- fore entirely submerged a great portion of their time. On our rocky shores may be found in abundance creatures still more minute than these, whose man- ners, lively and sportive, are highly interesting. I allude to the marine Entomostraca, or insects with shells, and particularly to those of the genus Cythere, scarcely any of which exceed in diameter a large pin's head, and most of them are not equal to that of a small one. Imagine a pair of bivalve shells of this size, irregularly oval, or kidney-shaped, from which, slightly separated, protrude four pairs of little curved claws or feet, most delicately fringed, and kept in constant motion ; and from one end a pair of jointed antennae. Mr. Baird, who has attentively studied their manners, gives the following pleasing account of them: "These insects are only to be found in sea-water, and may be met with, in all the little pools amongst the rocks on the sea shores. They hve amongst the Fuci and Confervce, Sec, which are to be found in such pools; and the naturahst may especially find them in abundance in those beautiful clear little round wells which are so often !«f :fi 1^6 THE OCEAN. to be met with, hollowed out of the rocks on the shores of our country, which are within reach of the tide, and the water of which is kept sweet and Marine Entomostbaca {CytUre aJbo-maadata and Cyclops cMifer), wholesome by being thus changed twice during every twenty-four hours. In such delightful little ponds, clear as crystal when left undisturbed by the receding tide, these interesting little creatures may be found, often in great numbers, sporting about amongst the confervae and corallines which so elegantly and fancifully fringe their edges and de- corate their sides, and which form such a glorious sub-aqueous forest for myriads of living creatures to disport themselves in. Sheltered amongst the 'umbrageous multitude' of stems and branches, and nestling in security in their forest glades, they are safe from the fury of the advancing tide, though lashed up to thtinder by the opposing rocks which for a moment check its advance: and weak and powerless though such pigmies seem to be, they are yet found as numerous and active in their little wells, after the shores have been desolated THE SHORES OF BRITAIN. 27 by the mighty force of the tide which has been driven in, in thunder, by the power of a fierce tempest, as when the waves have roUed gently and calmly to the shore in their sweetest murmurs. These insects have never been seen to swim, in- variably walking amongst the branches or leaves of the conferve- lessena sanguinea, which is a common species. It consists of several oblong-oval or pointed leaves of extreme delicacy, with the edges very much waved or plaited, furnished with a midrib and side-veins, which materially increase their leaf-like appearance ; the colour is an exceedingly rich rose-pink. The midrib often throws out smaller leaves, which, if the main frond be destroyed, soon attain its usual size; an mteresting provision against the accidents to which these apparently frail plants are neces- sarily exposed. The fructification of this genus is curious, as being of a two-fold character: both THE SHORES OP BRITAIN. 45 forms are found in the winter, affixed to the mid- part havuig all decayed away. The one mode is 'he rilT t ""/'^ «'"'"^" ""P™'- '^tt-ohed to ntX^tlr;an^r-?hn^^^^^^^^^ scnpuon, retains much of its beau^ whe^ dried andMs veiy easily preserved. It is a pity ti^t I am obliged to confess, that its odour fs^Jy 1 pleasant, being rank and pungent. ^ Some of those species whose fronds are very de- icatety and numerously ramilied, have been^used to form mimic pictures. By skilful arrangement very pretty landscapes are thus made, t^rrm and foliage of trees being beautifully imitated. X tands most commonly appropriated for this purpose are Plocammm cocoineum and Gelidium cartiLi. ««.»., which have a very beautiful elfect if simX expanded on smooth white paper, or on the p^l mner surface of large sheUs. The whole orderjfo nrf.<., to which these belong, is remarkable for M- liant hues and often elegant forms. Like their kindred, the plants of the earth and air the sea-weeds have their parasites. As the TillZ. m grows on the giants of the tropical forests, andl the m^seltoe grows upon the apple-tree of our o,^ orchards, so do some of these draw their noui^Z ment, or at least derive their support, from the fronds 46 THE OCEAN, or Stalks of others. Ptilota plumosa, for example, a delicately feathered species of a pink or purplish hue, IS found to be parasitical on the common tan- gle. It IS justly considered one of the ornaments of our southern shores, but becomes still finer as we approach a more northern latitude. This must not be confounded with another elegant little plant bear- mg the same specific name, but belonging to a dif- Brvopsis plumosa. ferent genus, Bryopsis plumosa. The tribe of which the latter is a member is remarkable for its deHcacy . in the one now mentioned the main stem is very slender,^ set with horizontally-spreading branches, like a pine-tree, each of which is most elegantly fea- thered. Its colour is a bright grass-green, and the whole surface shmes as if it were varnished. It is THE SHORES OF BRITAIN. 47 so delicate, that in drying, the colouring matter con- tracts in the stem, leaving interrupted spaces desti- tute of colour, and perfectly transparent. These are but a very few of the multitudinous sea- • weeds which would come under the notice of an ob- servant visitor to our own rocky shores ; yet how manifold are the indications of infinite intelliaence and goodness, even in these things proverbial for their vileness ! And while we gratefully acknow- ledge the Divine hand in such species as conduce to man s sustenance or comfort, may we not, from the lavish beauty and elegance of such as are of no direct benefit to us, legitimately draw the same consola- tory inference which the Saviour drew from the lovely liUes at His feet ? If God so clothe these obscure caverns and submerged rocks, will He not much more care for those whom He has redeemed with the blood, and conformed to the image, of His Son ? Nor is the relation which He sustains to these frail and perishing weeds limited to an exertion of creative power. AU are marshalled in order, each is provided incessantly with the requisite suppKes for Its welfare, and each is assigned to that particular locahty which suits its habit of growth, and where alone it flourishes. On this subject Mr. NeiU ob-. serves, " On our open shores a certain order is ob- served in the habitat of the Fuci, each species occu- pying pretty regularly its own zone or station. Chorda jilum, or Sea-laces grows in water some fa- thoms deep ; in places where the tide seldom en- tirely ebbs, but generally leaves from two to three feet of water, grow Alaria esculenta and Laminaria 48 THE OCEAN. bullosa, and the larger specimens of L. digitata ai.d saccharina, with some small kinds, as Rhodomenia palmata, Halidrys siliquosay and Delesseria sanguinea. In places uncovered only at the lowest ebbs, smaller plants of L. digitata and saccharina abound with Himanthalia lorea, or Sea-thongs. On the beaches uncovered by every tide, F. serratus occurs lowest down, along with Chondrus crispus and mammillosus ; next comes F. nodosus, and higher up, F. vesiculo- sus. Beyond this F. canaliculatus still grows, thriv- ing very well if only wet at flood-tide, and though liable to become dry and shrivelled during a great part of the day. Lastly, Lichina pygrrma is satisfied if it be within reach of the spray."* In examining these Algae, and especially if we col- lect them for preservation, we shall find very fre- quently entangled among them, branches of a sub- stance, which adheres with so much tenacity as to cause no little trouble in cleansing the specimens. I refer to the common Coralline {Corallina officii nalis). No organic substances have so much divided naturalists in opinion as to their real nature as the Corallines. Evidently placed on the very verge of the animal or vegetable kingdom, it required a minute acquaintance with their structure, derived from the closest observation, and all the research of modern science, to decide the long uncertain question, and to fix them where they now by com- mon consent hold their place among the vegetable tribes. The one of which I speak, and the most * Edin. Encyc. Art. "Fuci." Most of the species here aUuded to I have described above. THE SHORES OP BRITAIN. 49 common, being abundant on every rocky shore, or- tt'l^'T"*'' ''''"«'' '"''J^"* '° —^ variation. four tTh K k'""'^'^ '•"*y *"f' fr<"» """ to lou. inches high, growing from a broad, stony base ot a shape more or less round. Each branch con- sists of many short joints, a little broader at the upper thaa at the lower end, which often send out other jointed branches from each upper shoulder as o7 atl T t" °'"''" '^^' J"""*' "^^ "*• " 'tony or rather shelly consistence, being chiefly a deposit of lime, when dead they are perfectly white, but in a living state they assume a purplish tint. Lin- naeus and many other eminent men were deceived by this sheUy appearance, into an opinion ofTi^ ammal nature, maintaimng that animds alone eve" produced hme. But on removing the calcareTuT deposit, we perceive that it is mfrely a " Zen 50 THE OCEAN. veloping an axis of an evidently vegetable character. On placing the Coralline in vinegar, or other weak acid, the lime is dissolved, leaving the vegetable part coloured as before, which, though continuous through its length, is constricted at the parts which corresponded to the joints of the crust, and looks very much like one of the jointed Fuel It is very common to see the broad base without any jointed branches, for the former attains some size before the latter shoot, and may be seen in this state on almost every object between the range of high and low tide. It first appears as a thin, round, shelly patch, of a purplish hue, on the shell of a Mol- lusk, or the frond of a Fucus, or the smooth rock, and gradually enlarges by additions at the edge, the progress of which is marked by concentric zones, or rings of a paler tint, till it sometimes attains several inches in diameter. It is tenacious of vitality, and when the branches are all torn off by the violence of the waves, or other accidents, the base still lives on, and becomes studded with roundish knobs. This base, when growing on a soft calcareous rock, will often increase much in thickness without showing any tendency to throw out its jointed branches: or in situations where it is long uncovered by the tide, and exposed to the influence of the sun, it becomes " a softish, white leprous crust." Its ordinary form, however, is by far the most pleasing, particularly when growing, as they delight to do, on the sides of the stiU, rocky pools already described, their bushy tufts grace- fully hanging over each other, like weeping wil- THE SHORES OF BRITAIN. ^ to our UsrdeSn::::;: H^t""^""^'""' '="'™ other sea-Dlants if ^^ ' '" """""on with «t for the ™;;::;:vran;i-:t i: r: -- £:Lro:^:LTth\%r::h^^^ to oL a !';/?'• *^ """" ^<»''<> "ot afford Me ct^rai? ' •"^o-^-i^'-ce. Of course our Johnston, whose resef:rht o"„ te eTgrerdtritt are so interesting. " Was there a leed " he r now eight weeks ago nee i\Za' '" and the very young frond of a green l/l.,aZ^^' seldon. disturbed, though occasio^auT 1 'ored T D 2 52 THE OCEAN. and at the ond of four weeks the water was found to be still pure, the Mollusca and other animals all alive and active, the ConfervcB had grown percep- tibly, and the Coralline itself had thrown out some new shoots, and several additional articulations. Eight weeks have now elapsed since the experi- ment was begun, — the water has remained un- changed,— ^yet the CoraUine is growing, and appa- rently has lost none of its vitality ; but the animals have sensibly decreased in numbers, though many of them continue to be active, and show no dis- like to their situation. What can be more conclu- sive ? I need not say that if any animal, or even a sponge, had been so confined, the water would long before this time have been deprived of its oxy- gen, would have become corrupt and ammoniacal, and poisonous to the life of every living thing."* Who is not familiar with Sponge, — with its soft- ness, its elasticity, its capacity of absorbing and re- taining fluids, and other qualities which render it so valuable in domestic economy ? And yet how few ire aware that it is the skeleton of an animal ! In fact. Sponge is one of those dubious forms which God has placed, in the great system of Creation, on the confines of the two great divisions of organic beings, apparently having little in common with either. Like the Corallines, the Sponges have af- forded occasion for much controversy as to their proper position, but they are now pretty unani- mously assigned to the animal kingdom. The com- mon Sponge of household purposes {Spongia offici- * British Sponi^es, p. 215. THE SHORES OF BRITAIN. 53 nalis) is a native of the Mediterranean, but is much more familiar to us than our native species, of which there are many. The appearance which it {resents IS that of an irregularly-shaped mass, more or less rounded, composed of a brown woolly substance per- forated by innumerable pores in all directions, and havmg, in addition, wide canals communicating with each other, and terminating in round holes or mouths on the surface. But if we take a small por- tion of the substance, and place it under a common magnifying lens, we shall see that it is composed of shimng, horny, nearly transparent fibres, which, by uniting with each other at all angles and distances, form a loose and very irregular network. Now, when in a living state, every fibre was inclosed in a coating of thin clear jelly, which formed the living animal, the horny fibres constituting, as I have inti- mated above, oniy the skeleton. Imbedded in the substance of many species, some British ones for ex- ample, are found spiculce, or needle-like crystals of pure flint, varying much in shape in various kinds, while other species have similar crystals of lime. Where these occur in considerable numbers, the' Sponge' does not possess elasticity ; it may be crushed, but it will not regain Tts original form. It is a singular fact, that Sponges of these three different kinds are sometimes found growing close to each other, and all alike nourished by the same simple fluid, pure sea-water; yet they elaborate therefrom products so different asi horn, flint, and hme. The animal nature of Sponges is not easily to be detected : no indication of sensation has ever 45 THE OCEAN. been perceived in them when living, even though violence in many modes has been oiTered to them ; though beaten, pinched with hot irons, cut or torn, or subjected to the action of the strongest acids. The substance may be destroyed, but there is no contraction, nor the sUghtest evidence of feeling; to all appearance they are as passive as the rock on which they grow. One proof of their animality, however, is open to any one: we are all familiar with a peculiar smell produced when horn, wool, fea- thers, &c., are burned; this smell arises from the presence of ammonia, and is peculiar to animal mat- ter; on burning a bit of Sponge this animal odour is strongly perceptible. On viewing a Hving Sponge, however, in water, with care and attention, it is found to exhibit a constant and energetic action, which sufficiently shows its vitality. Dr. Grant's account of his discovery of this motion in a native species, is so interesting, that, though I have quoted it in another treatise, I may be forgiven for repeat- ing it here. « I put a small branch of the Spongia coalita, with some sea-water, into a watch-glass, under the microscope ; and, on reflecting the light of a candle through the fluid, I soon perceived that there was some intestine motion in the opaque par- ticles floating through the water. On moving the watch-glass, so as to bring one of the apertures on the side of the Sponge fully into view, I belield, for the first time, the splendid spectacle of this living fountain vomiting forth from a circular cavity an impetuous torrent of liquid matter, and hurling along, in rapid succession, opaque masses, which it THE SHORES OF BRITAIN. QQ vai? fo five r ' '"""^ ''^^^' »' *»' inter- >„ii J . , ** * *™®! ''Ut still the stream rolled on with a constant and equal velocit^" of ITT' 'u ^'"'''''' "PP^^"- *» have little choice of situation, but to grow wherever the young off et or gemmule happens to drop, whether on tl^e rfck on a shell, or on a sea-weed Tf ♦ <• , ' species, growing side by sL L -1 *' '"^^ their edges unife and tV, . '"'° ™"**'='' perfectly one Zt'tU * ^°'™ °"" "^^^' '" Lf • J- . ^ '"°^* practised eye could de S if' t teight:^: tof ."r t ^" '.•'-" edges adhere by tnta^^ b'^le^f r^o S' and both of the contiguous edges will grow up for be- yond their natural level, like walls striving^o over ^p each other, until the action of the waves p" ' natural. Dr. Johnston speaks of two species of Sponge, which had become so inte JS ■ growth, without being united, that, bdnrof'dfffe" loured'::' "-^ P--'^<> .*e appeara/ce off I" the back of a small crab : the latter ha^ I ^oZ^l B6 THE OCEAN. appearance crawling under the perpetual shadow of Its own tree, the burden of whose weight, however, was probably, more than compensated by the pro- tection It afforded against enemies. A singular little creature called the Hermit Crab {Pagums\ the hinder part of whose body is unpro- tected, except by a soft skin, is endowed with an instinct which prompts it to seek some univalve shell, into which it thrusts its abdomen, henceforth using It as a house. Now there is a species of bponge found on our coast (jy. suberea), of a corky substance, which grows on the surface of similar shells, overspreading and enveloping them ; and it so happens that in the great majority of instances, the Sponge is found upon the individual shells inha- bited by the Hermit. Gradually and insensibly, the Sponge grows over the shell, and at length creeps rounds the edge of the lip, and begins to line the mside : the constant motion of the Crab, who is very active, retards the growth for a while, but eventually the Sponge prevails, and the Hermit, finding his pre- mises becoming every day more and more contracted, is at length compelled to seek another lodging. A proceeding very similar to this, but which the Her- mit-crab finds rather to his advantage than discom- fort, takes place in the growth of a species of Coral {Alcyonium echinatum). This coral also very fre- quently grows on a shell selected for a habitation by the little crab ; but as it grows, it does not line the shell, but becomes moulded, as it were, to the form of the inclosed animal, thus increasing the size and commodiousness of the dwelling, and precluding THE SHORES OF BRITAIN. 57 the necessity of quitting the tenement. Mr Grav remarks „„ this .-"One can understand that he s!a«elv et 1 ^r '"'^" '° ^o^' »"" this will r'ilenee." "' '"""'""''^ ''^- ^^''^ "P 'h^' One of the most pleasing forms that are presented by the Sponges, which are exceedingly various is as a tea-cup, but is more funnel-shaped, whence ft! name (ff. infundiUiforn^i,). A simiL pulsion the Indian seas, commonly called Neptune's cZ though much larger, is inferior to our HtSletfn' O^st ^'^r™r '"'' ^P°"^'"-^ "f '-tut. Om- shores abound with examples of those aston no a legated. The former under the names of Animal-flowers, and Sea-anemones, have attaeted genera admiration from their intriLic beaurand from their very close resemblance to co^oSe flowers. When out of water, or reposing?they usually take a semi-globular shape, adherin; byl broad base to the rocks, but soml are somewhat lengthened and cylindrical. The centre of the upper surface IS depressed, and there is evidently an £" ture which has been closed. When seeking f^^" this oriHce opens, by its edges turning inside ouH It were and dilates until it is as wide as the base atultituTe tfl'\*^ '''' "' °"'^"™' P-™ e a mu titude of fleshy rays, called tentacnla, arranged in three or four rows extending all round. In f he D 5 58 THE OCEAN. centre of the expanded disk is the real mouth, or opening into the stomach. It is these tentacula, which, spreading around exactly like the rays of an aster or marigold, give to the Polype so striking a likeness of a flower. These animals are exceed- ingly voracious; though, when closed, you would think them a mere lump of jelly-like flesh, utterly helpless and incapable of any exertion ; yet, when the tentacula are all expanded, no small crab, or shrimp, or mussel, can even touch one of them with impunity. From some cause, not thoroughly under- stood, each tentacle has the power of adhering with wonderful tenacity to any object on th,- slightest con- tact. I have often been surprised at the force re- quired to draw away my finger when I have gently touched one. No sooner, then, has some little shelled moUusk been thus caught, than instantly other tentacles lay hold of it also, and it is inevitably dragged by their contraction into the mouth. It remains in the stomach a few hours, when the shell, entirely cleared of all the meat, is vomited through the mouth, there being but one orifice to the body. The Polype is capable of great dilatation, which en- ables it to swallow an animal even much larger than the ordinary dimensions of its own body. A very curious instance of this I shall presently mention. But first I must allude to that which forms the most wonderful feature in its history, the power of repro- ducing any parts that have been cut off". To so great an extent does this power prevail, that even if cut into many parts, each separate part will put forth the parts wanting, and soon become a complete THE SHORES OP BKITAIN. 59 amma^. For example, if, with a sharp knife, a Pc lype be cut ,n two by a horizontal section, midway bon will adhere to a rock, close the bottom of the stomach, and take its former shape; the under part will throw out rudimentary tentacles around the centre, which will soon be in a condition to take food and the original form and functions will be belT ,•'^"^^P»''» »!-• Nay, it has even being violently removed from its support, leave be^ hind any fragments of its base still adhering, each of these torn portions will, in a short time, acquire all the parts of the perfect animal. These powers strongly remind one of vegetable life , for it is as if one were making cuttings and consequently new plante, of a fuchsia or verbena. The ordinary mode in which the Polypes continue their race is very plant-hke i the young grow from any part of the surface like little buds, and when they have at! tained the form of the parent, drop oif; often, how- ever, they are vomited through the mouth. Any of my young readefs who live near the coast, may easily verify these observations ; but I would not recommend the artificial mode of increasing the ammals, because, though it may well be doubted whether they are susceptible of pain, such experi- ments have an appearance of cruelty at least, which It IS well to avoid. In some situations you will tind m abundance Actinia gemmacea, the most lovely ot our native animal flowers, which I will describe When closed, it is of a rounded or sometimes oval 60 THE OCEAN. shape, somewhat flattened, about an inch and a- Hall m diameter, very variable in colour : some- times bemg of a briUiant scarlet with pale warts, like rows of ornamental beads; at other times it IS of a sulphur yellow, or pale green, with stripes of orange colour; and I have seen specimens of a lively rose-pink, studded with green dots. When expanded, it displays three or four circles of ten- tacles, which are rather short and thick, and va- negated with white and red in alternate rings. Sometimes, by imbibing a large quantity of water. It becomes distended to twice its usual dimensions, and IS then nearly transparent. There is an in- stinct displayed by this species, which one would not expect to find in a creatm-e of so low an or- ganization, and which is worthy of our admiration, as showing how mindful the gracious Creator and Preserver is of His creatures' well-being. Such individuals as have taken up their residence upon the half submerged rocks, where the daily recess of the tide exposes them to observation, are covered with rough warts, and blotched with dusky brown and dull orange, and are coated with fragments of shells sea-weed, and gravel, which adhere to the skin by a glutinous secretion, so strongly as not to be washed off; and, being thus veiled, the ani- mals defy detection. On the other hand, thosP specimens which live in deep water, as if aware that the necessity for concealment no longer ex- ists, have nothing of the kind, their skins are smooth and naked, and adorned with the vivid tints which make this species so beautiful. The THE SHORES OP BRITAIN. 61 Actini^ are easily procured, and kept alive a Ions time in sea-water without difficulty; in a riasa vessel their beauty is displayed to ad;a„*::ge, n!Z mg only the precaution of supplying them with pure sea-water every two or three days at most, or they will throw off their skin in ragged pieces become discoloured, and die. They are capable of very long fasts, although, as I observed before, vo- racious enough when food is to be obtained. Mr. Johnston tells us of a specimen of the A. gemmaoea once brought to him, "that might have been ori- ginally two mches in diameter, and that had some- how contrived to swaUow a valve of Peoten ma^nus The sheU fixed within the stomach, was so placed a^ to dhvide It completely into two halves, so that InH fl°t' "Tr^"^ *'"'''y °™'' ^ ''«<=<'"'« thin and flattened like a pancake. All communication between the mferior portion of the stomach and the mouth was of course prevented, yet, instead of emaciating and dying of a hytrophy, the animal bad availed itself of what undoubtedly had been a very untoward accident, to increase its enioyments and Its chances of double fare. A new mouA, fur- nished with two rows of numerous tentacula, was opened upon what had been the base, and fed to the under-stomach: the individual had indeed become LZ\ ."'""' ^"' ''"' ™* g^^o'^^ intimacy and extent in its unions ! "* *^ Each of these animal flowers, except in the case ot such accidental monstrosities as the one just men- * Brit. Zooph. p. 224. 62 THE OCEAN. tionetl, IS a distinct and independent animal ; but there are some which, while they posses. . .a. val similarity in structure to these, exis^ 'ndy ii "r gre- gated communities ; many individual Polypes being clustered upon a somewhat solid body called a Po- lypidom, which is, when alive, clothed with a fleshy coat believed to be capable of communicatin • and receiving sensations to or from all the Polypes. Ihe teat-shaped bodies, familiarly called by the fishermen Cows' paps, when simple, and Dead man's toes, when branched, is a common example ; the ^Icf/omum digitatum of zoologists. It consists of a leathery substance, capable of contraction, studded with orifices, whence project little stars with eight rays, which are the expanded tentacles of the small Polypes that inhabit the hollows. Those beautiful productions, the Corals, some of which I may have occasion to notice hereafter, are also formed on the same model. They have generally a more solid stem, partaking of the nature of stone, and branch out in imitation of shrubs. The stony or horny centre, is however clothed with gelatinous flesh, in which, as in the former instance, hollows occur at intervals, occupied by minute star-shaped Polypes The warty white coral {Gorgonia verrucosa), not un- common with us, is of this structure, having a stony skeleton; but in the beautiful Sea-fan (G flahellum), the skeleton shows more the texture of bone, or perhaps of horn ; it is black, but is clothed with flesh of a yellow colour, or sometimes purple. l, \ 78 THE OCEAN. Next in importance to the members of the above valuable family, is the Mackarel, the most elegantly beautiful of the finny tribes that throng our shores. It is in season earlier than the Herring, usually appearing in spring, and the fishery is prosecuted in May and June, as in the latter month it spawns. It occurs in most abundance in the southern part of the kingdom, the coasts of Kent and Sussex being the chief stations of the fishery. The Mackarel is taken principally by nets, which are so set as to arrest the fish while roving about during the night ; many, however, are taken by means of the hook, the fa- vourite bait being a strip of fiesh cut from the tail of a fresh Mackarel,' or, in default thereof, a bit of red cloth: the fish bite most readily when the boat is sailing rapidly before the wind. The value of this fish depends, in a more than common degree, on its freshness ; and hence it is important that no time be lost in conveying it to market. Fast-sailing boats are therefore kept in readiness to convey the cargoes to London as soon as caught, which usually find it ad- vantageous to secure the aid of steam in ascending the river, as the loss of a single tide may diminish the value of the cargo one half, or even render it utterly unsaleable. During the season, not less than one hundred thousand are thus brought to Billings- gate per week. The preceding species coming in swarming shoals into the shallow waters are usually taken by nets; but the Cod, another very valuable fish, having dif- ferent habits, is taken singly, by hook and line. It does not appear that the Cod is gregarious from THE SHORES OF BRITAIN. 79 r t MACKARBL BOAT OFF HASTINGS. choice ; or in any other sense than that of many individuals independently actuated by a similar mo- tive, flocking to any place where food is plentiful. The Cod rarely comes into the shallows ; but haunts the deep water, feeding at the rocky bottom, on ma- rine worms, Crustacea, and shelled moUusca. It is a voracious fish; Mr. Crouch records having taken thirty-five crabs, none of them less than a half-crown piece, from the stomach of a single Cod : his greedi- ness is often his own destruction and the fisher- man's advantage, for it induces him readily to seize the bait. It is most abundant on the north and west coasts of Scotland, but is taken in consider- able plenty all round the coasts of our island. In \ 80 THE OCEAN. some of the Hebrides, there are large pools for the preservation of sea-fishes, hollowed out of the solid rock, and communicating with the sea by narrow clefts at high tide. Great numbers of Cod-fishes are kept in these vivaria, and are fed with various garbage, or the bodies of other fishes. The stock is replenished by casting in such individuals as are but slightly injured by the hook in fishing, while small ones, or such as are lacerated, are thrown into the same receptacle, as food for their more fortunate brethren. There are two modes of capturing the Cod with the hook : the one is with what are called in Cornwall bulters, which are long lines, to which are attached, at regular distances, other lines six feet in length, each bearing a hook; the intervals are twice the length of the small lines, to prevent their intertwining ; these are shot across the course of the tide. The other mode is by hand-lines, of which each fisherman holds . two, one in each hand, and each line bears two hooks at its extremity, which are kept apart by a stout wire going from one to the other. A heavy leaden weight is attached near the hooks, and thus the fisherman feels when his bait is off the ground. He continually jerks them up and dovra, and is thus aware of a fish the moment it is secured. Although this seems a somewhat tedious process of fishing compared with the im- mense draughts of the net, it is found in skilful hands to be productive : eight men on the Dogger- bank have taken eighty score of Cod in a day. It is a heavy fish : Pennant records one which weighed 78 lbs., but this was a giant ;— it was sold at Scar- I ii t THE SHORES OF BRItAiN. 81 borough for one shilling ! The fish are brought to the mouth of the Thames in stout cutters, furnished with wells, in which they remain alive ; hence they are sent up in portions to Billingsgate by the night tide. The cutters lie at Gravesend ; for if they were to advance any higher up the river, the ad- mixture of fresh water virould kill the fish in the wells. The liver of the Cod is not the least va- luable part of its body, because it melts almost entirely away into a clear oil, much used in manu- factures. There is a family of fishes familiar to us, which are worthy of a moment's notice, not only on ac- count of their importance as objects of commercial speculation, but for their singular and unparalleled deviation from the ordinary structure. These are the Flat-fishes (Pleuronectidce), comprising the Tur- bot. Plaice, Sole, and some others. Their form is very deep, but at the same time very thin, and they are not constituted to swim as other fishes do, with the back uppermost, but lying upon one side. They reside wholly upon the bottom, shuffling along by waving their flattened bodies fringed with the dorsal and anal fins ; and as they are somewhat sluggish in their movements, they need concealment from ene- mies. This is aflforded to them by the side which is uppermost being of a dusky brown hue, undis- tinguishable from the mud on which they rest ; and so conscious are they where their safety lies, that when alarmed they do not seek to escape by fiight like other fishes, but sink down close to the bottom, and lie perfectly motionless. Even the practised B 5 82 THE OCEAN. eye of the turbot-fisher, with its powers sharpened by interest, fails to detect a fish when thus con- cealed, and he is obliged to have recourse to another sense, tracing lines upon the mud with an iron- pointed pole, that the touch may discover the latent fish. In the structure of the head, again, there is a peculiar and very remarkable provision for the TURBOT-BOAT OFF SCARBOROUGH. wants of the creature. If the eyes were placed as in all other animals, one on each side of the head, it is plain that the fiat-fishes habitually grovelling in the manner described, would be deprived of the sight of one eye, which being always buried in the mud would be quite useless. To meet this difii- culty, the spine is distorted, taking, near the head, a sudden twist to one side, and thus the two eyes THE SHORES OP BRITAIN. 83 are placed on the side which is kept uppermost, where both are available. The inferior side of a flat-fish ii always white. The Turbot is the most highly esleemed of this family, and perhaps of all our fishes, the flesh being of very delicate flavour. The Sole is also a valuable fish. Both of these spe- cies are taken chiefly by trawl-nets, but the former is also caught with the hook. The Crustaceous and Testaceous classes afford employment to a considerable number of our po- pulation, and demand our brief attention. Of the former, the chief species selected for food in this country are the Crab, the Lobster, the Prawn, and the Shrimp. Both our ^ salt and fresh waters, how- ever, contain multitudes of other species, some of which are exceedingly curious in structure and form. The Crustacea, like insects, have no internal skeleton; but instead of it, are encased in a jointed framework, resembling the plate-armour of our forefathers, of a texture between shell and bone. The muscles which move the body are attached to the interior cf this crust, as our muscles are attached to the bones. The body consists mainly of two parts; the fore-division, contains the head and chest, co- vered with a large single plate, and the hinder, the belly, covered with several smaller plates, joined by a tough skin, and lapping over each other. As this shelly covering is possessed by the animal from its very birth, it is natural to inquire how it can pos- sibly increase in size, seeing it is enclosed in an unyielding prison. In the Tortoises, which are somewhat siihilarly encased, the difficulty is met 84 THE OCEAN. by a periodical addition to the interior surface of every plate a little wider in diameter than the one before, thus enlarging the capacity of the aggre- gated plates, together with the enlargement of each plate, and this, as I have already observed, is the mode by which the scales of a fish grow. But from the shape and size of the plates on a Crab or a Lobster, and especially of the great one that en- velopes the chest, this mode of growth would not answer the purpose. Another contrivance is re- sorted to, of a character perfectly unique ; one of those contrivances that meet us at every turn in a study of Nature, and that make it so interest- ing and instructive, as manifesting the infinite re sources of the Mighty God. When the Crustacean linds that from its increasing size, it is bound and pressed by its sheUy covering, it retires to some hole or cranny for protection, becomes sickly and refuses to eat. After pining awhile, the softer parts separate from the inside of the crust, even the muscles becoming detached from the skeleton and take up a much smaller bulk than before- a thick skin forms over this soft body, replacing the crust, and then the great shield of the chest is thrown off unbroken, and the other plates of the body follow. This seems plain : but it is not so easy to understand how the process is completed Every one who has looked at a Crab's claw, knows' that in a healthy animal it is filled with flesh, that the inside is capacious, but that the joints are very small: now, how is the animal to get its flesh freed trom this capacious boot ? One would readily say THE SHORES OP BRITAIN. QQ the cast-off claws, which are frequently met with no spht or separation can be discovered.' The ^Z Z '; "°'f V "'*''''''"''"'y ''°'™'»' l-"' I believe that through the wasting away of the limbs from .ckness and fasting, they become so diminished ta fices Zl "^ r" *'^°"«'' *« "'"'"v ori- fices of the jomts. Every part of the old shell bemg thus thrown off, antem,*, eyes, jaws and j, the animal fills its body wiA waj, Ilatbg old Ln*°. \"'" "-h exceeding tW of thf old shell, which the new skin, yet soft and flexible ad.ly permits It is necessary that this inflat on of the body should take place when newly freed because the skin immediately begins to grow rigid within the body, and rapidly takes the texture and consistence of the shell just rejected. The appe^te now returns, and abundance of food soon relr the enlarged ammal to its wonted vigour A ""? ?f '^'."^ "'"'"•' "'^'■^ ""^^ ™«>y Species, have wider tUn long: the plates of the beUy are small and folded under the body out of sight. The TreM pincers or claws have comiderable muscular pf^ stellTf T'l' "'^'^^ "' ** extremities, with L tl f ^°K ''""^ ^'''^■'^- ^« Crab wields these formidable weapons with much dexterity, and If he obtains a grasp, holds his opponent with perse- venng tenacity, so that he is not to be despifed Tn single combat. Mr. Mudie tells an amusing 1" dote Illustrative of this habit. " We remember " \ 86 THE OCEAN. says he, " an instance in which, but for timely assist- ance, the corporation of a royal borough would have been deprived of its head, through the retentive clutching of a crab. The borough alluded to is ^•ituated on a rocky part of the coast, where shell-fish are so very abundant, that they are hardly regarded for any other purpose than as bait for the white fishery. The official personage was a man of leisure- and one favourite way of filling up that leisure was the capture of crabs, which, after much care, he had learned to do by catching them in the holes of the rocks, so adroitly, as to avoid their formidable pin- cers. One day he had stretched himself on the top of a rock, and thrusting his arm into a crevice below, got hold of a very large crab ; so large, indeed, that he was unable to get it out in the position in which It had been taken. Shifting his position in order to accommodate the posture of his prey to the size of the aperture, he slipped his hold of the crab, which immediately made reprisals by catching him by the thumb, and squeezing with so much violence, that he roared aloud. But though there be a vulgar opi- nion, of course an unfounded one, that lobsters are apt to cast their claws, through fear, at the sound of thunder, or of great guns, the thundering and shout- ing of the corporation man had no such effect upon the crab. He would gladly have left it to enjoy its hole ; but it would not quit him, but held him as firmly as if he had been in a vice ; and though he rattled it against the rocks with all the power that he could exert, which, pinched as he was by the thumb, was not great; yet he was unable to get out THE SHORES OF BRITAIN. 87 of it8 clutches. But * tide waits for no man/ even though his thumb should be in a crab's claw; and so .the flood returned, till the greater part of the arm was in water, and the ripple even beginning to mount to the top of the rock, which, as the tides were high at that particular time, was speedily to be at least a fathom under water; and destruction seem- ed inevitable. A townsman who had been following the same fishery with an iron hook at the end of a stick, fortunately came in sight; and by introducing that, and detaching the other pincer of the crab, which is one of the common means of making it let go its hold, he restored the official personage to land and life."* The fisherman, however, prefers another mode of taking Crabs than by seeking them in their rocky retreats. He uses pots made of vdcker-work, with an opening in the top, made by the ends of the rods, bent inwards, and converging towards a point; their elasticity allovidng a crab to enter readily enough, but causing them to spring back to their first posi- tion when he is in, presenting only their converged points when he vidshes to escape ; the entrance being in the top of the pot, moreover, he cannot well get at it when once inside. Some decaying animal mat- ter is put in by way of bait, which is an unfailing temptation to the crab's palate, and the pot is sunk in deep water by means of a heavy stone. A line attached to a float on the surface of the water marks the situation of each pot, and prevents mistakes as to • Brit. Nat. i. 279. 88 THE OCEAN. CRAB- POTS. property. The Lobster is caught in the same man- ner as the crab, and both are in great demand for the dehcacy of their flesh. A very large proportion of those eaten in England are brought from Norway. At first there does not seem much in common in the form of these two animals, except that both are fur- nished with pincers ; but on examination, we shall find that both are constructed on the same model. The shield of the chest, which was broad and flat in the crab, is long and arched in the lobster ; and the belly, which was thin, small, and folded out of sight under the body, is in the latter much larger, and though bent may be extended, and is terminated by fringed horny plates, like a fin: the antenna, or ■T THE SHORES OP BRITAIN. horn-like processes of the head, arc very long. Thus we perceive, and there are many oth^»r examples which might be adduced, that it has pleased God to vary the forms of created beings, not by making each on a separate and independent plan, but by creating certain forms, which are viewed as types or models, and varying the parts, common to many spe- cies, in detail. The one mode would have been as easy as the other; there can be no gradations of faci- lity in creation to Omnipotence ; but doubtless He had wise ends in view in thus proceeding, though we :nay fail, from ignorance, in discerning them. Pro- bably one reason may have been the formation of one harmonious whole out of the multitude of living creatures, which could not have been formed had every one been essentially different from all others. But, as it is, we see that deviations in structure and form are gradual, that one species varies but little from a certain type, another varies a little more, and so on; thus connecting each with each in a most beautiful order, something like the manner in which the links of a chain hang from each other, or perhaps still more, like an immense number of circles, so ar- ranged as to touch other circles in many parts of their circumference. Goldsmith flippantly asserts, that the Shrimp and the Prawn « seem to be the first attempts which nature made when she medi- tated the formation of the lobster." Such expres- sions as these, however, are no less unphilosophical than they are derogatory to God's honour; these animals being in an equal degree perfect in their kind, equally formed by consummate wisdom, inca- 90 THE OCEAN. pable of improvement, each filUng its own pecuKar place in its own circle, which the others could not ^ fill. THB 8HRXMPBR. The Shrimp and Prawn, like the lobster, have the extremity of the body furnished with broad overlap- ping plates, strongly fringed, which, expanding in the shape of a fan, constitute a powerful fin. 'xhe body, a little behind the middle, has a remarkable bend downward, though it may be brought nearly straight. Their motion when swimming is very swift, and in a backward direction ; and is performed by striking the water forcibly with the tail-fin, the THE SHORES OF BRITAIN. 91 body being in a bent position. The lobster is said to project itself thus, by a single impulse, upwards of thirty feet, and to dart through the water with the fleetness of a bird upon the wing. The shrimp fre- quents the shallows, and congregates in numerous shoals, which leap from the surface, as I have often seen. The capture of them is often left to the children of the fishermen, who, wading in the shoal water, with a net fixed at the end of a pole, take them with much ease. Under the appellation of Shell-^sh are familiarly included animals having little connexion with each other, and still less with fishes. The Fish, the Crab, and the Oyster, belong, in fact, to three of the grand sections, into which the animal kingdom is distri- buted; and though the last two agree in being in- vested with what is, in common parlance, called " a shell," yet the crust of the one bears no analogy in form, structure, or composition, to the shell of the other. Again : those animals which, like the Oyster, are covered with true calcareous shells, differ greatly from each other; some, as the Periwinkle and the Whelk, being animals of much higher grade in the scale of development than others, as the Oyster or Scallop. The former crawl with ease, on a broad fleshy disk, as we have all seen in the case of the garden Snail, an animal closely allied to them ; they have a distinct head, with tentacles, jaws, and often with eyes ; but the latter have no power of crawling, being for the most part confined to one spot, no head, no eyes, no tentacles, and no jaws, but are shut up within their two shells, which can be opened \ 92 THE OCEAN. only to a smaU extent during the life of the animal, let we must not for a moment suppose that these creatures are unhappy, or that the meanest occupant even of a bivalve shell is not supplied with every, thmg that could conduce to its welfare. It is sin alone that is the source of unhappiness. I will iust pomt out one or two particulars in which the Divine care for these creatures is manifest. All of them have the vital parts of the body protected by a thick, fleshy coat somewhat projecting at the edges, called the mantle ; the surface of this organ has the power of forming the shell, by depositing stony matfer in a sort of glutinous cement, which soon hardens into a thm layer of shell ; if a little piece were broken off the edge of the shell of a whelk, when alive, the animaj would press the surface of the mantle against the fracture, and pass it several times over the place; a very thin transparent film would then be seen to iill up the space, which in the same way it would increase in thickness, until in a few days we could scarce y distinguish the renewed part from the other, or tell that the shell had been broken, except per- haps by a sHght variation in colour. As the animal grows, It wants a larger shell; and the mantle affords the means of increasing its size; the front edge of this organ is thicker than the rest, and is called the collar; and it is by thrusting this round the edge of the shell, while stony matter is poured out from its sur- face, that an addition is made to it. In the bivalves or those whose shells open and shut like the covers ot a book, as the oyster, the mantle is twofold, co- vering the body on each side, just within each shell. THE SHORES OF BRITAIN. 93 Instead of a collar, each leaf of the mantle is here fringed with a series of delicate fleshy threads, which secrete the exterior part of the sheU, by being thrust out round the edge ; while the whole surface of the mantle deposits the beautiful, rainbow tinted, pearly substance with which the interior is coated. Instead of the fleshy belly on which the* univalves ghde along, the bivalves are furnished with a pecu- bar organ, which in some species serves the purpose of motion. The oyster, however, and some other species, have no power of changing their position, but are, as it were, cemented to the rock on which the spawn first chanced to fall. The Mussel, again, is fastened, but in a different manner, being moored by a cable of silken threads, which it spins from its own body. But the Cockle, which is eaten by the poor on many of our shores, is enabled to move with considerable rapidity by means of the organ to which I have just alluded. It is somewhat like a tongue, and can assume a great variety of shapes. The cockle burrows in the mud; having lengthened and stiffened its tongue or foot, it pushes it as far as it can reach into the mud; then bending the tip into a hook, it forcibly contracts it, and thus brings its body, shell and all, into the hole. The Razor-shell, a shell common on sandy beaches, of a long narrow form, has this power still more remarkably deve- loped. Many of the islands which stud the sea around the north and west coasts of Scotland are remarkable for the stern grandeur of their precipitous cliffs. One might almost imagine that the surges of the mighty 94 THE OCEAN, Atlantic, dashing against them for ages with un- broken fury, had undermined their solid foundations, and worn for themselves numerous passages, leaving only columnar rocks of vast height, detached from one another, though of similar formation and con- struction. Such a rock is the Hohn of Noss, appa- rently severed from the Isle of Noss, from which it is about a hundred feet distant ; both the cliffs are of stupendous height, and far below in the narrow gorge, the raging sea boils and foams, so that the beholder can scarcely look downward without horror. But stern necessity impels men to enterprises, from which the boldest would otherwise shrink ; to obtain a scanty supply pf coarse food for himself and family the hardy inhabitant of the Orkneys dares even the terrors of the Holm of Noss. In a small boat, with a companion or two, he seeks the base of the cliff; and leaving them below, he fearlessly climbs the pre- cipice, and gains the summit. A thin stratum of earth is found on the top, into which he drives some strong stakes ; and having descended and performed the same operation on the opposite cliff, he stretches a rope from one to the other, and tightly fastens it. On this rope a sort of basket, called a craddle, is made to traverse, and the adventurous islander now commits himself to the frail car, and suspended be- tween sea and sky, hauls himself backward and for- ward by means of a line. And do you ask what prize can tempt man to incur such fearful hazard, lavish of his life ? It is the eggs and young of a sea- bird, the fishy taste and oily smell of whose flesh would present little gratification to any whose senses THE SHORES OP BRITAIN. 95 were not made obtuse by necessity. The Gannets • aiid GuiUemots dwell in countless myriads on these naked rocks, laying their eggs and rearing their pro- geny whfirever the surface presents a ledge suffi- ciently broad to hold them. Their immense num. bers render them an object of importance to the inhabitants of these barren islands, who derive from them, either in a fresh state, or salted and dried a considerable portion of their sustenance. In some other situations the fowlers have recourse to a still more hazardous mode of procedure. The cKffs are sometimes twelve hundred fe6t in height and fearfully overhanging. If it is determined to pro- ceed from above, the adventurer prepares a rope, made either of straw or of hogs' bristles, because these ma- tenals are less Uable to be cut through by the sharp edge of the rock. Having fastened the end of the rope round his body, he is lowered down by a few com- rades at the top to the depth of five or six hundred feet. He carries a large bag afllxed to his waist, and a pole m his hand, and wears on his head a thick cap, as a protection against the fragments of rock which the friction of the rope perpetuaUy loosens ; large masses, however, occasionaUy fall, and dash him to pieces. Having arrived at the region of birds, he pro- ceeds with the utmost coolness and address ; pla- cing his feet against a ledge, he will occasionaUy dart many fathoms into the air, to obtain a better view of the crannies in which the birds are nest- ling, . ke in all the details at a glance, and again shoot in to their haunts. He takes only the eggs 96 THE OCEAN. and young, the old birds being too tough to be eaten. Caverns often occur in the perpendicular face of the rock, which are favourite resorts of the fowls ; but the only access to such situations is by disengaging himself from the rope, and either hold- ing the end in his hand, while he collects his booty, or fastening it round some projecting corner. I FOWLING IN ORKNEY. have heard of an individual, who either from choice or necessity, was accustomed to go alone on these expeditions; supplying the want of confederates above by firmly planting a stout iron bar in the THE SHORES OF BRITAIN. 97 earth, from wUch he lowered himself. One day having found such a cavern as I have mentioned he imprudently disengaged the rope from Tbodr 'and entered the cave with the end of it i„ his CI' U the eagerness of collecting, however, he sWd Ws ^^;lt\'^:';:^i>;— S^'^-'-'- struc.with hoLr, j:zl^^^-z rition ."the ; *° r"? '•'' ™'"^ •"«"<» - -«h'; ;:: ne^'co^d b^' *?' "•'! '° P'°j^'='^'>' *at he he felt i;, 1 ""' ■*'** seemed inevitable, and he felt the hopelessness of his situation. He re mained mapy hours in a state bordering on stupe-' faction, at length he resolved to make one eff^t which If unsuccessful must be fatal. Ha^ ^ml mended himself to God. he rushed to the r22Z the cave and sprang into the air, providentiaufTue -ded in graspmg the pendulous rope, and '^^ Sometimes it is thought preferable to make the the base in a boat; and the most dexterous, bearing by his comrades, who push him from belov with a ^ % T^r u' ^ ^^^-l ^ P'»« ^here hTcan stand firmly, he draws up another with his ropT and then another, until all are up, except oneTeft to manage the boat. They then proceed in ex- actly the same manner to gain a higher stage, the first clunbing and then drawing up the other! ^d thus they ascend tiU they arrive at the level of Ae P 98 THE OCEAN. birds, when they collect and throw down their booty to the boat. Sometimes the party remains several days on the expedition, sleeping in the crannies and caverns. This mode is attended with peculiar hazard ; for, as a man often hangs suspended merely from the hands of a single comrade, it occasionally happens, that the latter cannot sustain his weight, and thus lets him fall, or is himself drawn over the rock, and shares in his companion's miserable death. The object of these daring adventures, which bring to mind the words of Shakspeare, " Half way down Hangs one that gathers samphire — dreadfol trade 1 " is chiefly the Guillemot {Uria Troile\ a bird some- THE SHORES OF BRITAIN. 99 what like the Penguin, but with a pointed beak. The Gannet {Sula Bassana) is of the PeUean tribe, and IS confined, at least in large congregations, to one or two localities : of which the principal are the Bass Rock on the east coast of Scotland, and St. --"; •■3?j''? THE BASS-KOCK. Kilda, the most western of the Hebrides. On these rocky isles they assemble in such countless hosts that they can only be compared to a swarm of bees, or to a shower of snow, the air being filled with them. The inhabitants of the latter isle are said p 2 100 THE OCEAN, to consume twenty-two thousand of the young birds every year, besides eggs. They are powerful birds upon the wing, and pursue with much eagerness the shoals of herrings and pilchards, on which they pounce with the perpendicular descent of a stone. Buchanan conjectures that the Gannets destroy more than one hundred millions of herrings an- nually. In flying over Penzance some years since, a Gannet's attention was arrested by a fish lying on a board. According to custom, down he swooped on the prey ; but his imprudence cost him his life ; and it was found that from the impetus of his de- scent, the bill had quite transfixed the board, though an inch and a quarter in thickness. The fishermen take advantage of this habit, to allure the bird to its destruction ; for they fix a fresh herring to a board, and draw it, after a sailing boat, with some rapidity through the waves; by which many are killed in the manner just narrated. The apparatus by which this bird is furnished for its aerial powers, as well as for aiding its arrowy descent, is very beau- tiful and instructive. Professor Owen, by inserting a tube into the windpipe, was enabled to inflate the whole body with air, and found that air-cells com- municating with each other, pervaded every part, separating even the muscles from each other, and isolating the very vessels and nerves ; and penetra- ting the bones of the wing. A large air-cell was found to be placed in front of the forked-bone, or clavicles, which was furnished with muscles, whose action was instantaneously to expel the air, and thus in a moment to deprive the bird of that buoyancy. THE SHORES OP BRITAIN. 101 i SO necessary for its flight, but equally detrimental to Its swoop. In some interesting observations by Colonel Mon- tagu, on the habits of this bird in captivity, the same fact IS noticed. " When the bird was placed on the water of a pond, nothing could induce him to at- tempt to dive, and from the manner of his putting the bill, and sometimes the whole head, under water, as if searching for fish, it appears that the prey IS frequently so taken. It is probable more fish are caught in their congregated migrations, when the shoals are near the surtace, than by their descent upon wing; for the herring?, pilchards, mackarel, and other gregarious fishes, cannot at that time avoid their enemy, who is floating in the midst of profu- sion. In the act of respiration, there appears to be always some air propelled between the skin and the body of this bird, as a visible expansion and contrac- tion is observed about the breast; and this singular conformation makes the bird so buoyant that it floats high on the water, and does not sink beneath the surface, as observed in the cormorant and shag. The legs are not placed so far behind as in such of the feathered tribe as procure their subsistence by im- mersion; the Gannet, consequently, has the centre of gravity placed more forward ; and when standing, the body is nearly horizontal, like a goose, and not erect, like a cormorant." The Gannet collects a slight heap of withered grass and dry seaweeds, on which it lays and hatches Its eggs. They perform this duty by turns, one foragmg while the other sits. The roamer, after 102 It THE OCEAN. a predatory excursion, returns to his partner, with five or six herrings in his gorge ; these she very complacently pulls out one by one, with much ad- dress. Marten says, that they frequently rob each other, and that one which had pillaged a nest, artfully flew out towards the sea with the spoil, and returned agam, aa if it had gathered the stuff from a different quarter. The owner, though at a distance from his nest, had observed the robbery, and waited the re- turn of the thief, which he attacked with tlxe utmost fury. "This bloody battle," adds the narrator, " was fought above our heads, and proved fatal to the thief, who fell dead so near our boat, that our men took him up, and presently dressed and ate mm." It THE ARCTIC SEAS. Perhaps in few respects is the character of mo- dem times contrasted with that of antiquity in a higher degree, than in that enterprising spirit which prompts men to penetrate distant regions, submit- ting to unheard-of privations, and braving new dif- ficulties and dangers, not only from the stimulus of expected gain, but often from the mere love of knowledge, a desire of gratifying that insatiable and laudable curiosity, in which all science has its origin. The ancient nations, bold and intelligent as they, were, knew little of geographical research : pre- cluded from venturing to the north, by the dread of frost, and to the south by the scorching heat of the sun, both of which their fears so magnified that they deemed it physically impossible for man to exist in either the one or the other; their expeditions, in peace and war, seem to have been well nigh bounded by the temperate zone. Thus it happened, that up to the fifteenth century, hardly a fourth of the habit- able globe was knovm to the polished nations of Europe. But then a new era commenced : the dis- covery of one important law, that the magnetized needle points always northward, gave a precision to navigation, and inspired a degree of confidence in the mariner, which soon led to highly interesting and unexpected results. The torrid zone was tra- 104 THE OCEAN. versed ; that terrible « Cape of Storms,"* the south- ern point of Africa, was doubled ; a new world was discovered in the western hemisphere ; and commer- cial enterprise led the hardy sons of western Europe to dare even the icy horrors of the Poles. Of these the Biscayans seem to have been the first, for we lind them engaged in the northern whale fishery as early as the year 1575. Before the end of the six- teenth century, the English had engaged in the same enterprise, fishing first on the coast of North Ame- nca, and after a while in the vicinity of Spitzbergen. Ihe Dutch soon followed, and other nations were not slow m prosecuting the same lucrative employment. Nature m these regions wears an aspect of awful majesty and grandeur, unrelieved by the softer and gentler beauties which distinguish her in the south In the islands of these seas, no meadows smile m emerald verdure, no waving corn-fields gladden the heart of man with their golden undulations ; no songs of jocund birds usher in the morning nor IS the evening soothed with the indefinable murmur of myriads of humming insects. All is dreaay solitude ; and the death-Uke silence that pervades the scene, inspires a feeHng of involun- * tary awe, as if the hardy explorer had intruded mto a region where he ought not to be. The most northern land known to exist is that of the islands of Spitzbergen, the extreme point of which approaches to within ten degrees of the Pole. The • This was the name given to the extreme point of Africa by its dis- coverer, Bartholomew Diaz ; but, on his return to Portugal, King John IL considered the discovery so auspicious, that he changed the name to The Cape of Good Hope," which it still retains. THE ARCTIC SEAS. 105 ?oast is generally lofty and precipitous, and is visible in clear weather at a great distance, presenting the peculiar features of Arctic scenery in great perfec- tion. The rocks rise in bold and naked grandeur, their summits shooting into innumerable peaks and ridges, and needles, of fantastic forms, reminding the beholder of the domes and spires of a vast city. Most of these are of dark colours, standing out in bold relief against the sky ; but their appearance is rendered highly picturesque by the vivid contrasts continually presented by the broad patches of un- sullied snow, capping their summits^ or resting on the ledges and terraces into which their surface is broken, as well as by the glistening accumulations of ice, which fill the valleys nearly to the level of the mountain tops. In approaching the coast in summer, the view is often concealed by the dense fogs so prevalent in that season ; suddenly the mist disperses, and these broad contrasts, shewn out in startling distinctness beneath a cloudless sun. seem like the sudden creation of a magician's wand. The well-defined outline, and sharp edge of the hues of the picturesque scenery, render it perfectly dis- tinct at a distance at which in a more southern clime, land would present but a dim and shadowy haze. The objects described may often be clearly seen and well distinguished at the distance of forty miles ; and if, after sailing towards the land for four or five hours before a smart breeze, the atmosphere should become slightly charged with mist, the scene might be apparently even more distant than at first. Thus a phenomenon, reported by one of the earlier k5 106 THE OCEAN. Danish navigators, which caused no little astonish- ment, may be readily accounted for. He had made the eastern coast of Greenland ; and had been sailing towards it for many hours with a fair wind, but seeing that the land seemed to be no nearer, he became alarmed, and immediately shifted his course back to Denmark, attributing the failure of his voyage to the influence of loadstone rocks hidden beneath the sea, which arrested the progress of his vessel. The peculiar stratification of the rocks in these regions often causes them to assume a walled or cas- tellated appearance, the angles being as sharp and clean as if cut with the mason's tool. Some of their forms resemble so strongly the works of art, that one can scarcely believe them to be freaks of nature. A magnificent instance of such regularity occurs on the coast of Spitzbergen. Near the head of King's Bay, there are seen, far inland, three piles of rock of regular shape, well known to the whalers by the appellation of the Three Crowns. " They rest on the top of the ordinary mountains, each commencing with a square table, or horizontal stratum of rock, on the top of which is another, of similar form and height, but of a smaller area; this is continued by a third, and a fourth, and so on, each succeeding stratum' being less than the next below it, until it forms a pyramid of steps, almost as regular to appearance as if work- ed by art."* The most prominent object in these dreary seas is ice. Even on the land, a large portion of the ground is concealed by perpetually accumulating ice, while the same substance covers to a great extent the sur- * Scoresby. THL ACTIC SEAS. 107 face of the ocean. There is scarcely a more beauti- ful object than one of the towering icebergs that so abound in these regions, and that annually come down upon the southern current, into the temper- ate zone. I have seen numbers of these floating islands of dazzling whiteness on the coast of New- foundland, whither they are brought every spring out of Baflin's Bay. They do not long endure their transition, but soon melt away in the warm waters of the Atlantic, though they are sometimes seen on the coast of the United States, as far down as Phila- delphia. In watching some small ice-islands, which having drifted into the ports of Newfoundland, have grounded in shoal water, I have been surprised to observe how very rapid is their dissolution, even in the month of April. Some large ones, however, are frequently seen in the bays of that country, even in July. They are often of vast dimensions ; one seen by Ross in Baffin's Bay, was estimated to be nearh^ two miles and a half long, two miles wide, and fifty feet high. Of course this estimate respects only that part which is visible above the surface of the water ; but this is a very small portion of its actual bulk! The relative proportion of the part which is exposed to that which is submerged, varies according to the character of the ice: in Newfoundland, the part under water is usually considered to be ten times greater than that exposed, but if the ice be porous, it is not more than eight times greater ; while, on the other hand, Phipps found that of dense ice, fourteen parts out of fifteen sunk. These floating icebergs are various in form; sometimes rising into pointed 108 THE OCEAN. spires like steeples ; sometimes taking the form of a conical hill; sometimes that of an overhanging cliff of most threatening brow. I have seen some resemble ICB-BBEG SEEN IN BAFPIN'« BAV. the form of a couching lion ; but, perhaps, the most ordinary form is that of an irregular mass, higher at one end than at the other. In the Arctic seas they often present sharp edges and spiry points; but in their progress southward, the gradual influence of climate smooths their unevenness, and gives their sur- face-a rounded outline. The action of the waves on the portion beneath the surface, undermining the sides, and wearing away the projections, continually alters the position of the centre of gravity; and sometimes the effect of this is to cause the whole gi- gantic mass to roll over with a thundering crash, making the sea to boil into foam, and causing a swell THE ARCTIC SEAS. 109 hat perceptib e for miles. When a boat or even a ship IS m immediate proximity to an iceberg in such circumstances, the danger is imminent, but if viewed SWELL AMONG ICE. from a secure distance, the sight is a very interesting one. The first iceberg I ever saw, and one of large size, thus rolled about one-third over, while I beheld It, entirely altering its apparent form. Sometimes -the effect of the waves' action is to cause a large fragment to fall off, or a crack will extend through the whole mass with a deafening report, or the entire iceberg will fall to pieces, and strew the ocean with the fragments like the remnants of a wreck. Late in the summer they often become very brittle, and then a slight violence is sufficient to rupture them. S^eamen avail themselves of the shelter afforded by no THE OCEAN. ice-islands to moor the ship to them in storms, carry- ing an anchor upon the ice, and inserting the fluke in a hole made for the purpose. In the state just alluded to, such is the brittleness of the substance, that one blow with an axe is sometimes sufficient to cause the immense mass to rend asunder with fearful noise, one part falling one way, and another in the opposite, often swallowing up the ill-fated mariner, and crushing the gallant bark. AHi:,1^[.H SHIPS BESET IN ICE. Contact with floating icebergs, when a ship is under sail, is highly dangerous. From the coolness THE ARCTIC SEAS. m moisturf fM'''"'' ™'"''^''*^ neighbourhood, the t^^ /I *' atmosphere is condensed a/onnd Zl. A '""""^ '^'*'" *« length of a few thf r; A""""'"*^ "•^^'''•°» "f vigilance :: on tC I T"""'' ""y ''""^ »••« chip's bows Plantmg, and perhaps open a fatal leak. Many la mentable shipwrecks have resulted from th^l t W f "« '"^ '' greatly increased, as the huge angular masses are rolled and ground against each other with a force that nothing ca^ resist.^ from rhVtu T r'' •"''■"<=' '" *eir nature surfac of ^hi ''"'"/'' ^° l"gely overspreads the land II ? ''" ' '"'* "'" ''"''"™'* 'o be entirely of land formation consisting of fresh water frozen The process of their formation is interesting the g ens and valleys in the islands of Spitzbergtn Ire filled up with soUd ice, which has been accumuTatin' for uncounted ases • thps^ „.« .1, '^'-"'""'ating whence tb* «„„»••' I ""^ ^'""^^ fro™ wnence the floating icebergs are supplied. Perhaos as long ago a. the creation of man, or at least a the deluge, these glaciers began in the snows of w"t r^ the summer sun melted the surface of this snow ^i the water, thus produced, sinking down inr't^at which remained, saturated it and increased its de„S The ensuing winter froze this into a mass of porous ice, and superadded a fresh surface of snow The same process ,g,i„ ^,,„^ „„ .„ "- The percolating through the porous crystals, which T ts ;A2 11^ THE OCEAN. turn was re-frozen, soon changed the lowest stratum into a mass of dense and transparent ice. Centuries of alternate winters and summers have thus produced aggregations of enormous bulk. Scoresby mentions one of eleven miles in length, and four hundred feet in height at the seaward edge, whence it slopes up- ward and backward till it attains the height of six- teen hundred feet ; an inclined plane of smooth un- sullied snow, the beauty and magnitude of which ren- der it a very conspicuous landmark on that inhospit- able shore. The upper surface of a land iceberg is usually somewhat hollow, and during the summer the concavities are filled with pools or lakes of the purest water, which often wears channels for itself through the substance, or is precipitated in the form of a ca- taract over the edge. The water freezing in fissures thus produced, and expanding with irresistible force, tears off large fragments from the outer edge, which are precipitated into the ocean; and high spring tides, lashed by storms, undermine portions of the base, and produce the same effect. The masses thus dislodged float away and form ice-islands. When newly broken the fracture is said to present a glisten- ing surface of a clear greenish blue, approaching an emerald green; but of such as I have myself had an opportunity of examining in Newfoundland, the hollows were of the purest azure. " On an excursion to one of the Seven Icebergs," says Mr. Scoresby, "in July, 1818, I was particu- larly fortunate in witnessing one of the grandest effects which these polar glaciers ever present. A strong north westerly swell having for some hours THE ARCTIC SEAS. « been beating on tlje shore, 113 i««fc *^ 1. 1 ' loosened a number seaward edge. As we rowed towards it with a view tTZT ^" f '"^ '^' '°P' ^^^ ^hil« «^y eye rblvfift ?T '^' P^^^^^ ^" ^"^"^^"«« column; pro. bably fifty feet square, and one hundred and fiftV feet high, began to leave the parent ice at the top and rt7fSr-!r"^ fo^vard with an aeceWek ve' iocity, fell with an awful crash into the sea. Th. water mto which it plunged was converted1*nto a^ appearance of vapour or smoke, like that from a I'ch fe^^^^^^^^ '\ "^^^^^ ^^^^-^l^d- The column Pieces TTii-r • ^^ '"*° thousands of We m^It iTTr ^'^ ^ ^^PP^ ^--tion, base of thl • ^"ir^f *ly 1^-ve gone to the very base of the icy chfiT, from whence masses of con siderable magnitude were continually breaking ''* " 'Ti8 sunset : to the firmament serene, The Atlantic ware reflects a gorgeous scene j Broad in the cloudless west, a belt of gold Girds the blue hemisphere ; above unroli'd, 1 he keen, clear air grows palpable to sight, Embodied in a flush of crimson light, Through which the evening-star, with milder gleam Descends to meet her image in the stream. ' *ar in the east, what spectacle unknown Allures the eye to gaze on it alone ? -Amidst black rocks, that lift on either hand -_-___Jrl!^;;;;^'^^^^^ land ; * Arctic Regions, i. 104. 11* THE OCEAN. Amidst a tortuous labyrinth of seas. That shine around the arctic Cyclades ; Amidst a coast of dreariest continent. In many a shapeless promontory rent ; — O'er rocks, seas, islands, promontories spread. The Ice-Blink rears its undulated head ; On which the sun, beyond th* horizon shrined. Hath left his richest garniture behind ; Piled on a hundred arches, ridge by ridge, O'er fixed and fluid strides the Alpine bridge. Whose bl .cks of sapphire seem to mortal eye Hewn from cerulean quarries of the sky ; With glacier-battlements, that crowd the spheres, The slow creation of six thousand years. Amidst immensity it towers sublime. Winter's eternal palace, built by Time All hun^an structures by his touch are borne Down to the dust ; mountains themselves are worn With his light footsteps ; here for ever grows. Amid the region of unmelting snows, A monument ; where every flake that fells, Gives adamantine firmness to the walls. The sun beholds no mirror, in his race. That shows a brighter image of his fece ; The stars, in their nocturnal vigils, rest Like signal fires on its illumined crest ; The gliding moon around the ramparts wheels, And all its magic lights and shades reveals ; Beneath, the tide with idle fury raves To undermine it through a thousand caves ; Rent from its roof though thundering fragments oft Plunge to the gulph, immoveable aloft. From age to age, in air, o'er sea, on land. Its turrets heighten, and its piers expand."* By far the greatest portion of the ice met with in navigating these seas, is of marine formation. During the greater part of the year, in high lati- * Montgomery's "Greenland," p. 61. with tion. lati- THE ARCTIC SEAS. J 15 on''!t' f^' ^T^ f congelation is always going on at the surface of the sea. If the wind is Lh but St """"' """"'^ ""'*" »'° » -«<• S out lonn a spongy mass, called sludge : when this has become somewhat thick, however,^he vrind can catch, but the swell prevents one uniform surface roZe'/i :r'f "•"" '"^ """'^""^"-'^ '^' * "-"" cZ," i j °^ T "" P^do^cd, called "pan- cakes, the edges of which are raised sUghtly by he constant pressure of one against anoth^n The cakes .n the centre of the freezing mass now bS « produced, which gradually extends both its dia- 7rZZ I " """"Poscd arc distinctly to be teaced even when perfectly consolidated, L pre! sent an appearance resembling pavement But L calm weather, a thin pelUclf rf " t 1„'J sea, and the formation of the ice-field is much more direct and obvious. Single fields have Zen seen many leagues in length, and occupXg In «ea of several hundred square miles : Eg « the same hme from three to six feet high and from ten to twenty deep. The waves pfoCd by storms, break up these fields into smaUer pieces vSL the". "^I"' °"^ '^''"^' another'"; or Mis of f *' P'"^"'^' ""<» *«»««cA,, or hills, of vanous shapes and sizes, are raised upon 116 THE OCEAN. them. Ice-fields often acquire a rotatory motion; and when we consider the immense weight of these ponderous masses, we shall have an idea of the irresistible impetus communicated by such a body in motion. Scoresby calculates one mentioned by him at ten thousand millions of tons: no wonder, that coming in contact with a vessel, her iron knees and oaken timbers should be crushed like a walnut, or that she should be lifted clean out of water by the pressure, and placed high and dry upon the ice ! From this cause arise many of the accidents which give to the navigation of the Arctic sea its pecu- liarly hazardous character. When the temperature of the atmosphere is about two or three degrees above the freezing point, a surface of ice, if placed in a horizontal plane, wiU melt, not by a general dissolution of its substance, but so as to leave a multitude of perpendicular columns or needles. In the late attempt to reach the North Pole by boats hauled over the ice, Cap- tain Parry found ice in this condition productive of no little inconvenience. At the very commencement of the journey, we find it thus noticed : " June 26th.— A great deal of the ice over which we passed to-day presented a very curious appearance and structure, being composed, on its upper surface, of numberless irregular, needle-like crystals, placed vertically, and nearly close together ; their length varying, in different pieces of ice, from five to ten inches, and their breadth in the middle about half an inch, but pointed at both ends. The upper sur- face of ice having this structure, sometimes looks THE ARCTIC SEAS. Jjy feau^r'''' "*'" • ™"'«''' ^o^'ion "^ it which frequently „ccu„ at the margin of flo.,. re^emb^es ^hile « ema,ns compact, the most heaitiful atfn the needles hecamf'mor! T T'"" '"'™"'=«'' dering it extremXtH '"'' '"''™'''''«' '«"" besidf, cutt-rouj b:r2 irtnTMcr' count the men called them penknive; "" Th r"^' ta» at^ihutes this pecuHar^t^r; to tl \^ toops of ram pieremg their way downwards throui the ice, and separating it into needles. ^ beforr'^' "° P'?™°°"'"»n that more forcibly brines betore the mind of a stranger the noveltv nf M Eri;: otth^ »-• °" --'^^^ ^dZlr I [ *' '°"''*"* alternation of day inseparable from the constitution of our world W. have learned this fact in our elementary^^ltisesTn Geography, but yet it is difficult to rTalLe to t^^ mmd a perpetual day. an unsetting sun" ^^ the sun's disk is obscured by a foe it is „„ „„„ mon thing for sailors to ask eachX it be nTZ" or day: and Phipps on his return voy^e tloufh -weit''r;;:^^fi7^;'fugust.4th. theTn irb rr^ "» ZoZo^z ArctccScr-"tL1" "^ '"' ^°'™*'» «•« , ""^ voyagers usually seek the Narrative of an attempt, &c. p. 61. 118 THE OCEAN. Arctic Ocean in spring, and leave it at the ap- proach of autumn ; a winter residence there being dreaded as one of the direst calamities that can befal them ; and, therefore, until lately our knowledge of winter phenomena was very meagre, and mainly derived from the reports of a few unhappy men, by accident compelled to remain in a clime so inhos- pitable. By the experience of the officers and crews engaged in the recent voyages of discovery, we have become nearly as familiar with the phenomena of the long winter's night, as with those of the short sum- mer's day. In Spitzbergen the day is rather more than four months long: the night is of the same duration, and in the two months which intervene between the sun's constant presence, and his con- stant absence, that luminary rises and sets as with us. But the appearance of the sun in spring is accelerated, and its disappearance in autumn retarded, a few days, by the influence of refraction : so that it is actually seen somewhat longer than it is in- visible. Thus Captain Parry, at Melville Island, saw the sun on the 1st of February, which was about four days earlier than its actual elevation above the horizon : in like manner it remained visible until the 11th of November, whereas it had actually sunk beneath the horizon on the 7th. Then the darkness of the Arctic winter is not total and incessant ; even in the depth of the season, at Spitzbergen, there is a faint twilight for six hours each day, and this is longer and brighter in proportion to the distance from mid- winter on either hand. The moon also shines in THE ARCTIC SEAS. 119 those clear sk.es with pecuKar brilliance, and is often ™.ble twelve or fourteen days without se ting There is moreover a krge proportion of the tune, in which the Aurora Borealis illumines AURORA BOREALIS. The scene is the vicinity of the Three Crowns, on the Coast of bpitzbergen. See p. 106. the heavens, and sometimes with an intensity httU inferior to moonlio-ht Ti,,- • . ^"^ensity little „ "looniignt. Ihis interesting meteor i** occasionaUy seen in England, but very^r "etyTith that brilhance ,vith which it shines in the S zone and in the northern parts of America In Newfoundland and Canada I have seen m»nt' cimens of the Aurora, and some splelTdlyTford" with blue, green, and red hues , somedmes Ae 120 THE OCEAN. whole sky has been flushed with intense crimson, which, reflected from the snow beneath, had an awful, though beautiful appearance. The follow- mg details of one which I observed in Lower Ca- nada, in February, 1837, AviU give a notion of the appearance of this meteor in its more usual state. I first observed it about half-past eight o'clock ; a long, low, irregular arch of bright yellow Ught ex- tended from the north-east to the north-west, the lower edge of which was well defined ; the sky be- neath this arch was clear, and appeared black, but It was only by contrast with the light, for on ex- amination, I could not find that it was really darker than the other parts of the clear sky. The upper edge of the arch was not defined, shooting out rays of light towards the zenith : one or two points in the arch were very brilliant, which were varying in their position. Over head, and towards the south, east, and west, flashings of light were darting from side to side : sometimes the sky was dark, then instantly lighted up with these fitful flashes, van- ishing and changing as rapidly : sometimes a kind of crown would form around a point south of the zenith, consisting of short converging pencils. At nine o'clock, the upper and southern sky was filled with clouds or undefined patches of light, nearly stationary; the eastern part, near the top, being bright crimson, which speedily spread over the upper part of the northern sky. A series of long converg- ing pencils was now arranged around a blank space about 15° south of the zenith, the northern and eastern rays blood-red, the southern and western but THE ARCTIC SEAS. jgj hue had vamxhJT ■ , "' """"*"* ^^ Ae red in its place thT« :!""", "°" '""^''^ «"'"«' »<• — ra :j::^: ^'"-- an/aJtranti e.oud.of^^SXrSf.--^'-- ^^'u^ilrdefL^^^^^^ known: it seem, pretty c!^ thr,/-'"'"*""'^ » general far abov^ our'aS:;iet " ""«'" '' beaS°SJ:""''^' *° ^'^^ ^"- » *e foUowing Hangs, ,„ fte a^j,„, ^ m.to,/ ' Sparkle the ,l.„ .„m„ ,j, j The d„tol Ice-blink-, .pangled^ei" L.k. . „e„ „„„ f„„ „^^_, . Ph..phom .ple„d<,„. ki„j,, i„ _^j_^> "^ A, though torn heavea', «lf.„pe„i„g ^^^^ legion, of .piri,, i„ ^ „j of ft, l"" ™" '^» FUm. that from every p„i„, „, ,^„ Far a. the concave H^^ent ..tend, ■ Spun w.th the ti,.ue of. million line °'»''°-°ghkc^^«merthe welkin .hine, • • Canadian NaturaUsl, p. 47. a 122 THE OCEAN. The constellations in their pride look pale Through the quick trembling brilliance of that veil ; Then, suddenly converged, the meteors rush O'er the wide south ; one deep vermilion blush O'erspreads Orion glaring on the flood. And rabid Sirius foams through fire and blood ; Again the circuit of the pole they range. Motion and figure every moment change, Through all the colours of the rainbow run, Or blaze like wrecks of a dissolving sun : Wide ether bums with glory, conflict, flight, And the glad ocean dances in the light."* This interesting meteor, occurring with more or less of splendour in rapid succession, added more- over to the universal reflection of what light may proceed from the heavens, by the pure whiteness of the ice and snow, tends greatly to lessen the darkness of the long and dreary night, though these causes cannot diminish the cold. The latter was so intense during the late expeditions of discovery, that the temperature was 55° below zero, or eighty-seven degrees below the freezing point. The remarkable appearances called mock-suns, or parhelia, are extremely frequent within the Arctic circle. Their usual appearance may be thus describ- ed. When the sun is not far from the horizon one or more luminous circles or halos, surround it at a considerable distance; two beams of light go across the innermost circle, passing through the centre of the sun, the one horizontally, the other perpendicularly, so as to form a cross : where these beams touch the circle, the light is as it were con- centrated in a bright spot, sometimes scarcely infe- rior in brilliance to the sun itself; at the corre- • " Greenland," p. 64. THE ARCTIC SEAS. 123 perfect:„„ described : occasionalty the drZ^:: 1 M0CK-SUN8. The scene is the coast of Barrow's Strait. faint to be visible- anrl +1.^ i which prevail in the Polar eas J" . "^ ^"^^ occ^ionally rest upon thelrf L of r^.^r^H' reach only to an inconsiderable hei^Tt t's::' G 2 412 THE OCEAN. times, though objects situated on the water can scarcely be discerned at the distance of a hundred yards, yet the sun will be visible and effulgent. Under such circumstances, on the 19th July, 1813, being at th^ top-mast head, I observed a beautiful circle of i 0° diameter, with bands of vivid co- lours, depic .. • on the ^og. The centre of the circle was in a line drawn from the sun through the point cf vision, until it met the visible vapour in a situa- tion exactly opposite tie sun. The lower part of the circle descended beneath my feet to the side of the ship ; and although it could not be a hundred feet from the eye, it was perfect and the colours distinct. The centre of the coloured circle was distinguished by my own shadow, the head of which, enveloped by a halo, was most conspicuously portrayed. The halo or glory was evidently impressed on the fog, but the figure appeared to be a shadow on the water, the different parts of which became obscure in proportion to their remoteness from the head, so that the lower extremities were not perceptible. I remained a long time contemplating the bea^tiful phenomenon before me. Notwithstanding the sun was brilliant and warm, the fog was uncommonly dense beneath. The sea and ice, within sixty yards of the ship, could scarcely be distinguished. The prospect thus circumscribed, served to fix the attention more closely on the only interesting object in sight, whose radiance and har- mony of colouring, added to the singular appearance of my own image, were productive of sensations of admiration and delight."'* I have myself had the • Arct. Reg. i. 394. THE ARCTIC SEAS. 125 pleasure of witnessing this beautiful phenomenon, precisely as described above, and in the same circum- stances ; it was in the month of August, 1828, on the coast of Newfoundland, and was viewed from the shrouds of a vessel, projected on the surface of a dense but shallow fog. Sometimes there are several coloured circles surrounding each other, with a com- mon centre. The cause of these appearances seems to be the unequal refraction of the rays of light by passing through media of varying density. To a similar ori- gin may be ascribed those distortions and repetitions of objects near the horizon, called looming, which are occasionally witnessed even in this country, but in the northern seas are very frequent and amusingly fantastic. The ice around the horizon, either almost flat, or varied only by «Ught irregularities of surface, will appear raised into a lofty wall, and the irregu- larities elevated into numberless spires or towers or pinnacles. Ships will have their huUs magnified into castles ; or the hull will be diminished to a narrow line, and the masts and sails drawn up to a ridiculous length ; or some of the sails will be unduly elevated, while others are as unnaturally flattened. But more singular than this is the frequent repetition of the object in the sky just above it. Thus above the spired and turreted wall of ice will be seen on the sky another wall exactly corresponding to it, but upside- down ; spire meeting spire, and tower tower. Above a ship will be an inverted figure of the same ship, as palpable and apparently as real as the true one. This I once saw, in two vessels in the Gulf of St. 126 THE OCEAN. Lawrence. Sometimes another image may be seen above the inverted one, and sometimes, but very rarely, even a fourth. In such cases, the third is al- DISTORTIONS OP IRRKOULAR REFRACTION. ways in a right position, and the fourth inverted like the second. An image of a vessel is sometimes seen projected upon the sky, when nothing corresponding to It IS visible below, the real object being far below the horizon. Mr. Scoresby thus saw his father's ship, the Fame, drawn upon the sky, and by the aid of a telescope could make her out so distinctly as to pronounce with confidence upon her identity, when, by comparing notes afterwards, it was found that she was thirty miles distant at the time, and seventeen miles from the extreme point of vision. Somewhat allied to this is the bright gleam seen by night, above field-ice, called ice-blink, which is often very service- THE ARCTIC SEAS. m able in indicating the presence of ice below the hori- zon; or, by the dark spots and patches in it corres- ponding to the openings of water, directing the sea- men, when beset, how to reach them, when otherwise their existence would be unknown. The officers engaged in the late expeditions of dis- covery, have remarked the impossibility of correctly measuring distances by the eye when traversing a plain of unbroken snow or ice. Sometimes in tra- velling, they would discern what appeared to be a rock or a hummock of ice of considerable magnitude and at a great distance, and having set their course by it, rejoicing that for some time the painful strain- ing of the sight in keeping the direction would be spared by the advantage of so conspicuous a mark, in a minute or two they would reach it, when it would turn out to be some insignificant object, scarcely larger than a hat. Some of the effects of intense cold, as witnessed in these northern climes, are mentioned by Mr. Scoresby, and are interesting, because they never occur in our own country. After mentioning a very sudden depression of the ten^erature, he says, " This remarkable change was attended with singular effects. The circulation of the blood was accelerated ; a sense of parched dryness was excited in the nose;' the mouth, or rather the lips, were contracted in all their dimensions, as by a sphincter, and the articula- tion of many words was rendered difficult and imper- fect ; indeed, every part of the body was more or less stimulated or disordered by the severity of the cold. A piece of metal when applied to the tongue, in- 1^8 THE OCEAN. stantly adhered to it, and could not be removed with- out its retaining a portion of the skin; iron became brittle and such as was at all of inferior quality might be fractured by a blow; brandy of English manufacture and wholesale strength, was frozen ; quicksilver, by a single process, might have been con' sohdated; the sea, in some places, was in the act of freezing, and in others appeared to smoke, and pro- duced, m the formation oi frost-rime, an obscurity greater than that of the thickest fog. The subtle principle of magnetism seemed to be, in some way or other, influenced by the frost; for the deck-com- parses became sluggish, or even motionless, while a cabin-compass traversed with celerity. The ship be came enveloped in ice; the bows, sides, and lower nggmg were loaded; and the rudder, if not repeat- edly freed, would in a short time have been rendered immoveable."* I„ winter, however, the tempera- ture being much lower, the effects of intense cold are more manifest. Egede observes of Disco Island m the month of January, " the ice and hoar-frost reach through the chimney to the stove's mouth, without being thawed by the fire in the day-time. Over the chimney is an arch of frost, with little holes through which the smoke discharges itself. The doors and walls are as if they were plastered over with frost, and, which is scarcely credible, beds are often frozen to the bedsteads. The linen is frozen m the drawers. The upper eider-down bed and the pillows are quite stiff" with frost an inch thick, from the breath.»t Many of these results I have myself * Arct. Reg. i. 330. + Crantz, Hist, of Greenland. THE ARCTIC SEAS. 129 ^^tnessed in Newfoundland and Lower Canada, some ot which I have alluded to elsewhere ; ♦ in the former country it is not uncommon for the vapour of a sleepmg-room, condensed on the windows and walls to take the form of thin narrow blades of ice stand' ing out horizontally, very closely set together ; the whole making a dense coating, of more than half an inch m thickness, of spongy frost. In the first win- ter spent at Melville Island by Captain Parry, an ac- cumulation of a similar substance was observed, that was really astonishing. " The Hecla was fitted with double windows in her stern, the interval between the two sashes being about two feet; and within these some curtains of baize had been nailed close in the early part of the winter. On endeavouring now to remove the curtains, they were found to be so strongly cemented to the windows by the frozen va- pour collected between them, that it was necessary to cut them off, in order to open the windows; and trom the space between the double sashes we re- moved more than twelve large buckets full of ice, or frozen vapour, which had accumulated in the same manner, "f The shooting out of crystals of beautiful forms when vapour is deposited upon any very cold sub- stance, is a very pleasing phenomenon. The feather- like hoar-frost, so often seen in winter on stems and blades of grass, is of this character. But it is in the icy seas of the north that this beauty is seen in per- fection. For an interesting description, we have agam recourse to Mr. Scoresby. » In the course of • Canadian NaturaUst, 350. f Parry's First Voyage, 146. G 5 130 THE OCEAN. the night, the rigging of the ship was most splen- didly decorated with a fringe of delicate crystals. The general form of these was that of a feather having half of the vane removed. Near the surface of the ropes was first a small direct line of very white particles, constituting the stem or shaft of the feather; and from each of these fibres, in another plane, proceeded a short delicate range of spicule or rays, discoverable only by the help of a microscope, with which the elegant texture and systematic con- struction of the feather were completed. Many of these crystals, possessing a perfect arrangement of the different parts corresponding with the shaft, vane, and rachis of a feather, were upwards of an inch in length, and three fourths of an inch in breadth. Some consisted of a single flake or feather; but many of them gave rise to other feathers, which sprang from the surface of the vane at the usual angle. There seemed to be no limit to the magni- tude of these feathers, so long as the producing cause continued to operate, until their jight be- came so great, or the action of the wind so forcible, that they were broken off, and fell in flakes to the deck of the ship."* In our own winters, we are familiar enough with snow ; but probably few are aware of the exceeding beauty, regularity, and delicacy which mark each in- dividual crystal of this production. In our climate, indeed, the temperature during a fall of snow is rarely low enough for the form of the crystals to be perceived ; as they become slightly melted in passing * Arct. Reg. i. 437. ' THE ARCTIC SEAS. 131 through the air, and many crystals adhere together, and form the irregular aggregations called flakes of snow. The ordinary form is that of a six-rayed star; but the rays are often furnished with minute side rays, like the beards of a feather, or are varied in almost infinite diversity. The angle, however, which IS formed in crystallization, is invariably the same, namely, one of 60°; and hence arises their symmetry. Frost is a powerful antiseptic: as fermentation will not take place in a low temperature, animal substances may be kept without decay for an inde- finite period. It is customary for the whalers to take out their meat unsalted, trusting to this well known quality of cold. Captain Parry's crew, fast locked up in the ice of Melville Island, enjoyed a Christmas dinner of roast beef, perfectly sweet, which had been put on board nine months before. The Mammoth which was dislodged by the falling of a cliff at the mouth of the river Lena, h^d been preserved from putrefaction for uncounted ages. And more affecting instances of this quality have been witnessed in the bodies of men, who, having died in these icy regions, had lain for years unburied without decay. In 1774, the uncouth form of an apparently deserted ship was met with, strangely en- cumbered with ice and snow ; on boarding her, a so- litary man was found in her cabin, his fingers hold- ing the pen, while before him lay the record which that pen had traced, bearing date twelve years be- fore. No appearance of decay was manifest, save that a little greenish mould had accumulated on his forehead. A strange awe crept over the minds of IS2 THE OCEAN. those who thus first broke in upon his loneliness : for twelve years had that ill-fated bark navigated, through sun and storm, the Polar Sea; and, perhaps unconsciously solving the problem that has so long baffled human skill and daring, had even crossed the Pole itself. But it is time that we turn from the consideration of inanimate nature and atmospheric phenomena, to inquire what are the living productions that cheer the loneliness of the Arctic mariner. Of the vegeta- tion of these regions, we know little; the dreary level shores of many of the isles are marshy, and densely clothed with various mosses, which, though frozen in winter, revive in the transient summer. The rocks, too, are covered with lichens of various colours ; and a few dwarf flowering plants just rise above the thin soil. Nothing like a tree varies the scene, but large trunks of trees are brought, by the currents, from distant regions, and washed upon the sea beach. Some of the Fuci which are common with us, are found also on these shores, and doubt- less many other species which are unknown to us. The most notorious of the inhabitants of these dreary seas, are the mighty and gigantic Whales. " There is that leviathan, whom Thou hast made to play therein." It is in pursuit of these immense creatures, and especially the Greenland species, the " right Whale" of the seamen {Balcena mysticetus), that many ships well-manned and fitted out at great expense, proceed every year from England, Holland, France, and other nations, into the Arctic zone. This valuable animal has produced to Britain 700,000^. in THE ARCTIC SEAS. 133 ?r^! ^T' ^""^ ''''^ '^^''^'* ^^' ^^^" ^^o^ to yield 1 1,UU0/ It IS, therefore, well worth our considera- tion, and the more particularly, because in its struc- ture and habits there are more than ordinary evi- dences of that gracious forethought and contrivance, the tracmg of which makes the study of nature so instructive. The Greenland Whale has no affinity with fishes ; it is as much a mammal as the ox or the elephant, having warm blood, breathing air, bringing for h hvmg young, and suckling them with true milk. It inhabits the Polar seas, beyond which there is no satisfactory proof that it has ever been seen. Its length is from fifty to sixty feet, when f uU grown ; perhaps in extremely rare cases, seventy feet; all statements giving it a greater length than this, either refer to other species, such as the great Korqual, or are gross exaggerations. The form is rather clumsy, the head being very large, and the mouth reaching to scarcely less than a fourth of the total length of the animal. The gullet is so small as not to admit the passage of a fish so large as a her- ring ; hence its support is derived from creatures of very small bulk, and apparently insignificant, such as shrimps, sea slugs, sea blubbers, and animalcules still smaller, which I will presently notice. But how does it secure its minute and almost invisible prey? for without some express provision, these atoms would be quite lost in the cavity of its capacious mouth, unless swallowed promiscuously with the water, which would fill the stomach be fore a hundredth part of a meal were obtained. Ihere is a very peculiar contrivance to meet this 134 THE OCEAN. exigency: the mouth has no teeth, but from each upper jaw proceed more than three hundred homy plates, set paraUel to each other, and very close; they run perpendicularly downwards, are fringed on the inner edge with hair, and diminish in size from the central plate to the first and last, the central one being about twelve feet long. These plates are com- monly called whalebone, and their substance is well known to everybody ; they form an important object of the fishery. The lower jaw is very deep, like a vast spoon, and receives these depending plates, the use of which is this : when the Whale feeds, he swims rapidly just under or at the surface, with his mouth wide open; the water, with aU its contents, rushes into the immense cavity, and filters out at the sides between the plates of the whalebone, which axe so close, and so finely fringed, that eveiy particle of solid matter is retained. Though the Whale, like all other Mammalia, is formed for breathing air alone, and is therefore ne- cessitated to come to the surface of the sea at certain intervals, yet those intervals are occasionally of great length. We well know that we could not intermit the process of breathing for a single minute without great inconvenience, and the lapse of only a few mi- nutes would be followed by insensibility and perhaps death. The Whale, however, can remain an hour un- der water, or in an emergency, even nearly two hours, though it ordinarily comes up to breathe at intervals of eight or ten minutes, except when feeding, when it is sometimes a quarter of an hour, or twenty minutes submerged. Now the object of breathing is THE ARCTIC SEAS. 135 to renew the vital quaKties of the blood, by present- ing It to the air, the oxygen in which uniting with the blood renders it again fit for sustaining life. But if more blood could be oxygenised at once than is wanted for immediate use, and the overplus deposited in a reservoir until wanted, respiration could be dis- pensed with for a while. This is actually what the wisdom of God has contrived in the Whale. The exhausted blood which is returned by the veins, having been renewed by its communication with the air in the lungs, is carried to the heart, whence only a part is carried away into the system, the remainder being received into a great irregular reservoir, con- sisting of a complicated series of arteries, which first lines a large portion of the interior of the chest, then insinuating itself between the ribs, forms a large cushion outside of them near the spine, and also within the spinal tube, and even within the skull. The blood thus reserved is poured into the system as it is needed, and thus prevents the necessity of fre- quent access to the surface. It is an object of importance that the act of breath- ing should be performed with as Uttle effort as possi- hle, and therefore the windpipe is made to terminate not in the mouth, nor in nostrils placed at the extremity of the muzzle. If this were the case, it would require a large portion of the head and body to be projected from the water, or else that the ani- mal should throw itself into a perpendicular position ; either of which alternatives would be inconvenient when swimn^'.ig rapidly, as, for example, endeavour- ing to escape when harpooned. The windpipe, there- 136 THE OCEAN. I fore, communicates with the air at the very top of the head, which by a peculiar rising or hump at that ^ part, IS the very highest part of the animal when ho- rizontal, so that it can breathe when none of its body is exposed except the very orifice itself. The Whale often begins to breathe when a little below the sur- face, and then the force with which the air is expired, blows up the water lying above it in a jet or stream' which vdth the condensed moisture of the breath it- self constitutes what are called "the spoutings," and which are attended with a rushing noise that may be heard upwards of a mile. Some naturalists have maintained that a stream of water is ejected from the blow-hole in the form of an united column, mounting high before it falls again in a shower. But from my own observation on many individuals, (seen in the Atlantic,) I incline to the former conclusion ; as I have invariably seen the ejected matter, instead of forming a column and falHng in a shower, sail away upon the breeze like a little white cloud. These were, I suppose. Rorquals; but what is true of one species, is probably true of all. There are one or two other beautiful contrivances connected with the structure of this air-passage, that are well worth no- ticing. In the agony and terror caused by the blow of the harpoon, the Whale usually plunges directly downward into the depths of the sea, and that with such force that the mouth has been found on return- ing to the surface, covered with the mud of the bot- tom; while in some instances the jaws, and in others the skull, have been fractured by the violence with which they have struck the ground. A Whale has ■^■■^•■^■pwiipmjlfc 1 THE ARCTIC SEAS. 137 been known to descend perpendicularly to the depth 01 a mile, as measured by the length of line "run out; where the pressure of the immense body of water above would be equal to a ton upon every square mch. And Mr. Scoresby mentions a case in which a boat that was accidentally entangled, was carried down by the Whale, which was presently cap- tured, and the boat recovered by being drawn up wiSi tue line ; but from the intense pressure the water had been forced into the pores of the soHd oak, so that it was completely saturated, and sunk like lead; the paint came oiF in large sheets, and the wood, thrown aside to be used as fuel, was found to be useless, for It would not bum. A piece of the lightest fir-wood, which was m the boat, came up in exactly the same soaked condition, having totally lost the power of noatmg To resist such a pressure as this, the blow- holes of the Whale tribe are closed with a valve-like stopper of great density and elasticity, somewhat re- sembhng india-rubber, which, accurately fitting the orifice, excludes all water from the windpipe, be- coming more tightly inserted in proportion to the pressure. But this precaution would be vain, if the structure °i L'''*^"'''' °^ ^^^ "'^^^^ ^^^« the same as in other Mammalia. Usually the windpipe and gullet open into a hollow at the back of the mouth, and the passage to the nostrils proceeds from it likewise. The windpipe passes up in front of the gullet, and the tood which passes over the former is prevented from entering it by a lid or valve, which shuts down during the act of swallowing, but at other times is \ 138 THE OCEAN. erect. But if such were the construction in the Whale, the force with which the water rushes into the mouth, would inevitably carry a large portion of the fluid down upon the lungs, and the animal would be suffocated. The windpipe is therefore carried up- ward in a conical form, with the aperture upon the top, and this projecting cone is received into the lower end of the blowing-tube, which tightly grasps it, and thus the communication between the lungs and the air is effected by a continuous tube, which crosses the orifice of the gullet, leaving a space on each side for the passage of the food. It is doubtless to give increased power of resist- ance to the eye of the Whale in the pressure of enormous depths, that there is a peculiar thickiess in the sclerotic coat. This is the part which in man is usually called the white of the eye. "When we make a section of the whole eye, cutting through the cornea, the sclerotic coat, which is as dense as tanned leather, increases in thickness towards the back part, and is full five times the thickness behind, that it is at the anterior part. The fore-part of the eye sus- tains the pressure from without, and requires no ad- ditional support ; but were the back part to yield, the globe would then be distended in that direction, and the whole interior of the eye consequently suffer derangement. We see then the necessity of the coats being thus remarkably thickened behind."* Another no less interesting deviation from ordinary structure is found in the skin, the object still being defence against external pressure. Every one is pro- • Paley's Nat. Theol., BeU and Brougham's edit. p. 40. will II — THE ARCTIC SEAS. 139 bably aware that the body of the Whale is encased in a thick coat of fat, denominated blubber, varying in diameter from eight inches to nearly two feet in differ- ent parts of the animal. It has, however, been only recent y known that this fat lies not under the skin but actually in Its substance. I shall describe this in the words of Professor Jacob, who first made known tins interesting peculiarity: "That structure in which the oil IS deposited, denominated blubber, is the true skin of the animal, modified certainly for the purpose of holding this fluid oil, but still being the true skin. Upon close examination it is found to consist of an interlacement of fibres crossing each other in every direction as in common skin, but more open in texture, to leave room for the oil. Taking the hog as an example of an animal covered with an external layer of fat, we find that we can raise the true skin without any difiiculty, leaving a thick layer of cellular membrane, loaded with fat, of the same nature as that in the other parts of the body ; on the contrary, in the Whale it is altogether impossible to raise any layer of skin distinct from the rest of the bhibber, however thick it may be ; and, in Jleming a Whale, the operator removes this blubber or skin from the muscular parts beneath, merely dividing with his spade the connecting cellular membrane."* Such a structure as this, being firm and elastic in the highest degree, operates Uke so much india-rubber possessing a density and power of resistance which increases with the pressure. But this thick coating of fat subserves other important uses. An inhabit * DubUn PhiloB. Joum. i. 356. 140 THE OCEAN. tant of seas where the cold is most intense, yet warm- blooded, and dependent for existence on keeping up the animal heat, the Whale is furnished in this thick Rapper with a substance which resists the abstraction of heat from the body so fast as it is generated, and thus IS kept comfortably warm in the fiercest polar winters. Again, the oil contained in the cells of the skin being specifically Hghter than water, adds to the buoyancy of the animal, and thus saves much muscu- lar exertion in swimming horizontally and in rising to the surface : the bones, being of a porous or spongy texture, have a similar influence. These few particulars in the physiology of these vast creatures may serve to carry our minds up in adoring wonder to the mercy as well as wisdom of the Lord God Almighty, and may give us a glimpse ot the meaning of that glorious truth, « And God saw everything that He had made, and behold it was VERY GOOD." Many other instances of beau- tiful contrivance and design might easily be added, m the construction of the mouth, the eyes, the fins, the tail; but aU would lead us to the same result: and these which I have adduced may be taken as a sample of the rich feast which the study of nature affords to the Christian student. The capture of these immense animals, from their vast strength, the fickle element on which it is pur- sued, and the horrors pecuHar to the Arctic regions IS ail adventure of extraordinary hazard. The ships' built for the purpose, and strengthened with much oak and iron, leave the northern parts of this coun- try early in April, and by the end of the month ■■■' I mm\ THE ARCTIC SEAS. 141 usually reach the scene of their enterprise. Arrived within the limits of constant day, an unceasing watch IS kept for Whales, by an officer stationed in a snuff sort of pulpit, called the crow's nest, made of hoops and canvas, and well secured at the main-topmast- nead. Ihe boats, which combine strength and light- ness, are always kept hanging over the sides and quarters of the ship, ready furnished for pursuit, so that on the appearance of a whale being announced trom aloft, one or more boats can be despatched in less than a minute. Each boat carries a harpooner. whose station is in the bow, a steersman, and several rowers. In an open space in the bow of the boat IS placed a Hne sometimes more than 4000 feet in length, coiled up with beautiful regularity and scru- pulous caxe. The end of this is fastened to the harpoon, a most important weapon, made of the toughest iron, somewhat in the form of an anchor but brought to an edge and point. Instead of steel being employed, as is commonly supposed, the very softest iron is chosen for this important implement, so that It may be scraped to an edge with a knife. A long staff is affixed to the harpoon, by which it is wielded. The boat is swiftly, but silently rowed up to the unconscious whale, and when within a few yards, the harpooner darts his weapon into its body Smarting and surprised, the animal darts away into the depth of the ocean, but carries the harpoon sticking fast by the barbs, while the coiled line runs out with amazing velocity. A sheeve or pulley is provided, over which it passes ; but if by accident It shps out of its place, the friction is so great that 142 THE OCEAN. the bow of the boat ,s speedily enveloped in smoke, and instances are not unfrequent of the gunwale even bursting into a flame, or even of the head of the boat being actua% sawn off by the line. To prevent ^W Tl, r- ? T"' " "'^y' '^^P' «t hand, to allay the friction. Accidents even still more tragic sometimes occur from entanglements of the Ze. IRIS I '"'' ¥°"8"'« «° *« John of Greenock, in 1818 happening to slip into a coil of running rope, had his foot entirely cut off, and was obliged fo hfve the lower part of the leg amputated. A barpoonir awhale, incautiously cast a little line under his foot The pain „f the ,ance induced the whale to dart sud- denly downwards; his line began to run out from under his feet, and in an instant caught him by^ urn round the body. He had just tim^e to call out! Clear away the line. -Oh dear!' when he was almost «,« amnder, dragged overboard, and never TeiL '^•" '"'"^ ™»''-'^'"' --dotes ::z is Il'V \°'* '';'.^'*'' " *° *« ^^1-. » «ttle flag sir /■^i"?'' '" *" ^'«™ "^ « signal to th! ship and other boats are at once despatched to u! a^istance Sometimes before their help can arrive, the umted hues of the boats first sent are all run out, in which case the men are obliged to cut the hne aad ose it with the whale, or the boat wol be dragged under water. But generally some of the free boats can approach sufficiently near the animal into WsT? *° *V"'"^' '" '''' ™°*- ^^^ into his body; perhaps he again dives, but returns THE ARCTIC SEAS. 145 much exhausted. The men now thrust into his body long and slender steel lances, and aiming at the vitals these wounds soon prove fatal : blood mixed with water is discharged from the blow-holes, and pre- sently streams of blood alone are ejected, which fre- quently drench the boats and men, and colour the sea far around. Sometimes the last agony of the victim is marked by convulsive motions with the tail, attended with imminent danger ; but at other times It yields its life quietly, turning gently over on its side. The flags are now struck, three hearty cheers resound, and the unwieldy prey is towed in triumph to the ship. So huge a mass, of course, is slowly moved through the water, but there are few operations that are more joyously performed ; it i.s like the harvest-home of the farmer. When arrived, it is secured alongside the ship, and somewhat stretched by tackles at the head and tail, and the process of flensing commences. The men having shoes armed with long iron spikes to maintain their footing, get down on the huge and slippery carcass, and with very long knives and sharp spades make paraUel cuts through the blubber, from the head to the tail. A band of fat, however, is left around the neck, called the kent, to which hooks and ropes are attached for the purpose of shifting round the carcass. The long parallel strips are divided across into portions weigh- ing about half a ton each, and being separated from the flesh beneath, are hoisted on board, chopped into pieces, and put into casks. Wlien the whalebone is exposed, it is detached by spades, &c. made for the 144. THE OCEAN. purpose, and hoisted on deck in a mass ; it is then split into junks, containing eight or ten blades each. Sometimes the jaws are taken out, and being fixed in a perpendicular position on deck, with the extremi- ties in vessels, a considerable quantity of oil gradu- ally drains from them. The carcass is then cut away, as valueless to man, though a valuable prize to bears, birds, and sharks. Sometimes the carcass sinks im- mediately. Mr. Scoresby mentions a case in which it had been cut adrift prematurely, one of the men being still upon it ; it began to sink, but unfortu- nately a hook in his boot had a firm hold of the flesh ; he convulsively grasped the side of the boat in which his comrades were, and the whole immense weight was suspended by his foot. The torture was extreme ; it was expected every instant that his foot would be rent off, or that his body would be torn asunder ; but presently, by the merciful interposi- tion of God, one of his companions contrived to hook a grapnel into the carcass, and it was drawn suffi- ciently near the surface for him to be extricated. The Whale to which the preceding notices refer, is by no means the largest of the tribe, as the Great Rorqual {Balcenoptera hoops) sometimes attain nearly double the length of the former. Two spe- cimens have been measured of the length of one hundred and five feet, and Sir A. de Capell Brooke asserts, that it is occasionally seen of the enormous dimensions of a hundred and twenty feet. The Rorqual inhabits the same seas as the " right " Whale, but is not usually seen in company with it ; they seem rather to avoid each other. The THE ARCTIC SEAS. 145 thinness of its blubber, and tlie shortness of its whalebone, render it of far less value than the other species ; besides which, its swiftness, strength, and determination, render it a hazardous enemy to en- counter. Hence it is usually avoided by the whalers, though the adventurous inhabitants of the Arctic shores of Europe do not hesitate to attack it. It is worthy of our notice, however, on account of its affording an instance of what has been called, in an examination of the care of Almighty God over his inferior creatures, the principle of compensation. When any organ, or set of organs, that answer pur- poses very important in the economy of an animal aie removed in a kindred species with similar habits, or are so modified as no longer to serve the same purpose, some new structure is bestowed upon it, to supply the lack of that which is removed. wJ have seen how the Whale feeds, by receiving into its mouth a large quantity of water, which is filtered through the whalebone. In order to this, the mouth IS made very capacious by the bowing over of the upper jaws in the form of a high arch, the blades of whalebone filling up the bow. But in the Rorqual the two jaws are nearly straight, and the blades vary little in length, so that thus far the cavity of the mouth is inconsiderable. Here comes in the com- pensation : the lower part of the mouth, (or, exter- nally, the chin and throat,) instead of being stretched tightly across the branches of the lower jaw, are wrinkled up into many longitudinal folds, which,when the water rushes into the mouth, expand and make a capacious pouch or bag. On shutting the mouth and H 146 THE OCEAN. contracting the muscles of the throat, the flesh is pursed up again into folds, and the water is driven, as in the former case, through the whalebone, which secures the food. The Whales, gigantic as they are, yet having little power of offence, find to their cost, in common with nobler creatures, that harmlessness is often no re- source against violence. Several species of the vora- cious Sharks make the whale the object of their peculiar attacks ; the Arctic Shark {Scymnus ho- realis) is said, with its serrated teeth, to scoop out hemispherical pieces of flesh from the whale's body as big as a man's head, and to proceed without mercy until its appetite is satiated. Another Shark, often called the Thresher {Carcharias vulpes), which is sometimes upwards of twelve feet long, is said to use its muscular tail, that is nearly half of its whole length, to inflict terrible slaps on the whale ; though one would be apt to imiigine that if this whipping were all, the huge creature would be more fright- ened than hurt. The Sword-fish {Xiphias gladius), however, in the long and bony spear that projects from its snout, seems to be furnished with a weapon which may reasonably alarm even the leviathan of the deep, especially as the will to use his sword, if we may believe eye-witnesses, is in nowise deficient, The late Captain Crow records an incident of this kind with much circumstantiality. " One morning," he observes, " during a calm, when near the He- brides, all hands were called up at 3 a. m. to witness a battle between several of the fish called Threshers, or Fox Sharks, and some Sword-fish, on one side, s THE ARCTIC SEAS. 147 09 O 09 ffl ijig j-t k fiicreii and an enormous Whale on the other. It was in the rvtuldle of Miinmer, and the weather being clear, and I'c tish r'losc to the vessel, we had a fine opportunity ■ '"- unihat. As .sofMi as the- Whale's ' • wteter, the Threshers, spring- ■'i jani- . ■ ■■ . . eiidbd with ^rreat ,h i\ hiai the most ses^" i.tos with th+?»r long iixik, tiw soun-' i ■■■ ■" --sembled tht' report?^ f.«r JtKUsikets fired ui ;. ('.!'^lan^■(■. The Sword-fish, ii^ ' T" turn, jfttacked the distressed Whale, stabl)in*-»- ■r,i \k'U)\\: and thus beset on all sidrs and wounded, . n the poor creature appeared, tlie water around vi .Ivof! nnxh \>hMHl In this manner they cou- • M: • 'Aouudinji.r him for many *'<'^*' ■ ■ ' '■ ■ -'-■''■■ >f him ; ^,iK,i i I ,.;/. V. no <'"^s' ' ■rnpletrd his destrnclioti."* [.Is Si**Vi I.: 03 any ■...., - . ,ui\ '■ ' -^ :> ■ oi .-■urround- ' ■■ ''hw'iu-," as it is ca1](."d, ' * i.-> ■*««.'h they are iUiaccustonitHl. It ■1 ' ■ ' es the ■ ' ■ ^ -■ ' roju iH-iow, when, ■■• '■ ■ ' ■'•riace, he (.'>: pos- V ■" ' ' -i-Juv, ••>« tiie contrary, tiu iiscidettf -.aid fM havt' oceum'd '' close to the vessel ;" 4.nd ^- (!■- •''") has been at sc;- knosvs that in a cahn, by going aloft, you can see to a great depth in the • Memoirs of Capt. H. Crow, p. 1 1. H 2 THE ARCTIC SEAS. 147 iV ii' a and an enormous Whale on the other. It was in the middle of summer, and the weather being clear, and the fish close to the vessel, we had a fine opportunity of witnessing the combat. As soon as the Whale's back appeared above the water, the Threshers, spring- ing several yards into the air, descended with great violence upon the object of their rancour, and in- flicted upon him the most severe slaps vdth their long tails, the sound of which resembled the reports of muskets fired at a distance. The Sword-fish, in their turn, attacked the distressed Whale, stabbing from below; and thus beset on all sides and wounded, when the poor creature appeared, the water around him was dyed with blood. In this manner they con- tinued tormenting and wounding him for many hours, until we lost sight of him; and I have no doubt they, in the end, completed his destruction."* Some discredit has been thrown on this and similar accounts, on the ground that the fishes could have no object in persecuting the Whale; but the circum- stance is not more extraordinary than the well known custom which little birds have of surround- ing and teasing, or " mobbing," as it is called, any large bird to which they are unaccustomed. It has been objected, that the Captain describes the proceedings of the Sword-fish from below, when, from the reflection of the surface, he could not pos- sibly see them. But, on the contrary, the incident is said to have occurred " close to Du: vessel;" and any one who has been at sea knows that in a calm, by going aloft, you can see to a great deptli in the * Memoirs of Cant. H. Crow, n, 1 L H 2 148 THE OCEAN. water. The habit here attributed to the Sword-fish is confirmed by the frequency with which ships are struck with great violence, most museums possessing fragments of the planking of ships in which the "sword" of this finny tyrant is imbedded. It is with reason supposed that the dark and bulky hull is by the fish mistaken for the body of a whale. The only resource which this gigantic animal has for getting rid of his troublesome foes, is said to be by diving to unfathomable depths, where their struc- ture could not for an instant sustain the enormous pressure. Another animal has been accused of joining in these assaults, I suppose from having been con- founded with the Sword-fish. It is the Narwhal, or Sea Unicorn, {Monodon monoceros,) a very dif- ferent creature ; in fact, being a first cousin of the Whale himself. This interesting animal, the beauty of the northern seas, must be acquitted of this charge, being as inoffensive as his great relative. It is a very singular creature, formed in many re- spects like the Whale, but much more graceful. The colour is grey above, and pure white beneath, the whole spotted or mottled with a blackish hue. From the head projects a long straight horn of solid ivory, in the same line as the body ; sometimes, but rarely, there are two. The structure and origin of this horn (which has given much celebrity to this handsome creature) are very peculiar. It is, in fact, the tooth, and the only one it possesses in general ; the fellow tooth however exists within the bone of (he jaw, but undeveloied, lying shut up like the THE ARCTIC SEAS. 149 Spearing the Narwhai,. kernel of a nut. It is usually the left tooth that projects. Considerable uncertainty exists about the use of this long and spiral tusk. Some have sup- posed that it is used to search for food, by raking in the mud at the bottom, or to pierce thin ice at the surface, to obtain access to the air; but Mr. Scoresby appears to have throw^n considerable light upon it, by having met with an individual in w^hose stomach, among the remains of other fishes, was found a skate, almost entire, which was two feet three inches long, and one foot eight inches wide. " Now it appears remarkable," observes this gentle- 150 THE OCEAN. man, « that the Narwhal, an animal without teeth, a small mouth, and with stiff lips, should be able to catch and swaUow so large a fish as a skate, the breadth of which is nearly three times as great as the width of its own mouth. It seems probable that the skates had been pierced with the horn, and killed before they were devoured ; otherwise it is dif- ficult to imagine how the Narwhal could have swal- lowed them, or how a fish of any activity would have permitted itself to be taken, and sucked down the throat of a smooth mouthed animal, without teeth to detain and compress it." We know but little of the true fishes that inhabit the Arctic seas. It appears however that many of the more important of those which are common with us are common also there ; not the subjects of an annual migration, but widely distributed at ail times. On the authority of a French naval ofiicer, it would even seem that some species at least may undergo a sort of torpidity. « Admiral PleviUe Lepley, who had had his home on the ocean for half a century, as- sured M. Lacepede that in Greenland, in the smaller bays surrounded with rock, so common on this coast, where the water is always calm, and the bottom ge- nerally soft mud and juice, he had seen in the be- ginning of ;:^>ring myriads of Mackarel, with their heads sunk some inches in the mud, their tails ele- vated vertically above its level ; and that the mass of fish was such, that at a distance it might be taken for a reef of rocks. The Admiral supposed that the Mackarel had passed the winter torpid, under the ice and snow, and added that, for fifteen or twenty days 1 THE ARCTIC SEAS. 151 after their arrival, these fishes were affected with a kind of blindness, and that then many were taken with the net ; but as they recovered their sight the nets would not answer, and hooks and lines were used." * In illustration of the great depth to which the eye can penetrate, in these seas, from the trans- parency of the water. Captain Wood, who visited Spitzbergen in 1676, observed that, at the depth of four hundred and eighty feet, the shells on the bot- tom were distinctly visible. The minute animals which constitute the food of the Whales, form a very interesting subject of contemplation. If any of my young readers have ever been upon the sea, though only in a boat, a few miles from the shore, they cannot fail to have observed floating in the water some round masses of transparent substance, like clear jelly, which alter- nately contract and dilate their bodies, or sometimes turn themselves, as it were, partly inside out. They are of various sizes, from that of a large plate to a microscopical minuteness; and some are set with rings, within each other, like eyes, and some are curiously fringed at the edge. These Medusce, or Sea-blubbers, as they are familiarly called, form a considerable portion of the Whale's food, many species of them being abundant in its haunts. An- other little animal occurs there in immense hosts, the Clio borealis, which bears some slight resemblance to a butterfly just emerged from the crysalis, before the wings are expanded. Near the head there is on each side a large fin or wing, by the motions of * Edin. Journal of Science. 152 THE OCEAN. which it changes its place. These motions are a\nu8in«r. and as the little creatures are so abundant, Food op thr Whale: I, Limacina helicina; 2, 3, 4, Medusae; 5, Clio borealia. they make the dreary sea quite alive with their gam- bols as they dance merrily along. In swimming, the Clio brings the tips of its fins almost into contact, first on one side, then on the other : in calm weather they rise to the surface in myriads, for the purpose of breathing, but scarcely have they reached it before they again descend into the deep. Mr. Scoresby kept several of them alive in a glass of sea-water for about a month, when they gradually wasted away and died. The head of one of these little creatures ex- hibits a most astonishing display of the wisdom of God in creation. Around the mouth are placed six tentacles, each of which is covered with about three thousand red specks, which are seen by the micro- scope to be transparent cylinders, each containing about twenty little suckers, capable of being thrust out, and adapted for seizing and holding their minute prey. " Thus, therefore, there will be three hundred THE ARCTIC SEAS. 153 and sixty thousand of these microscopic suckers upon the head of one Clio; an apparatus for pre- hension perhaps unequalled in the creation." Numerous as are the hosts of thcs. frolicksome little beings, there are, however, others which vastly exceed them in number; which pass, indeed, beyond the possibility of human computation. Navigators had often noticed, in certain par . of the Arctic Sea, that the water instead of retaining its usual transpa- rency, was densely opaque, and that its hue was grass-green, or sometimes olive-green. It is com- nionly known as the "green-water," and though liable to slight shiftings from the force of currents, is pretty constant in its position, occupying about one- fourth of the whole Greenland sea. Mr. Scoresby was the first who ascertained the cause of this pecu- liar hue : on examination he found that the water was densely filled with very minute Medusa, for the most part undistinguishable without a microscope. He computes that within the compass of two square miles, supposing these animalcules to extend to the depth of two hundred and fifty fathoms, there would be congregated a number which eighty thousand per- sons, counting incessantly from the Creation until now, would not have enumerated, though they worked at the rate of a million per week ! And when we consider that the area occupied by this green water in the Greenland seas is not less than twenty thou- sand square miles, what a vast idea does it give us of the profusion of animal life, and of the Beneficence of Him who "openeth His hand, and satisfieth the desire of every living thing ! " H 5 1,1 ; 154 THE OCEAN. • Several species of minute Crabs and Shrimps occur also in great numbers, and constitute no small portion of the food of the Whale. One little crea- ture in particular {Cancer nugax), was found to swarm even beneath the ice, in the temporary sojourn of the discovery expeditions in winter quarters. The men had often noticed the shrinking of their salt meat which had been put to soak, and a goose that had been frozen, on being immersed to thaw, was, in the lapse of forty-eight hours, reduced to a perfect skeleton. The officers afterwards availed themselves of the services of these industrious little anatomists, to obtain cleaned skeletons of such small animals as they procured, merely taking the precaution of tying the specimen in a loose bag of gauze or netting, for the preservation of any of the smaller bones that might be separated by the consumption of the li- gaments. THE ATLANTIC OCEAN. The Atlantic is much better known to us than cany other of the great divisions of the ocean, be- cause, washing the shores of the principal commercial nations, it has been more traversed and explored. Its edges, on each side, are in a greater degree than those of any other, hollowed into bays and harbours, and it is connected with the chief inland seas, such as the Baltic, Mediterranean, and Black Seas, on the one hand; and the Gulf of Mexico, and the Bays, or rather Seas, of Hudson and Baffin on the other. If, then, the importance of an ocean is estimated by the length of the line of coast which borders it, the Atlantic takes precedency of all, exceeding even the Pacific in this respect, in the proportion of about four to three. It is remarkable, that it is the north- em half which has so winding a coast, and to which, also, are confined the inland seas ; and it is this part that is bordered with nations celebrated for naviga- tion and commerce, the maritime nations of Europe and the United States. Unlike the Pacific, whose vast solitudes are rarely broken by the presence of a ship ; the Atlantic is continually ploughed by the keels, and spangled with the banners, of powerful empires, conveying from shore to shore those diver- 156 m THE OCEAN. siiied commodities, the interchange of which so greatly promotes peace and good-will, and is, there- fore, fraught with blessing to mankind. Leaving behind us the inhospitable waters of the north, let us take an imaginary voyage through this important and interesting portion of the great deep, still having an open eye to mark the footsteps of Him, whose "way is in the sea, and His path in the great waters." The north breeze blows cheerily, though coldly, and the sun, daily attaining a more elevated position at noon, while the pole-star nightly approaches the horizon, tells us of our rapid progress southward. By and by, the shout of "land ho!" directs our attention to the horizon, where with straining eyes we dimly discern what appears to be a faint mass of cloud, of so evanescent a hue, that a landsman looks long in the direction of the sea- man's finger, and yet continues dubious whether any- thing is really visible or not. Now he says confi- dently, "Ha! I caught a glance of it then;" but presently it turns out that his eye has been directed to a point quite wide of the indicated locality ; and again he slowly but vainly sweeps the horizon with his eye, in search of what the practised vision of the mariner detects and recognizes at a glance. Mean- while, the ship rushes on before the cheerful breeze ; we go down to breakfast ; and on again coming on deck, there no longer remains any doubt ; there lies the land on the lee bow, high, and blue, and pal- pable. It is one of the Azc-es ; and as we draw nearer, we discern and admire the picturesque beau- ties by which they are distinguished. The lofty ! THE ATLANTIC OCEAN. 157 cliffs of varying hues rear their bold heads perpen- dicularly from the foaming waves, cut and seamed into dark chasms and ravines, through which rocky torrents find a noisy course, while here and there a little stream is poured over the very summit of the precipice, the cascade descending in a white narrow line, conspicuous against the dark rock behind, until the wind carries it away in feathery spray long be- fore it reaches the bottom. The sunlight throws the prominences and cavities of the cliffs into broad masses of light and shadow, which, ever changing as the ship rapidly alters her position, give a magic character to the scene. Here and there, on the sides of the hills farther inland, the lawns and fields of lively green, speckled with white villas and ham- lets, and relieved by the rich verdure of the orange- groves, present a softer but not less pleasing pro- spect. Other islands of this interesting group gradu- ally rise from the horizon, all of similar character, but diverse in appearance from their various dis- tance: some showing out in palpable distinctness, and others seen only in shadowy outline. But there is one which, from the singularity of its shape, ar- rests the attention. A mountain, of a very regu- larly conical form, seems to rise abruptly from the sea, with remarkable steepness, verdant almost to the summit ; it is almost like a sugar-loaf with a round- ed top, crowned by a nipple-like prominence, which is often veiled by clouds. It is the Peak of Pico, seven thousand feet in height, second in celebrity, as in elevation, only to the Peak of Teneriffe. A recent visitor has thus described the picturesque 158 THE OCEAN. In ''I -*'■ 11 PICO. beauty of this oceanic mountain : « The hoary head ot Pico presents a great variety of beauty. One afternoon it was lightly powdered with snow, so as to give It a tint of sober olive; with a larger quan- tity of frost or snow, and stronger and more direct sunshine, it has looked hke dead silver; at another time It was tipped with fire ;-at another it was pavi- Honed in liame-coloured clouds ;-a few light mists would shut it entirely out, or, where transparent give to it a wan and visionary hue ; and in the even- ing, when the clouds put on a gayer livery, becoming rose.coh,ured or purple, or bronzed, the changes and flushes would almost remind you of the variable colours on a pigeon's neck ; or, as a poet has said. THE ATLANTIC OCEAN. 159 ' Of hues that blush and glow Like angels' wings.' "* Some curious traditions are found in the writings of the ancients respecting an island of very large size, believed to have once existed in tha Atlantic. Plato, in the Timaeus, gives the fullest account of this is- land, which was called Atlantis. It is stated to have been nearly two hundred miles in length, situated opposite the Straits of Gibraltar. It was fertile and populous, and some of the warlike chiefs among whom it was divided, are said to have made irrup- tions upon the continent, and to have conquered a considerable part of Europe and northern Africa. Several other islands are described as situated in the vicinity of Atlantis, beyond which lay a continent superior in size to all Europe and Africa. At length the whole island is reported to have been swallowed up by the sea, after which, for a long period, that part of the ocean was of difficult and dangerous navi- gation, on account of the numerous rocks and shelves which lay beneath the surface. There are many cir- cumstances which render it improbable that this story, marvellous as it is, is entirely a fiction. It has been supposed that the great islan-1 was Cuba, the surrounding ones the other West Indies, and the great continent America; and that the cessation of intercourse with these regions, through the decay of naval enterprise, gave rise to the tradition that the island itself had disappeared. But this would not explain the matter-of-fact statement of the rocky shallows after the catastrophe; nor would the dis- * Bullur's Azores, 1. 368. 1^: *"^ THE OCEAN. tance of Cuba from Europe, permit martial invasions ot this continent to be readily made from it. Others have concluded, and this does not seem to my own mmd mconsistent with probability, that the state- ments of the ancients may be literally true ; that by the action of an earthquake, of which we have had instances in modern times, the island may have been submerged, and that the Azores are the sum- mits of the highest mountains. It seems somewhat to confirm this opinion, that these islands are evi- dently volcanic in their origin, and are very subject to eartbquakes,-nay, the very phenomenon of is- lands swallowed up by the sea, has repeatedly oc- curred here within historical record. It is true, that m these instances, the island itself was small, and had been but recently raised by volcanic action, but It does not seem necessary that in similar cases there should be an exact parallelism, either in size or duration. The last of these occurrences was so remarkable on other accounts, as to be well worthy of a detailed description, which is given by an eye-wit- ness. Captain TiUard, an oflicer of the British navy • 'Approaching the island of St Michael's on the mh of June, 1811, we occasionally observed, rising m the horizon, two or three columns of smoke, such as would have been occasioned by an action between two ships, to which cause we universally attributed Its origin. This opinion was, however, in a very short time changed, from the smoke increasing, and ascendmg in much larger bodies than could possibly have been produced by such an event; and having heard an account, prior to our sailing from Lisbon THE ATLANTIC OCEAN. 161 that in the preceding January or February a volcano had burst out within the sea near St. Michael's, we immediately concluded that the smoke we saw pro- ceeded from that cause, and on our anchoring the next morning in the road of Ponta del Gada, we tound this conjecture correct as to the cause, but not as to the time ; the eruption of January having totally subsided, and the present one having only burst forth two days prior to our approach, and about three miles distant from the one before allud- ed to." The Captain having proceeded to a cliff on the island of St. Michael's, about three or four hundred feet high, from which the eruption was scarcely a mile distant, proceeds to describe its appearance : "Imagine an immense body of smoke rising from the sea, the surface of v>hich was markad by the sil-. very rippling of the waves. In a quiescent state, it had the appearance of a circular cloud revolving on the water, like a horizontal wheel, in various and ir- regular involutions, expanding itself gradually on the lee side; when, suddenly, a column of the black- est cinders, ashes, and stones, would shoot up in the form of a spire, at an angle of from ten to twent- degrees from a perpendicular line, the angle of incljl nation being universally to windward ; this was ra^ pidly succeeded by a second, third, and fourth, shower, each acquiring greater velocity, and over- topping the other, till they had attained an -altitude as much above the level of our eye, as the sea was below it. " As the impetus with which the several columns 162 THE OCEAN. SUBMARINE VOLCANO. were severally propelled diminished, and their as- cending motion had nearly ceased, they broke into various branches resembling a group of pines; these again forming themselves into festoons of white fea- thery smoke, in the most fanciful manner imaginable intermixed with the finest particles of falling ashes' which at one time assumed the appearance of innu- merable plumes of black and white ostrich feathers surmounting each other; at another, that of the light wavy branches of a weeping willow. " During these bursts, the most vivid flashes of lightning continually issued from the densest part of the volcano ; and the cloud of smoke, now ascend- ing to an altitude much above the highest point to THE ATLANTIC OCEAN. 163 which the ashes were projected, rolled off in large masses of fleecy clouds, gradually expanding them- selves before the wind in a direction nearly hori- zontal, and drawing up to them a quantity of water- spouts, which formed a most beautiful and striking addition to the general appearance of the scene." In the course of a few hours, a crater had been thrown up by these Eruptions, to the height of twenty feet above the sea, and apparently three or four hundred feet in diameter. Repeated shocks of an earthquake accompanied the explosion. The narrator was obliged to leave the neighbourhood on the succeeding day, at which time the volcanic eruption was seen from a distance to be still raging with undiminished fury. About three weeks after- wards he returned to the spot, and found all quiet, but the newly-formed island had increased to a mile in circumference, and the highest part appeared to have an elevation of about two hundred and forty feet. On landing, he found the place still smoking, and the large crater nearly full of water in a boiling state, which was being discharged into the ocean by a stream ahimt six yards across: this stream, close to the edge of the sea, was so hot, as barely to .admit the momentary immersion of the finger.* On the 11th of October, in the same year, this island sank beneath the ocean from which it had emerged, leaving a dangerous shoal in the neighbourhood, thus realiz- ing the traditionary fate of the island of Atlantis. But let us pursue our voyage. As we follow the setting sun to his bed among the Indian islands of • Trans. Roy. Soc. 1812. 164 THE OCEAN. I Ae west, the tedium of our way across the trackless waste isenhvened by those cheerful little birds, the ' Petrels (Procellaria. pelagioa), the constant com- pamons of the sailor, by whom they are familiarly named Mother Carey's chickens. They are pecu^ harly ocean-birds: rarely approaching the shore, except when they seek gloomy and inaccessible rocks lor the purpose of breeding; they are never seen but in association with the boundless waste of waters. Scarcely larger than the swaUow that darts through our streets, one wonders that so frail a little bird should brave the fury of the tempest; but when the masts are cracking, and the cordage shrieking fit- fully in the fierce blast, and when the sea is leaping up into mountainous waves, whose foaming crests are torn off in invisible mist before the violence of nl^f '. 'i"'" ^""""^ '•''^ ^"^"^ »d thither, now treading the brow of the watery hill, now sweeping through the valley, piping its singular note storm which the superstitious mariner, indeed, at- tributes to Its evil agency. Flocks of these little for IrT °' ""^e'-ous. accompany ships, often foi mjny days successively, not, as has been asserted, to seek a refuge from the storm in their shelter but to feed on the greasy particles which the cook now and then throws overboard, or the floating sub- stances which the vessel's motion brings to the sur- Jace. It IS a pleasing sight to see them crowd up close under the stem with confiding fearlessness! their sooty wings horizontally extended, and their tiny web-feet put down to feel the water, while they THE ATLANTIC OCEAN. 165 pick up with their beaks the minute atoms of food, of which they are in search. I have been surprised to notice how very quickly a flock will collect, though a few moments before scarcely one could be seen in any direction; and again they disperse as speedily. They seem to have the power of dis- pensing with sleep, at least for very long intervals. Wilson, one of the most accurate of observers, has recorded a fact illustrative of this : "In firing at these birds, a quill-feather was broken in each wing of an individual, and hung fluttering in the wind, which rendered it so conspicuous among the rest, as to be known to all on board. This bird, notwith- standing its inconvenience, continued with us for nearly a week, during which we sailed a distance of more than four hundred miles to the north." Of course, if this individual had gone to sleep, the ves- sel would have sailed away, and we can hardly ima- gine that it would have again found her in her path- less course. I do not believe they have ever been known to alight on the rigging or deck of a ship. It is a pity that so interesting a little creature as this should become the object of a degrading and meaningless superstition. The persuasion that they are in some mysterious manner connected with the creation of stornas, is so prevalent among sea- men, as to render them, innocent and confiding as they are, objects of general dislike, and often even of hatred. I once made a voyage with a captain, who, though a man of much intelligence, was not proof against this absurd superstition, venting hearty execrations against these "devil's imps," as he called mriiiiniiwiimiii 166 THE OCEAN. them, in every gale, as if they had been the mali- cious authors of it. If this unoffending little bird does afford any indication of a coming storm, dis- covered by its more acute perceptions, which, never- theless, I very much doubt, why should not tliose who navigate the ocean receive its warning with gra- titude, and make preparations for security, instead of following it with profane and impotent curses ? "As well might they curse the midnight lighthouse, that, starlike, guides them on their watery way, or the buoy, that warns them of the sunken rocks be- low, as this harmless wanderer, whose manner in- forms them of the approach of the storm, and there- by enables them to prepare for it." A frequent relief to the tedium of a long voyage IS found in the shoals of playful Dolphins (DelpU- nus del^his, ^c.J which so often perform their amus- ing gambols around us. They may be discerned at a great distance ; as they are continually leaping from the surface of the sea, an action which, as it seems to have no obvious object, is probably the mere exuberance of animal mirth. When a shoal is seen thus froHcking at the distance of a mile or two, 111 a few moments having caught sight of the ship,' down they come trooping with the velocity of the' wind, impelled by curiosity to discover what being of monstrous bulk thus invades their domain. When arrived, they display their agility in a thousand graceful motions, now leaping with curved bodies many feet into the air, then darting through a wave with incredible velocity, leaving a slender wake of whitening foam under the water ; now the thin back- THE ATLANTIC OCEAN. 167 fin only is exposed, cutting the surface like a knife; then the broad and muscular tail is elevated as the animal plunges perpendicularly down into the depth, or dives beneath the keel to explore the opposite side. So smooth are their bodies, that their gam- bols are performed with surprisingly little disturbance of the water, and even when descending from their agile somersets they make scarcely any splash. The colour of the upper parts of their bodies is of a deep black, but by a deception of the sight, caused, pro- bably, by the svdftness of their motions, and by the gleaming of the light from their wet and glittering skin, they appear in the air, and under water, of a light greenish grey. After having taken a few rapid turns under and around the vessel, the whole shoal consisting of a dozen or two, usually congregate immediately beneatiX the bowsprit, where they re- main sometimes for h< urs romping and rolling about, as if the ship were perfectly stationary, instead of spanking along at the rate of seven or eight knots an hour, apparently making no effort to go a-head, and yet keeping their relative position with admir- able dexterity and precision. But they are allowed to remain so long undisturbed only when the duties of the ship demand the attention of the hands ; for if there be a few moments of leisure, the presence of a shoal of Dolphins is too tempting to pass un- heeded. Some one of the crew reputed to be skil- ful in vdelding the harpoon, in smaU vessels often the captain himself, goes forward, and having taken his station upon the bowsprit-heel, or upon one of the cat-heads, poises his implement of war, and waits m IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) i 1.0 I.I U£ 1^ 12.2 S tiS, 1110 1.8 1.25 I'-^r* ^ 6" . ^ V] ^ y Photographic Sciences brporation C 33 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 873-4S03 1^%"^^ "^^ ^ 168 THE OCEAN. a lavourable moment of attack. Now the bows are thronged with anxious faces; the usual discipline of the ship is relaxed on such occasions; even the sooty cook leaves his caboose, and, with the dirty- cabin-boy, endeavours to witness the interesting per- formance. All are there but the man at the wheel and even he stands on tiptoe to catch a glimpse of what is going on, and, neglecting his helm, "yaws" the ship about sadly. The unsuspecting visitors continue their romps: presently one comes within aim, pretty near the surface ; the dart is thrown, and if the trembling anxiety of the harpooner have not marred his skill, strikes its object: I have known it, however, take effect obliquely on the side, cutting deeply into the flesh, but retaining no hold; in which case the poor wounded creature, with its bowels ex- posed and protruding, instantly shoots away, accom- panie4 by all its fellows, not, however, to sympathize with it, or afford any assistance, but, if the sailors may be believed, to fall upon and devour it. But we vdll suppose that the barbed weapon has trans- fixed the animal in the back, and, piercing through the superficial coat of fat, has lodged deep in the solid fiesh. The Dolphin plunges convulsively : the whole herd are gone like a thought, leaving their unhappy comrade to his fate: the stout line stretches with the force, but brings him up with a jerk ; the barbs are beneath the tough muscles, and resist all his endeavours for freedom: a dozen eager hands are thrust forth to grasp the line and haul him to the surface. The struggles of the desperate crea- ture are now tremendous : the water all around is !l THE AftCTIC SEAS. 169 a^hed mto boiling foam, reddened with the Kfe-blood that IS fast ebbing from his wound. Two or three witWK '^''"l f^" ''^'' •'""^P ^"^« th^ fore-chains, with the end of a rope formed into a running noose hey hang this down into the water, and endeavou; to get the bight over his tail; many trials are un- successfuUy made to do this, for the frantic motions length, however, it is drawn over, tightened, and the prey is considered secure. It is now comparatively easy, Math the aid of a boat-hook, to pass another rope under the body, just behind the breast-fins, and then he is soon hoisted on deck. I have been aston- ished to observe how very inadequate is the notion one forms of the dimensions of these animals by see- ing them only in the water; an individual that mea- sures eight feet in length, appearing in water not more than four or five. The muscular power is very great ; but is chiefly concentrated in the tail, and, therefore, when the animal is removed from its na- tive element, it is ahnost helpless, its exertions being confined to the violent blows which it inflicts upon the deck with this broad and powerful organ. In an essential particulars, the Dpjphin agrees with the male already described, being of the same order; A l.^l'^' '"^ ^^"^^^ ^" "P"^^t fin on the back, and both the upper and lower jaws armed with nume- rous, small, close, and pointed teeth. In one speci- men which I saw captured, I counted one hundred and fifty-two m all; they are beautifully regular, and those of one jaw fit into the interstices of the other. The Dolphin differs from the Porpesse (Fho- 1 1 I 170 THE OCSAN. ccena), by having the jaws lengthened out into a long and slender beak, almost like that of some bird : in other respects there is little difference between the Porpesse and the Dolphin. Both are very voracious, pursuing any prey they can master : in the stomach of one taken in the Atlantic, I found a number of the beaks of Cuttles (Sepiadce). A century or two ago, the flesh of this animal was esteemed a dainty worthy the attention of epicures in this country; but now it is relished only by those whom the salt provisions of a long voyage have rendered less choice than they would be under other circumstances. From the abundance of blood, the meat is very dark in appearance ; but to my own taste, on one or two occasions, with my appetite sharpened by the pri- vation just mentioned, steaks cut from it and fried have seemed very savoury and agreeable. Now the long yellow strings of floating weed, which lie in parallel lines pointing to the wind, or the broader masses that resemble meadows parched by protracted drought, inform us that we are in that mighty cur- rent of tepid water, the Gulf-stream. V/"e hasten to the gangway, and having drawn a few buckets of clear transparent water, which we deposit in a tub, collect with a boat-hook a quantity of the float- ing weed, and immerse it in the tub of water to be examined. Many of the stems and berry-like air- vessels are coated with a thin and delicate tissue of shelly substance (Flmtra)y of a greyish hue, like very minute network, so delicate as not at all to disfigure or conceal the form of the substance on which it is spread. Attached to the weed THE ATLANTIC OCEAN. 171 are groups of little Bemacles (Lepas), from the size of a pin's head, to half an inch in length. While under water these are incessantly projecting and re- tracting the elegant curled apparatus of cirri with which they are furnished, resembling a plume of feathers; from which resemblance it probably was that the inhabitants of a species found on the Scot- tish coast were asserted to be " of that nature to be finaly by nature of seas resolved into geese." * The purpose of this continual motion of the fringed arms appears to be t-.vofold ; first, to make a constant eddy in the surrounding water, and thus bring minute ani- mals within reach, and then to enclose such as are brought in as by the cast of a net, and convey them to the mouth. Crawling on the suiface of the weed we may now and then find a nimble little Crab (Lupa)j with the shell on each side projecting hori- zontally into a sharp spine. We are surprised at first to find a Crab on the surface of the ocean, as the species with which we are familiar have not the power of swimming. On endeavouring to procure one for examination, however, we no sooner touch the fragment of weed with the boat-hook, than the watchful little Crab hurries off into the water, and swims rapidly away out of reach. If we be fortu- nate enough to secure one by skilful manoeuvring with the bucket or a dip-net, we shall discover a peculiar structure, by means of which these ocean- crabs are endowed with the faculty of swimming. In the common Crab all the feet, except the claws, terminate in a sharp point, but in the present genus, * Boece, Cosmography of Albioun. Edin. about 1 541. I 2 «*IP^W«i'»"i"«»»»WWpP 172 THE OCEAN. the hindmost pair have the last joint flattened out into a thin but broad oval plate, the edge of which is thickly fringed with fine hairs. This structure is exactly parallel to that by which the foot of a perching bird is modified into the foot of a swimming bird, the surface being dilated into a broad web; or to the wide fringe by which the hind feet of a water- beetle are made such powerful oars ; the flattened jomt in the present case becoming a paddle, by the stroke of which a rapid motion is obtained through the water. These swimming crabs are very vora- cious, preying upon the little shrimps that are nume- rous about the weed, which they pursue and seize with their pincers. Sometimes the Crab remains at rest, but vigilant, until a shrimp swims within reach, when he grasps it with great quickness, and proceeds to devour it by degrees. In doing this, he holds it fast by one claw, while with the other he picks off very daintily the legs and other mem- bers of his prey, putting them bit by bit into his mouth, until nothing remains, but the tail, which he rejects. The weed is usually the resort of several small species of fishes, which doubtless congregate about it for the sake of the minute Crustacea that are so abundant. Among them I have found a very in- teresting little species of Toad-fish (Antennarius), whose pectoral and ventral fins project so far from the surface of the body, as to expose the joint, and thus take the form of the feet of a quadruped. It uses these members actually as feet, crawling and pushing its way among the tangled weed by means THE ATLANTIC OCEAN. 173 of them. It has even been known to come on shore, and remain several days without any communica- tion with the water. On the head of this fish there are one or two slender horns furnished at the tip with several processes resembling little worms. The use of these organs is very remarkable. The fish is not one of swift motion, and therefore cannot take its prey by pursuit: instead of this, it usually con- ceals itself among the mud at the bottom, or per- haps among the stalks of floating weed, while it agitates its curious fleshy horns; their resemblance to worms and their motion attract other fishes which, coming within reach, are seized by the capa- cious mouth of the latent Toad-fish. The lower jaw extending beyond the upper causes the mouth to open perpendicularly, and the eyes are so situated as to look in the same direction, both of which ar- rangements facilitate the capture of prey by this singular mode. It is not improbable that the WQrm- like tentacles attached to the mouth and chin of other fishes, as the Cod and Barbel, for example, answer an end somewhat similar to this. In keeping small marine animals for examination, we often lose the specimens through the water be- coming speedily unfit for supporting animal life; a minute shrimp or two, or a fish of an inch in length, if confined in a large basin of water, will usually exhaust the oxygen during the night, and be dead by the morning. A little living seaweed, however, placed with them, will prevent, or, at least, delay this, as plants in a living state give out oxygen. Every night the pole-star is perceptibly nearer the \ 174 THE OCEAN. horizon, and every day the meridian sun reaches to a higher and yet a higher point, until it appears al- most vertical. The wind gradually becomes lighter, until we arrive at the " calm latitudes," where we lie weeks without making any progress. The cap- tain and crew whistle for windy with as much per- severance as if they had never been disappointed, and every one watches anxiously for the least breath- ings of a breeze. Nothing can exceed the tantaliz- ing tedium of this condition ; the wearied eye gazes intently upon the glistering sea, and eagerly catches the slightest ruffling of the mirror-like smoothness, in hopes that it may be an indication of wind ; but on glancing at the feather-vane upon the ship's quar- ter, the hope fades on perceiving it hang motionless from its staff. A still more delicate test is then re- sorted to, that of throwing a live coal overboard, and marking if the little cloud of white steam has any lateral motion ; but no ! it ascends perpendi- cularly till dispersed in the air. Now and then the polished surface of the sea is suddenly changed to a blue ripple ; expectation becomes strong, for there is no doubt of the reality of the motion; but before the sails can feel the breeze, it has died away again, the air is as still, and the sea as glassy, as before. Coleridge has well described such a state in his " Ancient Mariner:" •* The sun came up upon the left, Out of the sea came he ; And he shone bright, and on the right Went down into the sea. I THE ATLANTIC OCEAN. 175 Down dropp'd the breeze, the sails dropp'd down; Twas sad as sad could be : And we did speak, only to break The silence of the sea. Day after day, day after day, We stuck, nor breath nor motion ; As idle as a painted ship. Upon a painted ocean," Not a cloud tempers the fierce burning rays of the sun which shoot directly on our heads ; the deck becomes scalding hot to the feet, the melting pitch boils up from the seams, the tar continually drops from the rigging ; the masts and booms display gaping cracks, and the flukes of the anchors are too hot to be touched with impunity. In vain, if we happen to be sailing in a small vessel, which has no awning on board to spread over the quarter- deck, we seek for refuge beneath the sails which hang lazily from the yards and gaffs, inviting the desired gales ; for so perpendicular are the fiery beams in the heat of the day, that very little shadow is afforded by the sails, and even that little is con- stantly shifting from the vessel's change of position in the swell. In such circumstances I have in some measure felt the force of those similitudes in the Sacred Prophets, in which the blessings of the coming reign of the Lord Jesus Christ, after the long apostasy, are likened to "the shadow of a great rock in a weary land." " Thou hast been a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall. Thou shalt bring down the noise of strangers, as the heat in 176 THE OCEAN. i. clotd."^*^'^' '"^^^ ^^' heat With the shadow of a Yet, though day after day rolls on and leaves us still m the same position, there are not wanting many things to beguile the weariness of the time The gorgeous beauty of the sun's setting almost makes amends for his unmitigated heat by day. As his orb approaches the western horizon, the clouds, which have been absent during the day, begin to form m that quarter of the heavens; and, as he sinks, assume hues of the richest purple edged with gold, now hiding his disk, now allowing him to flash out his softened effulgence through crimson openings, t U he falls beneath the massy, mountain-like bed of cloud that seems to lie heavily upon the surface of the sea. Ihen the whole array begins to take the ap- pe^ance of alovely landscape; the clouds forming the land, while the open sky represents calm water. Some- times we seem to see the long capes and bold pro- montories of a broken and picturesque coast, deeply mdented with bays and creeks, and fringed with groups of islands; at others, silvery lakes, studded with little wooded islets, appear embosomed in mountains, or surrounded by gentle slopes, here and there clothed with umbrageous woods. Such an appearance of reality is given to these fleeting scenes, that it is difficult, after gazing at them for a few mmutes, to believe they are mere shadows. The mmd forgets the world of waters around, and. m the enthusiasm of the houi-, goes out in busy imagmation to that beautiful land, and roves among * Isa. xxxii. 2; xxv. 4, 5; If. 6. THE ATLANTIC OCEAN. 177 its valleys and hills in dreamy enjoyment. We are not then, surprised, that the imaginative Greeks should have sung of their Fortunate Islands, the habitations of the blessed, placed far away in the ocean of the west, and invested with more than earthly loveliness ; nor that the existence of isles of similar character, in the same mysterious, be- cause unknown, regions, should have found a place in the mythology of even so remote a nation as the Hindoos. The beauteous scenes before us, however, are as transitory as they are lovely : night comes on with a rapidity, startling to us accustomed to the long twilight of the north ; the rich hues with which the western sky is suffused, the crimson and ruddy gold, speedily change to a warm and swarthy brown, and one by one the stars come out, and light up the sky with a strange and unwonted effulgence. Humboldt describes in the following terms his own emotions on first seeing the brilliant stars of these regions: "From the time we entered the torrid zone, we were never wearied with admiring, every night, the beauty of the southern sky, which, as we advanced towards the south, opened new constellations to our view. We feel an indescribable sensation when, on approaching the equator, and particularly on passing from one hemisphere to the other, we see those stars, which we have contemplated from our infancy, progressively sink, and finally disappear. Nothing awakens in the traveller a livelier remem- brance of the immense distance by which he is se- parated from his country, than the aspect of an I 5 ^R 178 THE OCEAN. unknown firmament. The grouping of the stars of the first magnitude, some scattered nebullec rivalling in splendour the milky way, and tracks of space remarkable for their extreme blackness, give a par- ticular physiognomy to the southern sky. Tliis sight fills with admiration even those, who, unin- structed in the branches of accurate science, feel the same emotions of delight in the contemplation of the heavenly vault, as in the view of a beautiful landscape, or a majestic river. A traveller has no need of being a botanist to recognize the torrid zone on the mere aspect of its vegetation; and, without having acquired any notions of astronomy, he feels he is not in Europe, when he sees the immense constellation of the Ship, or the phosphorescent clouds of Magellan, arise on the horizon. The heaven and the rth, everything in the equinoctial regions, assumes a . exotic character."* But of all the constellations that stud the sky of the southern hemisphere, there is none that more strikes a stranger than the Southern Cross. Its beauty, as well as the singularity of its form, can- not fail to inspire interest; even though we be, through the grace of God, furnished with ideas of true and spiritual worship, that prevent our view- ing it with the superstitious reverence with which it is regarded by the inhabitants of South America. It is not seen above the horizon until we are within the tropics, and scarcely appears to advantage until we approach the equator. As the two brilliant stars which form the top and bottom of the Cross, have • Personal Narrative, 1814. Vol. ii. 18. THE ATLANTIC OCEAN. ny nearly the same right ascension, they assume a ppiv. pendicular position when upon the meridian; and hence afford an accurate mode of measuring time ; THE SOUTHERN (.llOSS. as the hour oi southing at the different seasons, vary- ing four minutes every night, is well known to the inhabitants of the southern hemisphere. It is very common to hear the peasants observe one to another, "It IS after midnight" (or some other hour); "the Cross begins to fall !" Alone in the midst of the ocean, called to nightly watchmgs upon the deck, the mariner naturally be- comes familiar with the glowing orbs which are re- vealed by the surrounding darkness : and if he be a Christian, his thoughts are led out, as he lifts 180 THE OCEAN, up his eyes on high, and beLolds the stars marshal- led in order, or the moon "walking in brightness," to Him that "created these things, that bringeth out their host by number, and calleth them all by names." For "the heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth His handy-work. Day unto day uttereth speech ; and night unto nignt sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor lan- fe -age, where their voice is not heard." Between, or in the neighbourhood of the tropics, the ship is rarely unaccompanied by fishes of many specieS; which, in the clear waters of these southern seas, are visible many fathoms beneath her keel. CoRYPHBNB {Corypficena). One of the most common, and perhaps one of the most beautiful, is the Coryphene {Coryphcsna), mis- called by seamen, the Dolphin. One is never weary THE ATLANTIC OCEAN. 181 of admiring their beauty. Their form is deep, but thin and somewhat flattened; and their sides are of brilliant pearly white, like polished silver. In small companies of five or six, they usually appear and play around and beneath the ship, sometimes close to the surface, and sometimes at such a depth that the eye can but dimly discern their shadowy out- line. When playing at an inconsiderable depth, in their turnings hither and thither, the rays of the sun, reflected from their polished sides, as one or the other is exposed to the light, flash out in sudden fleams, or are interrupted, in a very striking man- ner. Night and day these interesting creatures are sporting about, apparently insusceptible of weari- ness. Their motion is very rapid, when their powers are put forth, as in pursuit of the timid little Flying- fish. It is to these fishes that most of the accounts of Dolphins, which we read in voyages, must be referred, as, owing to some mistake of identity, not easily accounted for, the name of Dolphin has been universally misapplied by our seamen to the Coryphene, while they confound the true Dolphin with the Porpesse. From not adverting to this habitual misnomer some confusion has arisen : thus the following interesting notice has been quoted in a late valuable work on the Cetacea,* as illustra- tive of the true Dolphins, although the fair nar- rator herself takes care to inform us that she means the Coryphsna Hippuris: " The other morning a large Dolphin, which had been following the ship for some distance, and was sparkling most gloriously * Jardine'8 Naturalist's Library. r \ 182 THE OCEAN. in the sun, suddenly detected a shoal of Flying-fish rising from the sea at some distance. With the rapidity of lightning he wheeled round, made one tremendous leap, and so timed his fall, as to arrive fairly at the place where our little friends, the Fly- ing-fish, were forced to drop into the sea to refresh their weary wing. A flight of sea-gulls now joined in the pursuit ; we gave up our prot^g^s for lost, when to our great joy, we beheld them rising again, for they had merely skimmed the wave, and, thus recruited, continued their flight. Their restless foe pursued them with giant strides, now cutting the wave, which flashed and sparkled with the reflection of his brilliant coat, and then giving one huge leap, which brought him up with his prey : they seemed conscious that escape was impossible; their flight became shorter and more flurried, whilst the Dolphin, animated by the certain prospect of success, grew more vigorous in his bounds ; exhausted, they drop- ped their wings, and fell one by one into the jaws of the Dolphin, or were snapped up by the vigilant GuUs."* Captain Basil Hall has described a very similar scene in nearly parallel terms : but to prevent mis- imderstanding, he also informs his readers that " the Dolphin" of his narrative, is the Coryphcena Hip- puris of naturalists, and a true fish. "Shortl;, after observing a cluster of Flying-fish rise out of the water, we discovered two or three Dolphins [Coryphenes] ranging past the ship, in all their beauty; and watched with some anxiety to * Miss Lloyd's Sketches of Bermuda. ing-fish ith the ide one 0 arrive he Fly- refresh <■ joined or lost, r again, d, thus ess foe ng the flection e leap, seemed • flight olphin, , grew r drop- e jaws igilant similar t mis- t"the 1 Hip- ig-fish three in all ety to i m THE ATLANTIC OCEAN. 183 O P R a a m W CO M o D P4 see one of those aquatic chases, of which our friends the Indiamen had been telling us such wonderful •'torirs. Wc liad not long to wait; for the ship , iier progrt'S-s througli the water, soon put up oothei ^hoal of tlsesv little things, which, as the .Ttb«r^ * ' i<:;,l, their %ht directiv to Avind- «*•'*■' :>oijihin, which W^. "■ ■• , coping 4eUx;tc(l our pt^or ucar litiie .,;,i :,,1> taku wing, than he turned his head tbwards them, and darting to the surface, leaped from the water with a velocity, little short, as it seemed, of a cannon-buU. But, •i (though the impetus with which he shot himself luto the air gave him an initial velocity greatly '.xceding that of the S-'i. iMrj-^isfi, !.iic vt;u-! '-jiirii hi^* tated prey hud -<» ., , .: tt< keep n\y:,.] .,; him for a con.->ider;)blc nme, " The length nf the D^yhl • \ not be less than Ivii vnnl , ■ , could see })J!" ;--iidm:i- i'U- i.j^kliiii. ->,.;. ,^it \^ 'ter for a moment, wh.u iie again rose aiul shot forv ards v/ith considerably greater velocity than at •^'' ' ' -' '■ f.v^T. to a still greater distance. In ■ ' .u*>-ue'i ;-«.e!(it'ii to .>tride ■ u;' i; ai'iilin-, while his \:nl. li'VAi 1 ■:>,• ., ,. (i :i:,u isa>ih'ii. iii (he sun qui'f ;•',•- V.^ h - \l h; UdUi,'- (yr, t . .i; mirror. THE ATLANTIC OCEAN. 183 see one of those aquatic chases, of which our friends the Indiamen had been telling us such wonderful stories. We had not long to wait; for the ship in her progress through the water, soon put up another shoal of these little things, which, as the others had done, took their flight directly to wind- ward. A large Dolphin, which had been keeping company with us abreast of the weather gangway, at the depth of two or three fathoms, and, as usual, glistening most beautifully in the sun, no sooner detected our poor de&r little friends take wing, than he turned his head towards them, and darting to the surface, leaped from the water with a velocity, little short, as it seemed, of a cannon-ball. But, although the impetus with which he shot himself into the air gave him an initial velocity greatly exceeding that of the Flying-fish, the start which his fated prey had got enabled them to keep ahead of him for a coi.jiderable time. " The length of the Dolphin's first spring could not be less than ten yards ; and, after he fell, we could see him gliding like lightning through the water for a moment, when he again rose and shot forwards with considerably greater velocity than at first, and, of course, to a still greater distance. In this manner the merciless pursuer seemed to stride along the sea with fearful rapidity, while his bril- liant coat sparkled and flashed in the sun quite splen- didly. As he fell headlong on the water at the end of each huge leap, a series of circles were sent far over the still surface, which lay as smooth as a mirror. \ 184 THE OCEAN. "The group of wretched flying-fish, thus hotly pursued, at length dropped into the sea; but we were rejoiced to observe that they merely touched the top of the swell, and scarcely sunk in it; at least, they instantly set off again in a fresh and even more vigorous flight. It was particularly interest- ing to observe, that the direction they now took was quite different from the one in which they had set out, implying but too obviously that they had detected their fierce enemy, who was following them with giant steps along the waves, and now gaining rapidly upon them. His terrific pace, indeed, was two or three times as swift as theirs, poor little things ! " The greedy Dolphin, however, was fully as quick- sighted as the flying-fish which were trying to elude him ; for, whenever they varied their flight in the smallest degree, he lost not the tenth part of a se- ■ cond in shaping a new course, so as to cut off" the chase; while they, in a manner really not un- like that of the hare, doubled more than once upon their pursuer. But it was soon too plainly to be seen that the strength and confidence of the fiying- fish were fast ebbing. Their flights became shorter and shorter, and their course more fluttering and uncertain, while the enormous leaps of the Dol- phin appeared to grow only more vigorous at each bound. Eventually, indeed, we could see, or fancied that we could see, that this skilful sea-sportsman ar- ranged all his springs with such an assurance of suc- cess, that he contrived to fall, at the end of each, just under the very spot on which the exhausted fly- THE ATLANTIC OCEAN. 185 ing.fish were about to drop ! Sometimes this catas- trophe took place at too great a distance for us to see from the deck exactly what happened ; but on our mounting high into the rigging, we may be said to have been in at the death ; for then we could dis- cover that the unfortunate little creatures, one after another, either popped right into the Dolphin's jaws as they lighted on the water, or were snapped up in- stantly afterwards. " It was impossible not to take an active part with our pretty little friends of the weaker side, and ac cordingly we very speedily had our revenge. The naiddies and the sailors, delighted with the chance, rigged out a dozen or twenty lines from the jib-boom end, and spritsail-yard-arms, with hooks baited merely with bits of tin, the glitter of which resembles so much that of the body and vnngs of the flying-fish, that many a proud Dolphin, making sure of a deli- cious morsel, leaped in rapture at the deceitful prize."* Though these and other recorded anecdotes indu- bitably refer to the bright pearly fishes just described, there cannot be a doubt that the same habits are found to mark the true Cetaceous Dolphins ; while at the same time I confess that I do not recollect any instance in which such pursuit has been witnessed, in my own experience, or recorded in books of voyages. Indeed I do not conceive that the chase of the Flying- fish by the Coryphene has been often witnessed, nor that it can be considered as any other than a rare oc- currence. As the aerial boundings of the Flying- * Frag. Voy. and Trav. Second Series. Vol. i. p. 244. 186 THK OCEAN. fish, however, are of constant observation within the tropics, it seems but natural to conclude that they are but the frolicksome putting forth of superabun- dant animal energy ; that they are in fact perform- ed in sportive play, as the lamb skips and leaps upon the grass, or the dog pursues its own evasive tail. These flights, generally performed in shoals varying in number from a dozen to a hundred or more, are extremely pleasing, and sustain our in- terest even long after they have become familiar to us. One is apt, at first sight of a flock, especially if it be unexpected, to mistake them for white birds flying by, till they are seen to alight in the water. The length of the bound is enormous, if it be indeed eflected by a single impulse, but this point seems hardly to be satisfactorily settled even yet. I feel persuaded that I have more than once seen them deviate from the uniform curve which they usually describe, rising and sinking alternately so as to keep at the same distance from the undulations of the surface: and Humboldt, one of the most accu- rate of observers, speaks unhesitatingly of their flapping the air with their long fins. Indeed it would else seem almost impossible to imagine that so small a fish, not so large as a Herring, should be able to propel itself to the height of twenty feet, and to the distance of more than six hundred, through the air. Generally one takes his leap first, then the whole flock follow at once, shooting in nearly a straight line, and skimming along a little above the surface ; so little that they often strike the side of a rising wave, and go under water. t THE ATLANTIC OCEAN. 187 Another visitant who very freely gives us much of his company, is the White Shark {Carcharias vul- garis), probably the most terrific monster that cleaves the waves ; certainly the most hated, and at the same time feared, by the sailor. The catching of fish is at all times a pleasing amusement to the mariner, but to catch the " Shirk," as he is called, there is a peculiar avidity, in which the gratification of a deep-seated hatred of the species, and vengeance for his murder- ous propensities, form the leading features. When taken, whether entrapped by the concealed hook, or struck by the open violence of the harpoon, and brought on deck, he is subjected to every indignity which an insane fury can heap upon an object — beat, stabbed, and kicked, and even reviled, as if capable of understanding language. In truth, I have never seen any animal, terrestrial or aquatic, which, so to speak, has "villain" vmtten on its countenance in as legible characters as the Shark. The shape of the head, and the form of the mouth, opening so far be- neath, are anything but prepossessing ; but there is a peculiar malignity in the expression of the eye, that seems almost Satanic, and which one can never look upon without shuddering. The mouth is armed with teeth of very peculiar construction : they are trian- gular in form, thin and flat, the central part, however, being thicker than the edges, which are as keen as a lancet, and cut into fine serratures like a saw. In very large Sharks, the teeth have been found nearly two inches in breadth: they are placed in rows, sometimes to the number of six, one within another, lying nearly fiat when not in use, but erected in a 188 THE OCEAN. moment to seize prey : and as they are so planted in the jaw that each tooth is capable of independent motion, being furnished with its own muscles, and as the power of the jaws is enormous, they form one of the most terrific and formidable apparatus existing for the supply of carnivorous appetite. The fatal voracity of this animal is well known : instances are numerous of swimmers in tropical seas having been severed in twain at one snap, or deprived of limbs, while on more than one occasion the whole body of a man has been taken from this living sepulchre. Yet this sanguinary voracity is but the result of an uner- ring instinct implanted in the animal by God, with- out the exercise of which, its life could not be sus- tained ; and therefore it seems not only foolish, but even sinful to entertain feelings of personal revenge against it, as if it were endowed with human reason, " knowing good and evil." I do not know that it is wrong to kill an animal so destructive and dangerous ; I reprobate only the imputation to it of human mo- tives, and the staining an useful act with unnecessary cruelty. The mode by which the race of these formidable creatures is continued, differing as it does, so greatly, from that of most other fishes, is exceedingly curious. The Shark instead of depositing some millions of eggs in a season, like the Cod or the Herring, r-i-o. duces two eggs, of a square or oblong form, the coat of which is composed of a tough horny substance ; each corner is prolonged into a tendril, of which the two whi(;h are next the tail of the enclosed fish are stronger i,iu more prehensile than the other pair. THE ATLANTIC OCEAN. 189 The use of these tendrils appears to be their en- tanglement among the stalk>4 of seaweeds, and the consequent mooring of the egg in a situation of pro- tection and comparative security. Near the head there is a slit in the egg-skin, through which the water enters for respiration, and another at the oppo- site extremity by which it is discharged. That part of tlie skin which is near the head, is weaker and •no)( easily ruptured than any other part ; a provision for the easy exclusion of the animal, which takes place before the entire absorption of the vitellus or yolk of the egg, the remainder being attached to the body of the young fish, enclosed in a capsule, which for a while it carries about. The position of the ani- mal, while within the egg, is with the head doubled back towards the tail, one very unfavourable for the process of breathing by internal gills, and hence there is an interesting provision made to meet the emer- gency. On each side a filament of the substance of the gill projects from the gill-opening, containing vessels in which the blood is exposed to the action of the water. These processes are gradually absorbed after the fish is excluded, until which the internal gills are scarcely capable of respiration. How curious an analogy we here discover with the Frogs and Newts among the Reptiles, and how impressively do we learn the Divine benevolence, when we find that the object of so much contrivance and care, is the dreaded and hated Shark ! In these latitudes the Hammer-headed Shark {Zygcena malleus), a fish of singular construction, attains a large size. In most particulars it closely 190 THE OCEAN. resembles the species just noticed, but the head is widened out on each side into an oblong projection, at each extremity of which is placed the eye. The whole of this part has the fonn of a double-headed hammer or maul. Undoubtedly one result of this remarkable structure is a vast increase of the sphere of vision ; but why a fish so formidably armed, and endowed with such powers of motion should be thus favoured, we are not sufficiently acquainted with its habits to determine. Another singular deviation from the general struc- ture is found in the Saw-fish, {Pristis antiquorum,) which is a Shark with the head prolonged into a flat Hammer-shark {Zygana maUem)^ and Saw- fish (Pristis antifjuoruin). THE ATLANTIC OCEAN. 191 bony sword, each edge of which is armed with sharp bony spines, resembling teeth, pointing backwards : there are about twenty of these in each row. The body also is covered on the upper surface with hard, sharp tubercles, the points of which turn backwards. In this respect it resembles some of the Ray or Skate tribe, as it does also in the flattened form of its body, and in other respects. Its colour is a dark grey on the upper parts, gradually softening into white be- neath. This species was known to the ancients, being found in the Mediterranean Sea, as well as in the ocean, but it is in the tropical seas that it acquires its most gigantic dimensions. It seems to be an animal of scarcely less ferocity, though far less frequently met with, than the common Shark : to the Whales it is a formidable antagonist, and though the form of its saw-like sword does not seem most adapted for pene- trating a resisting body, such is the vigour of its attack, that it will bury its weapon to the root in the flesh of the Whale ; and instances are not infrequent in which it has been found firmly imbedded in the hull of a ship. The following interesting narrative, by Capt. Wilson, of the Halifax Packet, gives us an idea of the powers of this monster : " Being in the Gulf of Paria, in the ship's cutter, on the 15th of April, 1839, I fell in with a Spanish canoe, manned by two men, then in great distress, wh) requested me to save their lives and canoe, with which request I immediately complied ; and going alongside for that purpose, I discoverad that they had got a large Saw-fish entangled in their turtle-net, which was towing them out to sea, and but for my assistance r 192 THE OCEAN. they must have lost either their canoe or their net, or perhaps both, which were their only means of sub- sistence. Having only two boys with me in the boat at the time, I desired them to cut the fish away, which they refused to do ; I then took the bight of the net from them, and with the joint endeavours of themselves and my boat', crew, we succeeded in haul- ing up the net, and to our astonishment, after great exertions, we raised the saw of the fish about eight feet above the surface of the sea. It was a fortunate circumstance that the fish came up with the belly towards the boat, or it would have cut the boat in two. " I had abandoned all idea of taking the fish, un- til, by great good luck, it made towards the land, when I made another attempt, and having about fifty fathom of rope in the boat, we succeeded in making a running bowline-knot round the saw of the fish, and this we fortunately made fast on shore ; when the fish found itself secured it plunged so. violently that I could not prevail on any one to go near it ; the ap- pearance it presented was truly awful. I immediately went alongside the Lima packet, Capt. Singleton, and got the assistance of all his ship's crew. By the time they arrived the fish was rather less violent ; we hauled upon the net again, in which it was still en- tangled, and got another fifty fathoms of line made fast to the saw, and attempted to haul it towards the shore ; but although mustering thirty hands, we could not move it an inch. By this time the negroes be- longing to Mr. Danglad's estate, came flocking to our assistance, making together with the Spaniards, about THE ATLANTIC OCEAN. jgg one hundred in number: we then hauled on both ropes for nearly the whole of the day, before the fh. fi r?v "^'"'"^'^'J- On endeavouring to raise the hsh It became most desperate, sweeping with its saw from side to side, so that we were com^M to get strong guy-ropes to prevent it from cutting us to pieces. After that, one of the Spaniards got on its tdf when'' ^'''!-"*' "•" *''°"^'* '"-^ J"^' of t^e tol when ammation was completely suspended: it was then measured, and found to be 22 feet long, and 8 feet broad, and weighed nearly 5 tons " * ,.?'?'" "onftrous creatures, of unpleasing forms Tat'rt ^r""'- "" ^' wiU through these ™ters. I shall mention only the Homed Bay (Cephaloptera.) Imagine a Thornback or Skate, of the ength of twenty-five feet, with the side-fins greatly lengthened out, so as to make the total width upwards of thirty feet: these side-fins instep of meeting m a pomt in front of the head, projecting on each side into a curved point like a bJL. Such is aie Cephaloptera ,• and it is powerful and voracious in proportion to Its size. Col. Hamilton Smith, in the n^ghbourhood of Trinidad, had the pain of ;it„es7- ing a fellow-creature involved in the horrible embrace of one of these monsters. It was at early dawn that a soldier was endeavouring to desert from the ship bv swimming on shore. A sailor from aloft seeing thi approach of one of these terrific fishes, alarmed the swimmer, who endeavoured to return; but, in sight of his comrades, was presently overtaken, the crea- ture throwmg over him one of its huge fins, and thus • Mag. Nat. Hist. 1839, p. 519. 194 THE OCEAN. carrying him down. In the following record, which was inserted in a late Barbadoes paper, though the description is not drawn up exactly as a naturalist would have done it, one has no difficulty in recogni- sing an enormous Cephaloptera: " On the 22nd of August [1843], the Brig Rowena was lying in La Guayra Roads, the weather perfectly calm : I disco- vered the vessel moving about among the shipping. I could not conceive what could be the matter. I gave orders to heave in, and see if the anchor was gone, but it was not : but, to my surprise, I found a tremendous monster entangled fast in the buoy-rope, and moving the anchor slowly along the bottom. I then had the fish towed on shore. It was of a flat- tish shape, something like a devil-Jish, but very curious shape, being wider than it was long, and having two tusks, one on each side of the mouth, and a very small tail in proportion to the fish, and exactly like a bat's tail. The tail can be seen on board the Brig Rowena. Dimensions of the fish were as follows : — length from end of tail to end of tusks, 18 feet; from vmg to wing, 20 feet ; the mouth 4 feet wide, and its weight 3502 lbs." Every one may imagine how much the tedium of a long voyage is relieved by the company of other vessels, or even by the speaking of a passing ship, but few who have only seen vessels lying in tiers, side by side, at quays or wharfs, are at all aware of, or can readily understand, the anxious care with which commanders guard against two ships on the high sea coming within even a considerable distance of each other. I have often been amused by hearing THE ATLANTIC OCEAN. i, which )ugh the laturalist recogni- 22nd of g in La I disco- ihipping. atter. I 3hor was found a loy-rope, ttom. I )f a flat- Y curious ving two i a very tly like a the Brig )llows : — 18 feet; 3et wide, dium of a of other ling ship, in tiers, aware of, iare with )s on the distance y hearing 195 the wishes expressed hy passengers on their first voyage, when a vessel is speaking at what they think a most uncivil distance, that she would but come nearer, particularly if the wind is light, as "there can be no danger then." Little do they think that when in a perfect calm, the danger of contact is even greatest, as, if there be wind enough to give the ves- sel steerage way," she is under controul, and the evil may be avoided. On this subject, and on the motions of ships m calms, an unexceptionable autho- rity, Captam Basil HaU, thus speaks : "How it happens I do not know, but on occasions of perfect calm, or such as appear to be perfect calm, the ships of a fleet generally drift away from one another, so that at the end of a few hours, the whole circle bounded by the horizon is speckled over with these unmanageable hulks, as they may for the time be considered. It will occasionally happen, indeed, that tvyo ships draw so near in a calm, as to incur some risk of falling on board one another. I need scarcely mention that even in the smoothest water ever found m the open sea, two large ships coming into actual contact must prove a formidable encounter As long as they are apart, their gentle and rather graceful movements are fit subjects of admiration: and I have often seen people gazing for an hour at a time, at the ships of a becalmed fieet, slowly twisting round, changing their position, and rolling from side to side, as silently as if they had been in harbour, or accompanied only by the faint, rippling sound trip- pmg along the water-line, as the copper below the bends alternately sunk into the se^, or rose out of it. k2 196 THE OCEAN. dripping wet, and shining as bright and clean as a new coin, from the constant friction of the ocean during the previous rapid passage across the Trade- winds. "But all this picturesque admiration changes to alarm when ships come so close as to risk a contact ; for these motions, which appear so slow and gentle to the eye, are irresistible in their force; and as the chances are against the two vessels moving exactly in the same direction at the same moment, they must speedily grind or tear one another to pieces. Sup- posing them to come in contact side by side, the first roll would probably tear away the fore and main channels of both ships ; the next roll, by interlacing the lower yards, and entangling the spars of one ship with the shrouds and backstays of the other, would, in all likelihood, bring down all three masts of both ships, not piecemeal, as the poet hath it, but in one furious crash. Beneath the ruins of the spars, the coils of rigging, and the enormous folds of canvas, might lie crushed many of the best hands, who, from being always the foremost to spring forward in such seasons of danger, are surest to be sacrificed. After this first catastrophe, the ships would probably drift away from one another for a little while, only to tumble together again and again, till they had ground one another to the water's edge, and one, or both of them, would fill, and go down. In such encounters it is impossible to stop the mischief; and oak andiron break and crumble in pieces, like sealing-wax and pie-crust. Many instances of such accidents are on record, but I never witnessed one. THE Atlantic ocean. 197 ( are on " To prevent these frightful rencontres, care is always taken to hoist out the boats in good time, if need be, to tow the ships apart, or, what is gene- rally sufficient, to tow the ships' heads in opposite directions. I scarcely know why this should have the effect; but certainly it appears that, be the calm ever so complete, or dead, as the term is, a vessel generally /or^re* ahead, or steals along imper- ceptibly in the direction she is looking to; possi- bly from the conformation of the hull."* But there are indications of our patience being at length rewarded by a breeze from the eastward ; and now it comes, rippling the surface as it apl preaches, turning that into a deep uniform blue, which has so long borne a glassy brightness reflected from the sky. The seamen are joyous and alert, for they know that this is no "cat's paw," but the "regular trade." Now it strikes the ship; the sails, gracefully swelling, receive the unwonted im- pulse; and the lengthened wake, where the water coils and frets in the newly-cut furrow, tells that the vessel makes way once more. The breeze freshens ; the little waves become larger, and, arch- ing over each other, break with patches of whiten- ing foam ; every sail is speedily set that will draw; and we run gaily along towards the west, under an eight-knot breeze. We can scarcely stop to notice the amity that subsists between the Shark and the Pilot-fish {Naucrates ductor), a beautiful little crea- ture about the size of a herring, the back striped tranversely with broad alternate bands of brown and * Frag. Voy. and Trav. 2nd Series, i. p. 226. 198 THE OCEAN. bright azure: nor the three or four pretty little Rudder-fishes, {Perca saltatrix, Linn.) which have been following and accompanying us for several days past. These are amusing little creatures. They are about six inches long, yellowish brown, with pale spots : they keep close to the stern, in the angle formed by the rudder and the counter of the ship, the " dead water," as it is called by seamen. Hence they occasionally dart out after any little atom of floating or sinking substance, which promises to be eatable, and then, having either seized or rejected it, scuttle back again to their corner, remaining there day and night without rest. Nor can we do more than glance at the Sucking-fishes (Echeneis), that are swimming around, or have attached themselves to the side of the rudder by means of the singular oval disk on the head. As this organ is of singular construction, so its use in the economy of the animal is involved in entire obscurity. The theory of the fish being a very slow swimmer, and needing to be carried along by others, must have been formed by persons who never had an opportunity of seeing the Remora alive. I have seen many, and could detect no inferiority in their powers of swimming to a young Shark of the same size, which they much re- semble in general appearance and motion when in the water. There seems to be a perfect vacuum formed by the adhesion of the disk, and the external pressure, when under water, is of course great. As the mouth opens on the upper surface of the muz- zle, owing to the projection of the lower jaw, it is possible that this habit may be connected with THE ATLANTIC OCEAN. 199 taking food : there are many little creatures, such as Crustacea, Bernacles, &c., that are parasitical on the bodies of marine animals, or attach themselves to any submerged substance. If the Echeneis feeds on these, there is an obvious reason why the head should be affixed to the surface during the dislodge- ment of the adhering prey, in order to acquire greater steadiness, as well as a leverage by whicli to act more effectively. At all events, we know that it is not an useless habit ; we trace enough of manifest design and contrivance in what we do know of the animal creation, to warrant our con- fident conclusion, when we find any instinct, the intention of which is not obvious, that it also is the production of infinite wisdom and goodness, and that it could not have been spared without injury to the animal. Borne on the wings of the welcome breeze, we rapidly approach that archipelago of lovely islands that gladdened the heart and rewarded the zeal of the chivabic World-finder, the first fruits of the vast continent, which the genius and daring of one master-mind opened to astonished Europe. The joyful sound of " land in sight !" resounds through the ship : and yonder, upon the bow, is discovered rising out of the blue sea the beautiful island of Antigua. As we draw near we are struck with its loveliness; the coast is low, but the land rises be- hind into rounded hills of moderate elevation, whose swelling eminences and gentle slopes assume some- what of the appearance of the chalk hills and downs of our own street England. But there are features r i s \ 200 THE OCEAN. which effectually distinguish this island from our own, and fail not to remind us that we are beholding the gorgeousness of the tropics. The summits of the hills are clothed with magnificent forest-trees of strange forms and foliage ; the graceful palms wave their feathery crowns against the deep blue sky; leafless cacti, thick and cylindrical, project from the rocks, or take the shape of enormous candelabra ; the great American aloe, with its thick and spiny leaves, shoots up its glorious head of yellow blossoms to the height of twenty feet ; the clusters of golden fruit depend from the plantain and banana, whose gigantic fronds are cut by the winds into ragged segments ; while the whole array is bound and matted together by strong rope-like climbing plants, which, crossing each other in every direction, and twisting around the forest-trees, and around each other like huge cables, present an immense net of vegetation, impenetrable except by the axe of the woodsman. Tree-ferns, possessing all the grace and elegance of those with which we are familiar, but growing to a giant size, shoot up from the clefts of the rocks, or from the branches of the loftier trees ; their rich brown stalks contrasting with tl ^ vivid green of their fan-shaped fronds. The sides of the hills are clothed with lux- uriant plantations of Indian-corn, or the still more rich and beautiful sugar-cane; and here and there a walk of cocoa-trees is rendered conspicuous by the glowing scarlet blossoms of the coral trees, by whose shadow they are sheltered from the vertical sun. The coast is broken into numerous little bays and coveSj some penetrating far into the island, like THE ATLANTIC OCEAN. 201 canals among the plantations. A multitude of little islets are scattered around, on the surface of the sea, on many of which the cattle are grazing on the rich and succulent pasture. Some of them, however, are little more than accumulations of sand formed of powdered coral and sea-shells, and affording sup- port only to some coarse sedges, and to mangrove- trees. The latter, indeed, delights in such situa- tions, flourishing at the very edge of the sea, and even where the ground is continually liable to in- undation. The contorted roots of this tree grow to a considerable extent above the soil, so that the base of the trunk is elevated on a cone of matted roots, through which the water washes, while from the branches young twigs are perpetually shooting downward, tiU, reaching the soil, they take root, and send forth other shoots; thus, in a few years, a single plant will spread into a grove, and cover a large space of land. As we sail with tortuous course through these delightful groups of ever-ver- dant isles, fresh scenes of beauty are continually rismg before us. Now a conical hill, of regular form, arrests the attention, clothed with thick foliage from the water's edge to the summit, where the white clouds appear to rest : then we admire the irregular surface of another isle, whose dark ravines seem to acquire additional gloom from the glowing sun- light that plays upon the surrounding eminences; here a little islet of bright green looks in the blue sea Hke an emerald set in sapphire ; there the bold cliffs and black precipices of a larger island an- nounce a very different formation. Now and then 202 THE OCEAN. we open a small but deep and beautiful bay. " A pretty little village or plantation appears at the bottom of the cove; the sandy beach stretches like a line of silver round the blue water, and the cane- fields form a broad belt of vivid green in the back- ground. Lehind this, the mountains rise in the most fantastic shapes, here cloven into steep chasms, there darting into arrowy points, and everywhere shrouded, and swathed, as it were, in wood, which the hand of man will probably never lay low. The clouds, which, within the tropics, are infallibly at- tracted by any woody eminences, contribute greatly to the wildness of the scene ; sometimes they are so dense as to bury the mountains in darkness; at other times they float transparently like a silken veil ; frequently the flaws from the gulleys perfo- rate the vapours, and make windows in the smoky mass; and then, again, the wind and the sun will cause the whole to be drawn upwards majestically, like the curtain of a gorgeous theatre." Around these islands the water is frequently shal- low, a fact made sufiiciently obvious by its colour : instead of the deep blue tint which marks the un- fathomed ocean, the water on these shoals becomes of a bright pea-green, caused by the nearness of the yellow sands at the bottom ; and, the shallower the water, the paler is the tint. The light thrown upwards by reflection upon the under part of the swollen sails, transfers the same hue to them, giving them a singular aspect ; but I once observed a still more curious appearance, arising from the same cause. Being becalmed off" one of the little Keys THB ATLANTIC PCEAN. 203 of the Florida Reef, the crew had been amusing themselves with fishing, in which they had been very successful. An Osprey {ffaliaetm ossifragus), attracted, doubtless, by the fish that lay in profu- sion about the decks, was slowly saiUng around, oc- casionally alighting on the ropes and spars. As he hovered overhead, turning his head from side to side, every feather was distinctly seen ; but from the reflection of the water beneath, all his under parts, which are pure white, appeared of a fine pea- green, and it was only on catching a side-glance at him, that I discovered his true colour, and identified the species. It is very pleasing to peer down into the varying depths, especially in the clear waters of these seas, and look at the many-coloured bottom; sometimes a bright pearly sand, spotted with shells and corals; then a large patch of brown rock, whose gaping clefts and fissures are but half hidden by the waving tangles of purple weed ; where multitudes of strange creatures revel and riot undisturbed. ** Come down, come down from the tall ship's side ; What a marvellous sight is here ! Look ! purple rocks, and crimson trees, Down in the deep so clear ! See ! where those shoals of dolphins go, A glad and glorious band ; Sporting amidst the day-bright woods Of a coral fairy land. See ! on the violet sands beneath. How the gorgeous shells do glide ! 0 sea ! old sea ! who yet knows half Of thy wonders and thy pride ? 204 THE OCEAN. Look how the sea-plants trembling float All like a mermaid's locks, Waving in thread of ruby red, Over those nether rocks. Heaving and sinking, soft and &ir. Here hyacinth — there green, — With many a stem of golden growth. And starry flowers between. But away ! away ! to upper day ! For monstrous shapes are here ; Monsters of dark and wallowing bulk, And homy eyeballs drear : The tusked mouth, and the spiny fin. Speckled and warted back, The glittering swift and flabby slow, : I Ramp through this deep sea track. Away ! away ! to upper day ! To glance o'er the breezy brine. And see the nautilus gladly sail. The flying-fish leap and shine ! " — While pursuing our pleasant course amidst these sandy keys, we may often observe the Green Turtle {Chelonia mydas) swimming or floating at the sur- face. In general, it is difficult to approach them within less than a few yards, as they are very wary, and dive with great rapidity. The shoals and reefs surrounding the islands, where the sun penetrates and warms the water, are favourite resorts of these marine Jteptilia; and here, too, grow in abundance the sea-plants {Zostera, &c.) on which they feed. At night, the females land on the low sandy beaches, and after examining the place with great caution and circumspection, lay their egg^; in holes, which they scoop out with their fin-like feet. The work THE ATLANTIC OCEAN. 205 being accomplished, the sand is again scraped back over the eggs, and the surface made smooth as before. The sun soon hatches the eggs, and the little Turtles crawling forth from the sand betake themselves to the sea. The usefuhiess of this animal as an article of luxurious food is well-known, but its real value can only be appreciated, when we view it as afford- mg an immediate relief from the horrors of scurvy, which, arising from the constant use of salted pro- visions, has often proved so terrible a scourge in long voyages. There is a peculiarity in the struc- ture of the heart in this and kindred animals, which IS worthy of notice. In man and other warm-blood- ed animals, the blood is brought by the veins to the heart and poured into a chamber called the right auricle; a communication exists between this and a second chamber, called the right ventricle ,- from the latter the blood is forced through a large ar- tery to the lungs to be renewed by exposure to the air; from the lungs it is sent through veins to a third chamber of the heart called the left auricle, and thence into a fourth, called the left ventricle, from which the great artery, called the aorta, carries It again into the whole body. Thus no particle of the blood can be conveyed again into the system, without having passed through the lungs ; but in the Turtle the case is different. All the four cham- bers of the heart are present, but there is a commu- nication open between the left and right ventricles,- and the aorta and pulmonary artery both originate from the right ventricle, in consequence, a part . -^ __ — .„ ^„ tjT^iii, mence tu tuu iungs, which \ 206 THE OCEAN. returning through the left auricle and ventricle, is thrown into the right ventricle, and mixed with that which is just brought from the body ; the mixed blood being partly returned to the body through the aorta, and partly sent to the lungs. But this is the course only when the animal is breathing ; and as a large part of its life is passed under water, this con- trivance enables the circulation to go on, under cir- cumstances when breathing necessarily ceases. For if no air enter the lungs, the blood cannot pass through them ; therefore, when under water, the blood pass- ing through the right auricle and ventricle, is imme- diately sent by the aorta into the body without any exposure to the air. Of course, as the blood, thus unrenewed, would become more and more impure, this could not proceed very long without loss of life, and hence there is a limit to the period during which the breathing may be suspended, when the animal must come to the surface or die. Many of the fishes of these seas partake of the brilHancy of colour with which the birds and insects of the same sunny region are so lavishly adorned. I have seen some of great beauty readily captured with a hook from the deck of a vessel in shallow- water; — such as the Yellow-fin {Sparus synagris, Linn.), which has its body marked with longitudinal bands of dehcate pink and yellow alternately ; the fins are bright yellow, and the tail fine pale crimson. A larger species, which the seamen denominated the Market-fish {Lahrus anthias, L.), is all over of a silvery tint with a ruddy glow, the fins and tail bright crimson; this species has very large scales. THE ATLANTIC OCEAN. 207 Then there is the Hog-fish {Labrus Jlavus, L, ?), of singular beauty, shaped somewhat like a perch, with silvery grey scales; the head marked all over with streaks of brilUant ^dolet blue, fantastically arranged, somewhat like the stripes upon the head of the Zebra. Still, however, even here there is some de- formity; at least, everything does not accord with our habitual ideas of comeUness ; these beauties are set off, as by a foil, by the visage of the Cat-fish {Silurus catus), a creature of remarkably hideous aspect, but which is esteemed as food. In some of the quiet nooks and sheltered bays of these lovely islands, where the vegetation is green and luxuriant to the very water's edge, we may catch a sight of a herd of Manatees, or Sea-cows. These animals are usually classed with the Whales, but they seem, indeed, to be much more intimately con- nected with the Pachydermata, an order that con- tains the Elephant and Hippopotamus. The form is long and tapering, but plump, and has been com- pared to that of a filled wine-skin or leathern bottle. The hinder feet are altogether wanting, but the fore limbs assume the appearance of broad flat fins or flippers, the fingers of which are not separated ex? ternally, but can be distinctly felt through the skin ; and the nails or claws, by which the paw is termil nated, sufiiciently indicate their presence. These creatures are perfectly inoffensive in their manners, timid and retiring ; they delight in secluded places, shallow creeks, and particularly the mouths of the great South American rivers, often proceeding many miles up the country. For such situatinns ih aycx 208 THE OCEAN. peculiarly adapted : the broad valleys of these re- gions, parched up to barrenness in the dry season, and then inundated, so as to resemble seas during the periodical rains, would not be suited to the capa- cities of a terrestrial ruminant; but the aquatic habits of the Manatee enable it to avail itself of the rich and abundant vegetation of the watery expanse, as well as to range the coast, when it is parched up by the returning drought. Being exclusively her- bivorous, the flesh is highly esteemed ; its flavour is thought to resemble that of excellent pork,- though by some it has been rather compared to beef. Hunt- ing this animal is a favourite amusement in the countries of its resort; a party proceed in a small boat, to its haunt, furnished with a harpoon, to which is attached a stout line ; when the weapon is infixed, the creature dives; in the meanwhile the boat is rowed ashore, and the Manatee, exhaust- ed by its efforts to escape, is drawn on land by the cord, and despatched. Many of its habits are ex- ceedingly interesting : it is fond of sporting in the water, and leaping from the surface in the manner of the true Cetacea. Such is the attachment evinced by these animals for each other, that it is said, when one is harpooned, the rest of the herd will assemble, and endeavour to drag out the harpoon with their teeth. When basking on the shore, the young are collected into the centre of the group for protec- tion, and if a calf has been killed, the mother will suffer herself to be secured without effort; while, on the other hand, if the dam be taken, the young will foUow the boat to the shore. THE PACIFIC OCEAN. When the astonishing sagacity and enterprise of the Genoese had discovered the confines of a new world across the trackless Atlantic, it was without hesitation concluded, not only by himself, but by all Europe, that the new land formed the extreme eastern shore of Asia, and hence the name of Indies, by this mistake, was given to these islands, which has been perpetuated even to the present time. Aware of the round form of the earth, the geogra- phers of that age could weU conceive the possibility of reaching India by a westerly course; but, igno- rant of th magnitude of the globe, they had formed a veiy mauequate idea of its distance ; being totaUy unaware of the vast continent and still vaster ocean, which separated Asia from the Atlantic. But as impelled by an insatiable thirst for gold, the unprin- cipled Spaniards pushed their career of robbery and murder farther and farther into the continent, they began to hear tidings of a boundless sea, which stretched away to the south and west, beyond the horizon of the setting sun. Balboa, one of the reck- less spirits who sought fortune and fame at all ha- zards m the newly.found regions, boldly determined to seek the sea of which the Indians spake. At the head of a little band of men, guided by a Mexican, 210 THE OCEAN. he succeeded, after severe privations and imminent dangers, in crossing the isthmus that connects the northern and southern portions of the continent. They had arrived at the foot of a hill, from the top of which the Indian assured him he would obtain a sight of the wished-for sea ; when, in the enthusiasm BALBOA DISCOVERS THE PACIFIC. of the moment, leaving his companions behind, the Spanish chief ran to the summit, and beheld a limit- less ocean sleeping in its immensity at his feet. With the spurious piety common to the times, a piety that could consist with the grossest injustice, the blackest perjury, and the most barbarous cruelty, he knelt down and gave thanks aloud to God for such a termination of his toils ; then having descend- THE PACIFIC OCEAN. glj ed the cliffs to the shore of the ocean, he bathed m Its mighty waters, taking possession of it by the name of the Great South Sea, on behalf of the King of Spam. This was in the year 1513; but it was not till seven years afterwards that its surface was ruffled by an European keel. Then Magalhaens or Magellan, a Portuguese navigator of great abiUty, m the service of Spain, having run down the coast ot bouth America, discovered the Straits which have smce borne his name, through which he sailed, and emerging from them on the 28th November, 15^0 first launched out upon the broad bosom of the fc>outh Sea. For three months and twenty days he sailed across it, during which long period its surface was never ruffled by a storm ; and from this circum- stance he gave to the ocean the appellation of the Pacific, which it stm retains. The immediate vici- nity of the Straits, however, has been considered peculiarly subject to tempest; while the almost con- tmual prevalence of westerly winds, joined to the seventy of the climate, has always given a character ot difficulty and hazard to the passage from the one ocean to the other. In approaching the extreme point of South Ame- rica, navigators have been struck with the extraor- dmary size of a floating seaweed, the Macrocystes pynfera of botanists. It consists of a smooth round stem, commonly from 500 to 1000 feet in length- Forster mentions one which was 800 feet, and some specimens are reported even to attain the enormous dimensions of 1500 feet. From the stem grow a great number of pear-shaped air-vessels, which end 212 THE OCEAN. ii 1 in long, flat, wrinkled fronds of a semi-transparent brown hue. I have abeady spoken of the Gulf-weed {Sargassum vulgare), as being met with in particular parts of the Atlantic : similar collections of it occur also in these and other seas, and much mystery seems to lie about its origin and mode of growth. From specimens having been found with roots, it appears certain that in a living state it is attached to the bottom, whence it is not impossible that it may be detached spontaneously at a certain period of its growth, that the seed-vessels may be perfected by exposure to light and air. Near the shores sea- weeds are found so uniformly growing to rocks as to form a very valuable indication of the presence of hidden dangers. These appear to be chiefly of the former kind. To these remote and inhospitable seas many ves- sels are annually despatched from this country, as well as from the United States, in pursuit of various species of seals, and of the Sperm "Whale. To obtain the former, they resort to any of the small islands which are scattered over the southern part of the Atlantic and Pacific, but particularly those which lie around Cape Horn. These animals yield two valu- able products, oil and fur ; but not indiscriminately, the oil being afforded by the Elephant Seal {Macro- rhinus proboscideusj, a singular animal of large size ; being often seen thirty feet long, and eighteen round at the thickest part. A very remarkable formation of the snout has given the distinctive name to this species. At a certain season of the year, in the adult males, the skin of the tip of the nose, which THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 21S tnsparent ulf-weed •articular it occur mystery growth, roots, it attached ; that it n period )erfected ores sea- rocks as presence liiefly of any ves- ntry, as F various 'o obtain 1 islands t of the vhich lie vo valu- linately, (Macro- ge size ; in round ►rmation ! to this , in the 3, which covers a number of cells ordinarily empty, becomes enlarged and lengthened by the blood that the ani- mal has the power of forcing into the cells. This projection is now a foot in length ; but it appears to be nothing more than a mere appendage, some- what resembling, in more respects than one, the fleshy wattle on the head of the turkey, which can be similarly inflated. In the spring, that is, in these latitudes, the months of August and September, the Elephant Seals betake themselves to the rocky shores, in large herds: at this time they are exceedingly fat, and a single male will sometimes yield a butt of oil. They remain on shore until the middle of sum- mer, when the young, which have been born in the mean time, are fit to take the water and provide for themselves. As the old ones have taken no food during the whole of this period, they are become very lean and weak, but soon recruit their powers. Though furnished with large and powerful tusks, and endowed with suflScient strength to use them,* the Sea Elephant is a most mild and inofiensive creature, suffering the seamen not only to walk among them uninjured, but even to bathe in the midst of the herd when swimming, with perfect impunity. In self-defence, however, or in defence of their young, their resistance becomes formidable. One of Anson's men having killed a young one, had the cruelty and rashness to skin it in the presence of its mother ; but she, coming behind him, got the sailor's head into her mouth, and so scored and notched his skull with her sharp teeth, that he died in a day or two afterwards. ,^ Among themselves, however, the males are ac- customed to fight at certain periods with great fero- city. " Their mode of battle is very singular. The two rival giant knights waddle heavily along; they meet and join snout to snout ; they then raise the ELEPHANT SEALS, FIGHTING. fore part of the body as far as the fore paws, and open their immense mouths ; their eyes are inflamed with rage, and they dash against each other with the greatest violence in their power : now they tumble one oyer the other, teeth crash with teeth, and jaws with jaws ; they wound each other deeply, some- times knocking out each other's eyes, and more fre- quently their tusks; the blood flows abundantly; but these raging foes, without ever seeming to ob- serve it, prosecute the combat till their strength is THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 215 s are ac- reat fero- lar. The mg; they raise the aws, and inflamed with the y tumble and jaws y^, some- Qore fre- idantly ; ? to ob- ength is completely exhausted. It is seldom that either is left dead on the field, and the wounds they inflict however deep, heal with inconceivable rapidity. The object of these encounters is to obtain the lordship of a herd of females, by which a male is always accompanied, and over which he rules with undivid- ed empire." While on land, the motions of these animals are slow and unwieldy, and apparently productive of much fatigue. Their gait is described as singular ; as they crawl along, the vast body trembles like a great bag of jelly, owing to the mass of blubber by which the whole animal is invested, and which is as thick as it is in a whale. After having proceed- ed thus for fifteen or twenty yards, they halt to rest ; and if forced to go forward by repeated blows, their appearance presently manifests the distress to which they are subjected by the increased exertion. It IS remarkable that, in these circumstances, the pupil of the eye, which ordinarily is bluish-green, becomes blood-red. They do not, therefore, commonly wan- der far from the sea, but generally choose low sandy shores, or the mouths of rivers-, for their haunts ; though they have been known to ascend hills of twenty feet elevation, in search of some pools of water. They appear to be incommoded by the di- rect beams of the sun; and, to shelter themselves from Its influence, they have the habit of scooping up the wet sand with their fore paws, and throwing it over their bodies, until they are entirely enveloped by It* It is for the oil which is produced by this species 216 THE OCEAN, of Seal that many vessels are sent to the islands of the Pacific, and to the icy regions of the Antarctic ocean. Its skin, though serviceable as leather for harness, &c., yields no fur, being clothed only with coarse hair. The oil, however, is of very superior quality; it is clear and limpid, without any smell, and never becomes rancid; it burns slowly, and without smoke or disagreeable odour. The hunters destroy the animals with long lances : watching the instant when the seal raises the left forepaw to ad- vance, they plunge the lance into its heart, when it immediately dies. The fat is then peeled from the carcase, and cut up and packed in casks in a similar manner to that of the whale. The soft yellow fur, with a changeable gloss, which a few years ago was so much made into caps, is another product of a South Sea voyage. It is the covering of more than one species of Seal, belonging to a tribe called Otaries, because their heads are furnished with external ears, of which the others are deprived. That which is by eminence called the Fur-Seal (Otaria Falklandica)^ is clothed externally with long hair of a grey hue, but when this hair is pulled out, there is seen a thick fur of great soft- ness, curly or wavy, and of a fine yellowish-brown. The habits of this animal are in general similar to those of the Sea-elephant just described : it is, how- ever, much more active on land, often escaping from a man running. Its history affords us an instance of change of instincts produced by experience. When the Seals of South Shetland were first visited, they had no apprehension of danger from maji ; but would THE PACIFIC OCEAN. «17 unsuspectingly remain while their fellows were slain and skinned; but latterly, they have learned to guard against the new dangers, by placing them- selves on insulated rocks, from which they can in a moment throw themselves into the water. We may form a notion of the zeal with which this com- mercial enterprise was prosecuted, as well as of its valuable character if it had been pursued with pru- ?82 TT^tT f '"^ '^' ^^^'' '^'' ^^ ^he years if 1 ""A ^^' '^''' ""''' *^^^^ fr°"^ t^e South Shetland Isles, 320,000 skins of Fur Seals, and 940 tons of Sea-elephant oil. The former valuable ani- mal might, by proper precautions, have been made to produce 100,000 skins annually for a long time to come « This would have followed from not kilhng the mothers till the young were able to take the water; and even then, only those which appear- ed to be old, together with a proportion of the males, thereby diminishing their total number, but in slow progression. The system of extermination was prac tised, however at South Shetland; for whenever a seal reached the beach, of whatever denomination, he was immediately killed and his skin taken; and by this means, at the end of the second year, the animals became nearly extinct ; the young, having lost their mothers when only three or four days old, of course, all died, which, at the lowest calcu- lation, exceeded 100,000."* Other species of Otaries which frequent these seas, have large heads clothed with long shaggy hair, * Weddell's Voyage, p. 141. ff" \ 218 THE OCEAN. which, falling down on the neck, assumes the ap- pearance of a mane, and hence they are frequently called Sea-lions. Of some of these animals which Captain Cook met with, he says, " It is not at all dangerous to go among them, for they either fled or lay still. The only danger was in going between them and the sea ; for if they took fright at any- thing, they would come down in such numbers, that if you could not get out of their way, you would be run over, When we came suddenly upon them, or waked them out of their sleep, (for they are sluggish, sleepy animals,) they would raise up their heads, snort and snarl, and look fierce, as if they meant to devour us ; but as we advanced upon them, they always ran away, so that they are downright bullies." Like the Sea-elephant, however, they are quarrel- some among themselves. They often seize each other with a degree of rage which is not to be de- scribed; and many of them are seen with deep gashes on their backs, which they had received in these wars. Others of the eared Seals are fierce and fear- less towards man himself. Woodes Rogers describes one which he met with at the Galapagos, which he calls a Sea-bear, probably of a species (Otaria ur- sina) common in the seas of which I am speaking. He says, " A very large one made at me three several times, and if I had not happened to have a pikestaflF headed with iron, he might have killed 1 was on the level sand, when he came open- me. mouthed at me from the water, as fierce and quick as an angry dog let loose. All the three times he made at me, I struck the oike into his breast, which THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 219 at last forced him to retire into the water, snarling with an ugly noise, and showing his long teeth."* J3ividing the dominion of Aese inhospitable islands with the Seals, may be seen myriads of Penguins; curious birds, which seem to be the link which con^ nects the feathered with the finny race. Their httle wings, destitute of quills, but covered with stiff- scaly feathers, hang down by their sides, perfectly incompetent to lift them from the ground, resem- bhng m shape the fins of a fish, or still more the flippers of a turtle. But see the Penguin in the water; the deficiency of flight is abundantly com- pensated by the power and agility it possesses in this element; it dashes along over the surface in gallant style, or diving, shoots through the water with the rapidity of a fish, urging its course by the united action of its finny wings and its broad web- bed feet; then coming again to the top, leaps over any obstacle in its course, many feet at a bound, and pursues its way. On the sandy shores or flat rocks m the southern ocean, the Penguins, of several species, assemble in innumerable multitudes, for the purpose of hatching their eggs, and rearing their young. The feet are placed very far back on the body, so that the bird assumes an erect position when resting or walking on land; and from their posture, their colours, their numbers, and their orderly ar- rangement, they have been compared, when seen at a distance, to an army of disciplined soldiers. One voy- ager likens them to a troop of little children standing • Kerr's Voyages, x. 374. t 2 ,apa 220 THE OCEAN. up in white aprons, from their white bellies contrast- ing with their blue backs. The presence of these birds is described as greatly increasing the dreary character of these desolate regions; their perfect indifference to man, conveying an almost awful im- pression of their loneliness. The intrusion of sea- men even into the very midst of them, causes no alarm, no resistance is offered, no escape is attempt- ed ; the birds immediately around gaze with a side- long glance at the visitors, but move not from their eggs, standing quietly while their companions are one by one knocked on the head, and waiting with- out dread till their own turn comes. We can scarce- ly form an adequate idea of one of these camps or towns, as they have been appropriately called. A space of ground, covering three or four acres, is laid out and levelled, and then divided into squares for the nests, as accurately as if done by a surveyor : between these compartments they march and count- ermarch with an order and regularity that reminds one of soldiers on parade. But what shall we say to a colony of these birds, the King Penguin (Apteno- dytes patachonica), which was seen by Mr. G. Ben- nett, on Macquarrie Island? It covered thirty or forty acres ; and though no conjecture could possibly be formed of the number of birds composing the town, yet some notion of its amazing amount may be given from the fact, that during the whole day and night, 30,000 or 40,000 are continually landing, and as many going to sea. There are three principal species, which inhabit the southern portion of the globe, which bear great resemblance to each other THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 221 in manners, and generally are found in company. These are the one just mentioned, the Crested Pen- guin (A, chrysocome), and the Jackass Penguin (J, demersa). The latter has obtained its title from its nightly habit of emitting discordant sounds, which PENGUINS. . have been likened to the effusions of our humble sonorous friend of the common. This species seems to deviate from the general manner of breeding, as it burrows on the sandy hills; and is more sensible of injury than its fellows. For For-*er describes the ground as everywhere so much bored, that a person 222 THE OCEAN. in walking often sinks up to the knees ; and if the Penguin chance to be in her hole, she revenges her- self on the passenger by fastening on his legs, which she bites very hard. The following notices of these singular birds, by those who have seen them in their haunts, are inter- esting, as illustrative of their economy : " One day," says Mr. Darwin, "having placed myself between a Penguin and the water, I was much amused by watch- ing its habits. It was a brave bird ; and till reach- ing the sea, it regularly fought and drove me back- wards. Nothing less than heavy blows would have stopped him ; every inch gained he firmly kept,^ standing close before me, erect and determined. When thus opposed, he continually rolled his head from side to side, in a very odd manner, as if the power of vision lay only in the anterior and basal part of each eye. This bird is commonly called the Jackass Penguin, from its habit, while on shore, of throwing its head backwards, and making a loud strange noise, very like the braying of that animal ; but while at sea, and undisturbed, its note is very deep and solemn, and is often heard in the night- time. In diving, its little plumeless wings are used as lins ; but on the land, as front legs. When crawl- ing (it may be said, on four legs) through the tus- socks, or on the side of a grassy cliff, it moved so very quickly that it might reamly have been mis- taken for a quadruped. When at sea and fishing, it comes to the surface, for the purpose of breathing, with such a spring, and dives again so instantane- ously, that I defy any one at first sight to be sure and if the enges her- 3gs, which birds, by- are inter- One day," between a by watch- till reach- me back- 3uld have nly kept,^ termined. his head as if the md basal called the )n shore, ig a loud t animal ; e is very ae night- are used en crawl- the tus- noved so •een mis- L fishing, reathing, stantane- be sure THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 223 that it is not a fish leaping for sport."* Of the same species, apparently, Captain Fitzroy thus speaks: ** Multitudes of Penguins were swarming together in some parts of the island [Noir Island], among the bushes and tussocks near the shore, having gone there for the purposes of moulting and rearing their young. They were very vaUant in self-defence, and ran, open-mouthed, by dozens, at any one who in- vaded their territory, little knowing how soon a stick could scatter them on the ground. The young were good eating, but the others proved to be black and tough, when cooked. The manner in which they feed their yoUng is curious, and rather amusing. The old bird gets on a little eminence, and makes a great noise, between quacking and braying, hold- ing its head up in the air, as if it were haranguing the penguinnery, while the young one stands close to it, but a little lower. The old bird having continued its clatter for about a minute, puts its head down, and opens its mouth widely, into which the young one thrusts its head, and then appears to suck from the throat of its mother for a minute or two, after which the clatter is repeated, and the young one is again fed; this continues for about ten minutes. I observed some that were moulting make the same noise and then apparently swallow what they thus supplied themselves with : so in this way, I suppose, they are furnished with subsistence during the time they cannot seek it in the water." f Mr. Weddell observes of the King Penguins, "In pride these * Voyages of Adventure and Beagle, iii. 256. f Ibid. i. 387, 224i THE OCEAN, birds are perhaps not surpassed even by the pea- cock, to which in beauty of plumage they are indeed very little inferior. During the time of moulting, they seem to repel each other vs^ith disgust, on ac- count of the ragged state of their coats ; but as they arrive at the maximum of splendour, they re- assemble, and no one who has not completed his plumage is allowed to enter the community. Their frequently looking down their front and sides, in order to contemplate the perfection of their exterior brilliancy, and to remove any speck which might sully it, is truly amusing to an observer. " About the beginning of January, they pair and lay their eggs. During the time of hatching, the male is remarkably assiduous, so that when the hen has occasion to go off to feed and wash, the egg is transported to him ; which is done by placing their toes together, and rolling it from the one to the other, using their beaks to place it properly. As they have no nest, it is to be remarked, that the egg is carried between the tail and legs, where the fe- male, in particular, has a cavity for the purpose. " The hen keeps charge of her young nearly a twelvemonth, during which time they change and complete their plumage; and in teaching them to swim, the mother has frequently to use some arti- fice; for when the young one refuses to take the water, she entices it to the side of a rock, and cun- ningly pushes it in; and this is repeated until it takes the sea of its own accord."* All the species are arrant thieves, each losing no opportunity of • Voyage towards the South Pole, p. 55. THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 225 Stealing materials during nest-building time, and even the eggs from each other, if they are left un- guarded. They are usually thought, when seen at sea, to indicate that land is at no great distance; but this indication is not always correct, for they are occasionally seen very far from any shore, and, in- deed, with their swimming powers, one can readily imagine that the space of a few leagues would be no object of concern. The Crested Penguin, in par- ticular, lives in open sea; it has been seen some hundreds of miles from land, voyaging in pairs, male and female. The chief object of commercial speculation in the Pacific is the pursuit of the Sperm Whale, than which the whole wide range of human enterprise affords no occupation of more daring adventure, or more romantic interest. A crew of thirty or forty hardy fellows leave their native land, and boldly steer away to the most distant parts of the globe. The tempestuous sea of Cape Horn soon finds them hotly engaged in striking their giant game; or, if they find it not here, they do not hesitate to stretch away to the shores of New Zealand, or even to seek the leviathan of the deep five thousand miles farther in the distant seas of China and Japan. Now they are braving the horrors of the Antarctic sea, thridding an intricate and perilous course through fields and bergs of floating ice, " under the frozen serpent of the south;" anon they are upon the equator, toiling with undaunted spirit beneath the rays of a vertical sun. The bleak and barren rocks of the Horn, tenanted by penguins, are for- T K 226 THE OCEAN. I i! 1 saken for the sunny isles of Polynesia, and these, again, for the inhospitable shores of Kamschatka. Peculiar dangers attend them in their protracted voyage; if they escape unscathed from the storms of the south, it is to enter an ocean strewn with in- numerable reefs of stony coral, whose positions are but imperfectly indicated in charts, to touch one of which would be inevitable destruction ; if these are safely passed, it is to penetrate into a sea vexed with the most terrible of tempests, the typhoon. The duration of the voyage is protracted to a length which would justify our calling it an exile ; this is no summer's trip ; three and even four years, are the ordinary periods allotted to this enterprise. The object of the pursuit, gigantic in size and power, seems to demand no ordinary courage in its assail- ant; and more' especially in his own element, when he is "making the sea to boil like a pot of oint- ment," to venture to the battle in a frail boat, needs a hardihood of more than common calibre. The moment of victory is frequently the moment of danger; the dying struggles of the lanced Whale are of fearful impetuosity ; the huge and muscular tail lashes the ocean into foam, and the long and powerful lower jaw, serried with teeth, snaps con- vulsively in every direction. Timid as this mighty animal usually is, instances are not infrequent, in which a consciousness of strength has been accom- panied by the will to use it. The destruction of the ship Essex, an American whalier, aifords a re- markable instance of the ferocity and determination, as well as of the power, of the Sperm Whale. This THE PACIFIC OCEAN, 227 vessel was whaling in the vicinity of the Society Islands, when one of these animals having grazed its back in passing beneath the vessel's keel, became enraged, and after swimming to some distance, sud- denly turned, and rushed with amazing force against the ship. The helmsman vainly endeavoured to avoid the blow, and the animal repeating the attack, stove in the ship's bows, when she speedily filled aiid went down, barely allowing the hands on board time to take to the boat. Those who were out in pursuit, seeing, to their astonishment, their vessel sink without any apparent cause, hastened to the spot, and the whole crew found themselves in open boats, three thousand miles from the coast of Chili, to which they determined to proceed, but where three or four only arrived after painful and protract- ed sufferings. The Sperm Whale {Physeter macrocephalus) at- tains a greater length than the Greenland Whale, from which it is at once distinguished by the remarkable form of the head. As in the latter, the head occu- pies about one third of the entire length, but it is of the same thickness throughout, appearing as if it had been suddenly cut off at the muzzle ; so that the head bears no small resemblance to a huge box. There is no whalebone, but the lower jaw, which is narrow, and fits into the upper, is armed with a series of sharp teeth, which are received into hollows in the upper gums. The blow-hole is placed at the front angle of the head ; the eye is just above the inner comer of the mouth, and over this, where the head joins the body, there is a hunch, called the 228 THE OCEAN. bunch of the neck; from hence the body is nearly straight to within one-third of its length from the tail, where there is a larger prominence called the hump ; it now rapidly tapers away to the tail ; the whalers distinguish this tapering part by the name of " the small," and the broad horizontal tail, as "the flukes." The whole of the upper portion of the square and bluff head is occupied by a cavity, technically termed "the case;" which is not covered by bone, but by a thick, tendinous, elastic skin, and lined with a beautiful glistering membrane. This cavity is filled with a clear oil, which, after death, cools into the substance well known as spermaceti. Some idea may be formed of the capacity of the case, from the fact, that in a large whale it will frequently be found to contain ten large barrels of this valuable product. Immediately beneath the case is placed " the junk," a thick triangular mass of tough elastic substance, which also yields a considerable quantity of spermaceti. The fins are comparatively small, and are situated a little behind the mouth ; they do not appear to be used in giving motion, which is effected by the tail, but in balancing the body, and supporting the young. The general colour of the animal is very dark grey, nearly black on the upper parts, but more sil- very beneath. Old males usually have a large spot of pale grey on the front of the head, when they are said to be grey-headed. The motions of these enor- mous creatures are exceedingly curious : when mov- ing perfectly at leisure, the whale swims slowly along, just below the surface of the water, effecting THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 229 his progress by gently moving his tail from side to side obliquely. The bunch and hump may be seen above the water, and by the disturbance which they cause in cutting the fluid, some foam is produced, by which an experienced whaler can judge, even at some miles' distance how fast the animal is going. When disturbed, however, or from any cause in- clined to increase his velocity, he uses a very dif- ferent mode of progression. The broad tail now strikes the water upward and downward alternately with great force ; at every blow downward the fore part sinks down several yards into the water, while by the force of the upward blow the head is thrust entirely out of the water. A whale can swim in this manner, the head alternately appearing and dis- appearing, which the seamen call " going head-out," at the rate of twelve miles an hour. It may ap- pear surprising that so bulky a portion of the animal as the enormous head, should be so easily thrust into the air; the head being usually the heaviest part of an animal ; but here we trace the beneficent hand of God in creation, the volume of the head being occupied not with dense bone, but, as we have seen, with an oil which is considerably lighter than water, and which renders this part the most buoyant of the whole body. And when we consider that the breathing aperture, or blow-hole, must be projected from the water for the reception of air, we see the reason of this buoyancy.* Everything connected with the breathing of the * For most of the particulars of the history and pursuit of this animal, I am indebted to Mr. Beale's valuable work, on the Sperm Whale. HMi 230 THE OCEAN. Sperm Whale is performed with a regularity that is very remarkable. The length of time he remains at the surface, the number of •* spoutings" made at each time, the length of interval betvv^een the spouts, the time he remains below the surface, before again rising to breathe, are all, when he is undisturbed, as regular in succession and duration as it is pos- sible to imagine. This is a circumstance of the greatest value to the whaler; for though there is considerable variation in these particulars in diiferent animals, yet such is the precision with which each maintains his own rates of movement, that when the periods of any particular Whale have been ob- served, the whaler can calculate, even to a minute, when it will reappear, and how long it will continue at the surface. A large male, called "a bull whale," usually remains at the surface about ten minutes, during which he spouts sixty or seventy times ; then, to use the nautical phrase, " his spoutings are out," the head gradually sinks, the " small" is pro- jected from the water, and presently the "flukes" of the tail are raised high in the air, and the animal descends perpendicularly to an unknown depth, re- maining below from an hour to an hour and twenty minutes, when he comes up to respire again. The regular recurrence of these motions can be depended on only when the Whale is perfectly at ease; for, if alarmed, he dives immediately, rising, however, soon again to complete his spoutings. When " going head out," also, he spouts at every projection of the head, and much more hurriedly than usual. One would be apt to suppose that a THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 231 creature so huge and powerful, would be little the subject of fear or alarm; but, in truth, it is a re- markably timid animal ; the approach even of a boat causing him to descend with precipitation. It 18 graciou-ly ordained, that the creatures which are formed to contribute to man's comfort or sus- tenance, though many of them more powerful thaii he, should be impressed with such a fear of him, as m general to be incapable of using their superior strength to his disa^antage. " And the fear of you and the dread of you, shall be upon every beast ol the earth, and upon every fowl of the air ; upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the lishes of the sea ; into your hand are they deUver- ed. But this huge animal has other enemies than man : equally with the Greenland Whale, it is subject to the assaults of some of the larger predaceous fishes ; the swordfish and the sawfish plunge mto his body their formidable snouts, and the thresher" leaps upon him from above. Mr. Beale records the foUowing incident as reported to him by an eye-witness, a gentleman on whose veracity he could rely. « He stated that he had been observ- ing a Sperm Whale during the time it had remained a^ the surface to breathe, which afterwards went thiough the evolution of peaking its flukes in the usual manner, and disappeared. As it was a large whale, and as he knew it was Kkely to remain under water for a considerable time, he scarcely expected to see It again. However, in this he was mistaken ; * Gen. ix. 2. 232 THE OCEAN. for after it had disappeared only for a few minuses, it again rose, apparently in great trepidation, and, as it reared with great velocity, half of its huge body projected out of the water. Gaining, however, in a few seconds the horizontal position, it went off at its utmost speed, going head-out ; the moment after which, he saw a fish, somewhat resembling a conger-eel in figure, but rather more bulky, and to aU appearance about six or eight feet in length, flying itself high out of the water after the whale, and fall clumsily on its back, which caused still more alarm to the immense but timid animal, so that it beat the water with its tail, and reared its enormous head, so violently, that sounds from the former could be heard at a great distance: it still, however, continued its rapid career, receiving every few minutes the unwelcome visits of its galling ad- versary. My informant had good reason to believe that some other animal was at the same time at- tacking it from below ; for on more than one oc- casion, he saw some animal dart at times to the surface with amazing quickness, as if engaged with great fury in the contest; and which, he supposes, prevented the whale from descending, in which he had the power, no doubt, if he had not beeii thus prevented, of leaving his antagonists far behind. The attack was continued for a considerable time, during which the whale had got a great distance from the ship, when it twice threw itself completely out of its native element, no doubt endeavouring to escape from its tormenting adversaries by this act of "breaching," and which I ha'e myself seen THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 233 him do, after having been unsuccessfully chased by the boats."* A whale will occasionally place himself perpen- dicularly in the water, his whole head being visible, presenting a most extraordinary appearance, like a black rock in the ocean : the object of this posture is to take a rapid and comprehensive glance around him, when he is apprehensive of danger. Some- times, when attacked by boats, he will carefully sweep his tail from Side to side upon the surface, as if to discover, by feehng, the object of his dread! At other times, he amuses himself by lashing the water with the same organ, in the most violent man- ner; covering the sea with foam, while the strokes resound on every side. Breaching, or leaping bodily into the air, is alluded to in the above extract. The food of the Sperm Whale consists of different species of cuttle or squid ; occasionally varied with small fish : to obtain these, Mr. Beale supposes with much probability, that he descends to a consider- able depth, and, remaining as quiet as possible, allows his narrow lower jaw to hang down perpen- dicularly at right angles with his body. The whole inside of his mouth, and particularly the teeth, being of a glistening white hue, the squid are attracted to visit it, and when a sufficient number are within, the moulh is supposed to be closed. That the prey is obtained in some other way than by pursuit, is proved by the fact, that whales are often found blind, and others with the lower jaw distorted, which yet are in as good condition as others. These dis- * Beale'8 Spenn Whale, p. 49. s tf 234> THE OCEAN. 'hi liiii tortions arise from battles between old "bull whales ;" they rush upon each other with great fury, their mouths wide open, each endeavouring to seize his adversary by the lower jaw. In this manner they often become locked together by the jaws, and then struggling with all their gigantic power, the contest frequently terminates in the dislocation or fracture of the jaw. The teeth are not used for chewing, the prey being swallowed entire. In the chase and capture of this immense creature, as might be expected from the peculiarities of its habits, there are several circumstances that distin- guish it from the Greenland whale-fishery, while, at the same time, there is a general resemblance. Ships of three or four hundred tons are selected for the voyage, strongly built, manned with a crew of about thirty hands, and provisioned for four years. A watch is stationed aloft immediately on leaving the Channel, although the Sperm Whale is rarely seen in the Atlantic north of the equator. The look-out on the mast-head is never interrupted during the voy- age, or until the cargo is completed, the men on this duty being relieved in succession. On a Sperm Whale being perceived, the intelligence is communicated by the watch calling out aloud in a peculiar tone, "there she spouts !" a cry, which fails not to produce a gene- ral rush on deck of all hands. The captain eagerly asks, " whereaway ?" the position of the prey is pointed oyt, while at every fresh spouting the watch, accom- panied by every individual on board who has caught sight of the object, vociferates, " there again !" When the spoutings are out, and the whale descends, the THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 235 i a crew elevation of the tail into the air is announced in the same manner by "there goes flukes!" The reason of these announcements appears to be, that the times of the animal's motions may be accurately marked by the proper officers, though they may not see them themselves, as affording an unfailing cri- tenon by which to judge of his future movements. On the first signal being given, the boats, which are always kept in complete readiness at the ship's side, are lowered, and the men take their places with joy^ ous alacrity. If not too far off, they strain every nerve to arrive at the animal before his spoutings are out,.which, in a large buU whale, may be about ten minutes. Should they be unable, however, to effect this, they endeavour to mark his direction of divmg, and station themselves near the spot where they expect he will break water. On his reappear- ance, the boats are rowed up as silently as possible, and the foremost harpooner darts his weapon with all his force into its side. The instant this is done he cries, " stem all !" and the boat is withdrawn with precipitation. The Whale, writhing with the agony, dives perpendicularly, drawing the Hne of the har- poon swiftly through its groove: the other boats are ready to bend on their lines, each of which is two hundred fathoms long ; for sometimes a Whale will drag after him four lines, descending to the depth of 4800 feet. Presently he is seen approach- ing the surface ; " the gurgling and bubbling water, which rises before, also proclaims that he is near; his nose starts from the sea; the rushing spout is projected high and suddenly from his agitation," 2m THE OCEAN. On his reaching the surface, the other boats infix their harpoons, while at th*^ same instant the former harpooner thrusts deeply his steel lance into the body, and "stern all!" again resounds. Now comes the most dangerous part of the busi- ness ; the Whale is in his " flurry," or last agony ; he dashes hither and thither, snaps convulsively with his huge jaws, rolls over and over, coiling the line around his body, or leaps completely out of the water. The boats are often upset, sometimes broken into fragments, and the men wounded or drowned. Now the crimson blood is spouted from the blow- hole, and falls in showers around; the poor animal whirls rapidly round in unconsciousness, in a por- tion of a 'circle, rolls over on its side, and is still in death. The huge body is now towed to the ship ; a hole is cut into the blubber near the head, into which a strong hook is inserted ; a difficult and dangerous operation. A strong tension is then applied to this hook, and by it the blubber is hoisted up, as it is gradually cut by the spades in a spiral strip, going round and round the body. As this strip or band of blubber is pulled off, the body of course revolves, until the stripping reaches the " small," when it will turn no more. The head, which at the commencement of the process, was cut off and secured astern, is now hoisted into a perpendicular position, the front of the muzzle opened, and the spermaceti dipped out of the " case" by a bucket at the end of a pole. The "junk" is then cut into oblong pieces, and the remainder of the head, with the carcass, cut adrift. THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 237 its infix i former nto the le busi- agony ; ely with the line i of the ; broken rowned. le blow- ' animal a por- [ is still ; a hole 0 which mgerous 1 to this as it is p, going band of '^es, until ivill turn ncement stern, is he front i dipped f a pole, and the it adrift. The oil is afterwards extracted from the blubber and junk by exposing them to the action of fire in large pots, the skinny portions which remain serv- ing for fuel; and the spermaceti is purified in the same manner. The products are then stowed away in barrels in the vessel's hold. The following narrative, from the interesting work of Mr. Beale, gives us a vivid picture of this excit- ing pursuit : " At daybreak, one fine morning in August, as our first mate was going aloft to look out for whales, he discovered no less than three ships within a mile of us; but they were situated in various directions. We soon discovered them to be whalers, who, like ourselves, were cruising after the spermaceti whale, and, therefore, their appear- ance only had the effect of redoubling our vigilance in the look-out, so that we might, if possible, be the first to obtain the best chance, if one of those creatures hove in sight. And it was not long be- fore a very large whale made his appearance right in among the ships. The water was smooth at the time, for we had but a light air of wind stirring, so that our boats were instantly lowered without the loss of time of bringing the ship to. But, al- though we managed matters as quietly and secretly as possible, we found, the moment our boats quitted the ship's side, that all the others had been as vigi- lant as ourselves, and had also lowered their boats after the whale. The whole of them immediately began the chase, nine boats in all, being three from each ship. They all exerted themselves to the ut- most, and, as we expected, in vain ; for before any 238 THE OCEAN. of the boats had got even near him, the enormous animal lifted his widely-expanded flukes, and de- scended perpendicularly into the depths of the ocean to feed. Those in the boats, however, having no- ticed his course, proceeded onwards, thinking the whale would continue to pursue the same direction under water; but, as he was going slowly at the time he was up, they did not proceed more than a mile from the place at which he descended, before they separated about a hundred yards from each other, and then, peaking their oars, all the men in each boat stood up, looking in different directions, so as to catch the first appearance of the spout, when the whale again rose to breathe. When an hour after his descent had expired, the excitement among us who were on board the ship, became wound up to its highest pitch. The captain, who had remain- ed on board, ascended to the fore-top-gallant-yard to watch the manoeuvres of the boats, and for the purpose of the better ordering the signals to them, or working of the ship. All those who were down after the whale appeared as feverish with anxiety as ourselves, for every now and then, they were to be seen shifting their positions a little, thinking to do so with advantage ; then they would cease rowing, and stand up on the seats of the boats, and look all round over the smooth surface of the ocean with ardent gaze. But one hour and ten minutes expired before the monster of the deep thought proper to break cover; and when he did, then a rattling chase commenced with the whole of the boats, and they really flew along in fine style, some THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 239 lormous and de- le ocean dng no- ling the iirection at the than a , before m each men in •ections, it, when an hour t among >und up remain- mt-yard for the ;o them, :e down anxiety were to hinking d cease ats, and le ocean minutes thought then a of the e. some of them actually appearing to be lifted quite on the surface of the water, from the great power of the rowers; and we had the satisfaction of observing, that our boats were quite equal to the others in the speed with which they were propelled. But it was again a useless task, as the whale had outwitted those in the boats, by having gone, while under water, much farther than any of his pursuers had anticipated, and they again had the mortification of witnessing the turning of his flukes, as he once more descended into the depths of his vast domain. We now knew to a minute the time that he would remain below, while the people in the boats continued to row slowly onwards the whole time. A fine breeze now sprang up, so that we were enabled to keep company with the boats, keeping a little to wind- ward of them, as the whale was going ' on a wind,' as a seaman would say, meaning, that it was blowing across him. " When the hour and ten minutes had again nearly past, the nine boats were nearly abreast of each other, and not much separated, so that the success of first striking the whale depended very much upon the swiftest boat, especially if the whale came up ahead. We had now all the boats on our lee-beam, while the ships were all astern of us, the most dis- tant not being more than half a mile, so that we enjoyed an excellent view of this most exciting and animated scene. True to his time, the leviathan at length arose right ahead of the boats, and at not more than a quarter of a mile distant from them. The excitement among the crews of the various n 240 THE OCEAN. boats, when they saw his first spout, was tremend- ous ; they did not shout, but we could hear an agi- tated murmur from their united voices reverberating along the surface of the deep. They flew over the limpid waves at a rapid rate ; the mates of the vari- ous boats cheered their respective crews by various urgent exclamations. * Swing on your oars, my boys, for the honour of the Henrietta !' cried one ; 'Spring away, hearties!' shouted another ; and yet, scarcely able to breathe from anxiety and exertion ; * It 's our fish,' vociferated a third, as he passed the rest of his opponents but a trifling distance. * Lay on, my boys !' cried young Clark, our first mate, as he steered the boat with one hand, and pressed down the after oar with the other; * she '11 be ours yet: let 's have a strong pull, a long pull, and a pull altogether!' he exclaimed, as he paused from his exertions at the after oar, which soon brought up his boat quite abreast of the foremost. " But the giant of the ocean, who was only a sliort distance before them, now appeared rather * gallied,' or frightened, having probably seen cr heard the boats, and as he puffed up his spout to a great height, and reared his enormous head, he increased his speed, and went along quite as fast as the boats, but for only two or three minutes, when he appeared to get perfectly quiet again, while the boats gained rapidly upon him, and were soon close in his wake. * Stand up !' cried young Clark to the harpooner, who is also the bow-oarsman ; while the same order was instantly given by his opponent, whose boat was abreast of our mate's, with the rest • tremend- ar an agi- jrberating ■ over the ' the vari- ly various oars, my ried one; and yet, exertion ; assed the :e. * Lay mate, as sed down mrs yet: d a pull from his >ught up s only a d rather seen or spout to head, he IS fast as es, when rhile the )on close Clark to i; while pponent, I the rest • THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 2U close to their sterns. The orders were instantly obeyed, for in a second of time both boatsteerers stood m the bows of their respective boats, with their harpoons held above their heads ready for the dart ; but they both panted to be a few yards nearer to the whale, to do so with success. The monster plunged through the main quickly, but the boats gamed upon him every moment, when the agitation of all parties became intense, and a general cry of * Dart ! dart ! ' broke from the hindermost boats, who each urged their friends, fearful of delay. The uproar became excessive, and while the tumult of voices, and the working and splashing of the oars, rolled along the surface of the deep, both the har- pooners darted their weapons together, whii;h if they had both struck the whale, would have origin- ated a contention between them, regarding their claims. But, as it happened, neither of them had that good fortune ; for, at the moment of their dartmg the harpoons, the whale descended like a shot, and avoided their infliction, leaving nothing but a white and green-looking vortex in the disturb- ed blue ocean, to mark the spot where his monstrous form so lately floated. A general huzza burst from the sternmost boats, when they saw the issue of this chase, thinking, now, that another chance awaited them on the next rising of the whale, and they soon began to separate themselves a little, and to row onwards again in the course which they thought he had taken. Our captain, feeling irritated at the ill- success of the mate, now ordered his own boat to be lowered, intending to make one in the chase him- M 242 THE OCEAN. lit self; but, just as he had parted from the ship, going down a little to lnc\;v.>' !, ^ tremendous shout arose from the people Ir, oiu (■wn boats, joined with a loud murmuring from the rest of the boats' crews ; for the whale, not having had all its spou tings out, had now risen again to finish them, and was coming to windward at a quick rite, right toTv^irds our ship. The captain saw his favourable situation m a mo- ment, and passing quickly to the bows of the boat, he stood to waylay him as he came careering along, throwing his enormous head completely out of the water, for he was now quite *gallied.' He soon came, and caught a sight of the boat, just as he got within dart; the vast animal rolled himself over in an agony of fear to alter his course; but it was too late, the harpoon was hurled with ex- cellent aim, and was plunged deeply into his side, near the fin. " As the immense creature almost flew out of the water from the blow, throwing tons of spray high into the air, shewing that he was " fast," a triumph- ant cheering arose from those in our own boats, as well as from those in the ship, accompanied by ex- clamations loud and deep, and not of the most fa- vourable kind to us, from all the rest. But onwards they all came, and soon cheerfully rendered assist- ance to complete its destruction ; but which was not done, however, vsdthout considerable difficulty, the whale continuing to descend the moment either of the boats got nearly within dart of him. But after an hour's exertion in this way, six out of the ten boats which were now engaged got fast to him by THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 24■(• |i i 250 THE OCEAN, 3i >i. Imagine a belt of land in the wide ocean, not more than half a mile in breadth, but extending in an irregular curve, to the length of ten or twenty miles or more : the height above the water not more than a yard or two at most, but clothed with a mass of the richest and most verdant vegetation. Here and there, above the general bed of luxuriant foliage, rises a grove of cocoa-nut trees, waving their fea- thery plumes high in the air, and gracefully bending their tall and slender stems to the breathing of the pleasant trade-wind. The grove is bordered by a COHAL ISLAND. narrow beach on each side, of the most glittering whiteness, contrasting with the beautiful azure THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 251 waters by which it is environed. From end to end of the curved isle, stretches in a straight line, form- ing, as it were, the cord of the bow, a narrow beach, of the same snowy whiteness, almost level with the sea at the lowest tide, enclosing a semicircular space of water between it and the island, called the lagoon. Over this line of beach, which occupies the leeward side, the curve being to windward, the sea is break- ing with sublime majesty ; the long unbroken swell of the ocean, hitherto unbridled through a course of thousands of miles, is met by this rampart, when the huge billows, rearing themselves upwards many yards above its level, and bending their foaming crests, " fonn a graceful liquid arch, glittering in the rays of a tropical sun, as if studded with brilliants. But, before the eyes of the spectator can follow the splendid aqueous gallery which they appear to have reared, with loud and hollow roar, they fall in mag- nificent desolation, and spread the gigantic fabric in froth and spray upon the horizontal and gently broken surface." Contrasting strongly with the tumult and confusion of the hoary billows without, the water within the lagoon exhibits the serene pla- cidity of a mill-pond. Extending downwards to a depth, varying from a few feet to fifty fathoms, the waters possess the lively green hue common to sound- ings on a white or yellow ground ; while the sarface, unruffled by a wave, reflects with accurate distinct- ness, the mast of the canoe that sleeps upon its bosom, and the tufts jf the cccoa-nut plumes that rise from the beach above it. Such is a Coral Island, and if its appearance is one of singular love- m 252 THE OCEAN. Iiness, as all who have seen it testify, its structure, on examination, is found to be no less interesting and wonderful. The beach of white sand, which opposes the whole force of the ocean, is found to be the summit of a rock which rises abruptly from an unknown depth, like a perpendicular wall. The whole of this rampart, as far as our senses can take cognizance of it, is composed of living coral, ^ and the same substance forms the foundation of the curved and more elevated side which is smiling in the luxuriance and beauty of tropical vegetation. Ihe elevation of the coral to the surface is not al- ways abruptly perpendicular; sometimes reefs of yarymg depths extend to a considerable distance m the form cf successive platforms or terraces. In these regions mry be seen islands in every stage ot their forniation : « some presenting little more than a pomt or summit of a branching coralline py- ramid, at a depth scarcely discernible through the transparent waters ; others spreading, like subma- rme gardens or shrubberies, beneath the surface • or presenting here and there a little bank of broken coral and sand, over which the rolling wave occa sionaUy breaks ;" while others exist in the more ad- vanced state that I have just described, the main bank sufficiently elevated to be permanently pro- tected from the waves, and abeady clothed with verdure, and the lagoon enclosed by the narrow bulwark of the coral reef. Though the rampart thus reared is sufficient to preserve the inner waters in a peaceful and mirror-like calmness, it must not be supposed that all access to them from the sea THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 25S is excluded. It almost invariably happens that, in the line oi* reef, one or more openings occur, which, though sometimes narrow and intricate, so as scarcely to allow the passage of a native canoe, are not un- frequently of sufficient width and depth to permit the free ingress of large ships. This is a very re- markable instance of the Divine care over the little creatures which rear these solid structures ; they ap- pear to be endowed with an instinctive knowledge, that if the reef were carried uninterruptedly along from one point to another, so as completely to shut in the lagoon, the water within would soon become unfit to support their existence, and would ulti- mateV be dried up. The advantage to man of these openings is very great ; without them the islands might smile invitingly, but in vain; no access could be obtained to them by shipping, through the tre- mendous surf by which their shores are lashed; but by these entrances the lovely lagoons are converted into the most quiet, safe, and commodious havens imaginable, where ships may lie, and wood and water, and refresh their crews, in security, though the tempest howl without. It is a scarcely less beneficent provision that the position cf the open- ings is in most cases indicated so as to be visible at a great distance. Had there been merely an opening in the coral rock, it could not have been detected from the sea, except by the diminution of the foaming surf just at that spot ; a circum- stance that could scarcely be visible, unless the ob- server were opposite the aperture. But, in general, there is on each side of the passage, a Httle islet'. m I i ; '!- 254 te ill \M9 t-'W THE OCEAN. raised on the points of the reef, which, being com- monly tufted with cocoa-nut trees, is perceptible as tar off as the island itself, and forms a most con- venient land-mark. Notwithstanding that the highest point of these narrow islets is rarely more than a yard above the tide, It IS a remarkable fact that fresh water is fre- quently found in them. It is probable that the coral rock acts as a filter, allowing the sea-water to perco- late through its porous substance, but excluding all Its saline particles held in solution. Though I have described the two parts of a Coral Island, or Atoll, as it is called, as distinct, yet the difference is only in appearance ; the foundation on every side is the same, a coral reef rising to the sur- face ; but the side most exposed to the action of the waves driven in by the trade-winds, is invariably the trst to be projected, and attains a higher elevation than the leeward side. Neither must it be supposed that the belt to windward is always continuous, though the interruptions are comparatively few. A close inspection will likewise show that the outline of the whole reef possesses much less regularity of form than its aspect from a distance indicated. The form, however, is invariably a more or less close approach to a circle. Sometimes the land is continu- ous through the whole circumference, wth the ex- ception of a channel or two into the %oon, which presents the appearance of a circular pond with a verdant border surrounding it; again another atoll will be found which has brought its ring of reef scarcely to the surface, exposing, perhaps, a single THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 255 bare spot on the windward edge at the lowest ebb of spring tide. Captain Basil Hall has recorded some pleasing observations on this singular formation, in his voyage to Loo-Choo. He says, " The examination of a coral reef during the dif- ferent stages of one tide, is particularly interesting. When the sea has left it for some time it becomes dry, and appears to be a compact rock, exceedingly hard and rugged; but no sooner does the tide rise again, and the waves begin to wash over it, than millions of coral worms protrude themselves from holes on the surface, which were before quite in- visible. These animals are of a great variety of shapes and sizes, and in such prodigious numbers, that in a short time the whole surface of the rock appears to be alive and in motion. The most com- mon of the worms at Loo-Choo, was in the form of a star, with arms from four to six inches long, which it moved about with a rapid motion in all directions, probably in search of food. Others were so sluggish that they were often mistaken for pieces of the rock; these were generally of a dark colour, and from four to five inches long, and two or three round. When the rock was broken from a spot near the level of high-water, it was found to be a hard, solid stone ; but if any part of it were detached at a level to which the tide reached every day, it was discovered to be full of worms of all different lengths and colours, some being as fine as a thread, and several feet long, generally of a very bright yellow, and sometimes of a blue colour ; while others resembled snails, and 'll III m 256 THE OCEAN. some were not luilike lobsters or prawns in shape, but soft, and not above two inches long."* Some of the animals thus described by the Captain, were doubtless intruders that had sought shelter or food in the interstices of the coral : the true architects of these wonderful structures are polypes of minute size, which, though of many varying species, and even genera, agree in the simplicity of their form and structure. They consist of a little oblong bag of jelly, closed at one end, but having the other ex- tremity open, and surrounded by tentacles, usually SIX or eight in number, set like the rays of a star. Multitudes of these tiny creatures are associated in the secretion of a common stony skeleton, the coral or madrepore ; in the minute orifices of which they reside, protruding their mouths and tentacles when under water, but withdrawing themselves by sudden contraction into their holes the moment they are molested. It was for a long time supposed that all the islands of coral formation were reared from their bases fathomless depths in the ocean, by the unaided effort^ of these minute creatures ; and from exaggerated notions of the rapidity with which the process was going on, anticipations were frequently uttered that a large portion of the Pacific might, at no very dis- tant period, be occupied by the spreading structures united into a vast coral continent. More accurate observations have, however, satisfactorily proved, that the living animals cannot exist at a greater depth than twenty or thirty fathoms, so that the whole of " Voyage to Loo-Choo, p. 175. (Constable's edit.) THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 257 these animal secretions must have been deposited within that distance from the surface. At the same tinie it is no less true that the water in the immediate vicinity of the islands is fathomless, and that the de- scent of their outer edge is remarkably abrupt and precipitous. The only satisfactory explanation of the phenomenon, appears to be the one proposed and ably supported by Mr. Darwin, in his elaborate treatise on Coral Reefs. Many islands of the com- mon rock formation are found in the Pacific, on the shelving sides of which, a few ftithoms below water, the coral animals have fixed their stony habitations, forming what is called a fringing reef, distinguished from others by being immediately attached to the land, without the intervention of any lagoon or chan- nel of water. Mr. Darwin supposes that every island in the Pacific originally presented this struc- ture, but that wherever a variation at present exists, the solid rock has been gradually, and perhaps very slowly, subsiding to a lower level. Now, let us assume this state of things for a moment, and look at the results. We must, however, mention, two well ascertained instincts of the polype ; the one is, that it works up towards the light, the other, that its proceedings are most vigorous at the outer edge, where it is washed by the beating waves. Let a' represent the section of a rocky island ; b, b, the level of low-water; and d, the reef of coral fringing the coast. After the lapse of time, during which it has been subsiding, the water-level stands at b, b ; the coral at d has died from the too great depth, but the animals have been working upwards upon the dead m m /,. cW ? ■P. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 ■ 45 ■ 50 1.1 m 124 1^ 2.0 L25 114 L6 Photographic Sciences Corporation >/ // .V 1"^ c^ 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 258 THE OCEAN. matter, so that living coral is still near the surface ; the superior vigour of the species inhabiting the sea- ward edge, however, has caused that edge to be more SECTION OP CORAL ISLAND. elevated than the interior, as at d,d; so that the appearance is now that of a rocky isle, diminished in extent, surrounded by a reef at some distance, sepa- rated by the intervention of a shallow channel, e, e; this is exactly the appearance of Tahiti and the larger islands generally, as I shall mention more fully when I come to the volcanic formation. The subsi- dence still goes on; and, after a while, the water, ^, ^, is level with the summit of the island, which, of course, is now an island no longer ; the grov/th of the coral has kept pace with the depression, and it is still at the surface, as at 8,8; the more slowly grow- ing species of the interior are still overflowed, and, as the island is submerged in the centre, the water, », », is no longer an annular channel, but a round lagoon | and thus we have an atoll, as at first described. The subsequent process of elevating and clothing the new islets is a rapid one. Chamisso observes, "As soon as it has reached such a height that it remains ahnost dry at low water at the time of ebb, the THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 259 corals leave off building higher ; sea-shells, frag- ments of coral, sea-hedgehog-shells, and their broken off prickles, are united by the burning sun, through the medium of the cementing calcareous sand, which has arisen from the pulverization of the above-men- tioned shells, into one v^^hole or solid stone, which, strengthened by the continual throwing up of new materials, gradually increases in thickness, till it at last becomes so high that it is covered only during some seasons of the year by the spring tides. The heat of the sun so penetrates the mass of stone when it is dry, that it splits in many places, and breaks off in flakes. These flakes, so separated, are raised one upon another by the waves, at the time of high water. The always active surf throws blocks of coral (frequently of a fathom in length, and three or four feet thick,) and shells of marine animals between and upon the foundation stones. After this, the cal- careous sand lies undisturbed, and offers to the seeds of trees and plants, cast upon it by the waves, a soil upon which they rapidly grow, to overshadow its dazzling white surface. Entire trunks of trees, which are carried by the rivers from other countries and islands, find here, at length, a resting-place, after their long wanderings ; with these come some small animals, such as lizards and insects, as the first inha- bitants. Even before the trees form a wood, the real sea-birds nestle there ; strayed land-birds take refuge in the bushes; and at a much later period, when the work has been long since completed, man also appears, builds his hut on the fruitful soil formed by the corruption of the leaves of the trees, and 260 THE OCEAN. calls himself lord and proprietor of this new crea- tion."* The species of polypes which contribute to the formation of coral structures, are very numerous, ~ and differ greatly from each other in the forms of their respective habitations. Some form large round- ed masses, with numerous winding depressions, as the Brainstones {Meandrina}', some are studded with holes, filled with thin shelly plates placed perpen- dicularly, and converging to a point in the centre, as Astraa; some assume the appearance of a mush- room, as Agaricia; but the most general form is that of an irregular, branching shrub. The various kinds are not found scattered indiscriminately over the whole edifice, but each occupying its own zone and position, each performing its own part, assigned by God, in carrying up the wondrous architecture. The principal and most important place is filled by the genus Pontes, which occupies the outside of the reef, at the exposed edge, constructing large round- ed masses. The next in importance is the Millepora complanata, which forms thick vertical plates, unit- ing at different angles by their edges, so as to pre- sent the appearance of a honeycomb ; the marginal plates only being alive. These two kinds alone are able to endure the intermitting, exposure to which the upper edge is subject, in being conti- nually washed over by the surf; other species are found a few fathoms down. Inside the lagoon, there are quite distinct sorts, generally brittle, and thinly branched; while great round Brainstones • Koteebue's Voyage. THE PACIFIC OCEAN. ^1 new crea- (Meandrino)y and flower-like Caryophylla occupy the bottom. In the shallow hollows of the reef, Po- cillopora verrucosa, a species having short waved plates or branches, is found : when alive it is a beau- tiful object, being of a delicate pale crimson hue. Conflicting statements have been made respect- ing the activity of the building processes going on in the present age; some aflirming that the reefs have acquired no perceptible addition, either to their height or extent, since they have been known ; others anticipating a speedy filling up of the Pacific from their rapid growth. The truth seems to be, that while in some localities no change in extent can be traced through many years, in other? very rapid enlargements are made. As showing the rate at which coral grows under favourable circum- stances, Mr. Darwin mentions two or three interest- ing cases. In the lagoon of Kaeling Atoll, a chan- nel was dug, for the passage of a schooner built upon the island, through the reef into the sea ; in ten years afterward, when it was examined, it was found almost choked up with living coral. Dr. Allan, at Madagascar, placed several masses of coral, of different species, each weighing ten pounds, in the sea three feet beneath the surface, where they were secured from removal by stakes. This was in December ; and in the month of July following, they were found nearly extending to the surface, immovably fixed to the rock, and grown to several feet in length. A ship in the Persian Gulf, in the course of twenty months, had her copper encased with living coral to the thickness of two feet. \ 262 THE OCEAN. It may excite surprise, that the openings in the reefs are not gradually filled up, in those cases where no stream of fresh water flows into the sea. But It appears, that the presence of any sediment IS so annoying to the animals, as to prevent their acting with energy. This may be produced in various modes; there are many animals which teed on the living coral ; Mr. Darwin observed two Parrot-fishes (Scarus), one outside and the other inside the reef, both engaged in devouring It ; many small mollusca penetrate into it, and the Sea-cucumbers (Holuthuria), which are very nu- merous and large, are continually nibbhng at it. The rolling of dead masses by the surf must also chafe away particles continually, and the presence of the deposited sand thus formed is doubtless one reason why the coral grows languidly within the lagoon ; whereas the abraded atoms on the outside are at once washed off by the waves, and sink to the bottom of the ocean. Now, the water which IS continually thrown into the lagoon by the surf breaking over the reef, can find an outlet only through the openings of which I am speaking; and thus a constant current is maintained through them, and particularly at the sides, where the opposing waves offer less resistance, carrying out some of the sediment, and depositing it in its course on the coral margins of the aperture. The coral sand made by these abraded fragments, is quickly cemented by the influence of the sun into a soUd mass, where exposed to the air; and it is, perhaps, owing to this property, that the numberless little islets are form- !t s in the se cases the sea. lediment nt their uced in i which )bserved md the vouring and the sry nu- J at it. List also •resence ess one lin the outside sink to which lie surf it only g; and I them, ►posing of the m the 1 made aented where to this form- THE PACIFIC OCEAN. ^63 ed along the reef, even where there is no aperture. The surf in violent gales can roll up upon the reef masses of tom-off coral, weighing manj hundred- weights; such a mass, once lodged, would be the nucleus of an islet; the sand would speedily accu- mulate around it, which the sun would soon cement into a mass, and then the islet would be ready for vegetation. The following lines are beautifully descriptive of the formation of an Atoll, though the author seems to hold the erroneous notion of the whole structure being elevated from the bottom by the coral poljrpes : ** Millions of millions thus, xrom age to age, With simplest skill, and toil unweariable. No moment and no movement unimproyed, Laid line on line, on terrace terrace spread. To swell the heightening, brightening, gradual mound, By marvellous structure climbing towWa the day. Each wrought alone, yet all together wrought ; Unconscious, not unworthy, instruments. By which a Hand invisibl'^ was rearing A new creation in the secret deep. Omnipotence wrought in them, with them, by them ; Hence what Omnipotence alone could do Worms did. •••♦•• ** Atom by atom thus the burthen grew. Even like an infant in the womb, till Time Deliver'd Ocean of that monstrous birth, A Coral Island, stretching east and west. In God's own language to its parent saying, ' Thus far, nor farther, shalt thou go ; and here Shall thy proud waves be stay'd :' — ^A point at first It peer'd above those waves ; a point so small, I just perceived it, fix'd where all was floating ; And when a bubble cross'd it, the blue fihn 2^ THE OCEAN. Expanded like ... sky above the speck ; That speck became a hand-breadth ; day and night It spread, accumulated, and ere long Presented to my view a dazzling plain, White as the moon amid the sapphire sea ; Bare at low water, and as still as death ; But when the tide came gurgling o'er the sur&ce, 'Twas like a resurrection of the dead ; From graves innumerable, punctures fine * In the close coral, capillary swarms Of reptiles, horrent as Medusa's snakes, Cover'd the bald-pate reef; then all was life, And indefatigable industry ; The artizans were twisting to and fro, In idle-seeming convolutions ; yet They never vanish'd with the ebbing surge. Till pellicle on peD'cle, and layer On layer, was added to the growing mass. Ere long the reef o'ertopp'd the spring-flood's height. And mock'd the billows when they leap'd upon it. Unable to maintain their slippery hold. And falling down in foam-wreaths round its verge. Steep were the flanks, with precipices .sharp. Descending to their base in ocean-gloom. Chasms few, and narrow, and irregular, Forra'd harbours, safe at once and perilous,— Safe for defence, but perilous to enter. A sea-lake shone amidst the fossil isle, Reflecting in a ring its clifls and caverns. With heaven itself seen like a lake below." * The islands of the second class seem to have been originally of the same structure as those already noticed, but have been elevated to the height of one hundred to five hundred feet, by some unknown agency. The character of their vegetation resem- bles that of the volcanic isles, of which I shall pre- sently speak, but they do not possess their sub- * Montgomery's Pelican Island. THE PACIFIC OCEAN, 265 Ume grandeur, nor the peculiar loveliness of the atolls. The rocks are crystallized carbonate of lime, supposed to have been originally coral, "but, by exposure to the action of the atmospheric air' to- gether veith that of the water percolating through them, the loose particles of calcareous matter have been washed away, and the whole mass has become harder and brighier." In the islands named Atiu CRYSTAL ISLAND. and Mauke, the latter of which was discovered by Mr. Williams in 1823, that gentleman found seve- ral extensive caverns, having a stratum of crystal- lized coral, fifteen feet in thickness, as a roof. In one of these exquisitely beautiful caverns, he walk- ed about for two hours, and found no termination to its vsdndings. This circumstance, together with N 266 THE OCEAN. the absence of scoria, lava, and other volcanic pro- ducts, in these islands, has led him to the conclu- sion, that they have been elevated by some expan- sive power, or volcanic igency, without eruption.* In one of the Tonga Isles, there is a very curious submarine cavern, connected with an interesting le- gend. Mr. Mariner, who describes it, informs us, that being in the vicinity one day, a chief proposed to visit this cave. One after another of the young men dived into the water without rising again, and at length the narrator followed one of them, and, guided by the light reflected from his heels, en- tered a large opening in the rock, and presently emerged in a cavern. The entrance is at least a fathom beneath the surface of the sea at low water, in the side of a rock upwards of sixty feet in height ; and leads into a grotto about forty feet wide, and of about the same height, branching off into two chambers. As it is apparently closed on every side, there is no light but the feeble ray transmitted through the sea ; yet this was found sufficient, after the eye had been a few minutes accustomed to the obscurity, to show objects with some little distinct- ness. Mr. Mariner, however, desirous of better light, dived out again, procured his pistol, and after carefully wrapping it up, as well as a torch, re-en- tered the cavern as speedily as possible. Both the pistol and torch, on being unwrapped, were found perfectly dry, and by flashing the powder of the priming, the latter was lighted, and the beautiful grotto illuminated. The roof was hung with sta- • Williams's Missionary Enterprises, p. 28. THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 267 lactites in fantastic fonns, bearing some resemblance to the gothic arches and carved ornaments of some old church. After having examined the curiosities of the place, the party sat dovi^n to drink cava, while an old chief communicated some interesting parti- culars in the history of the grotto. In former times there lived a governor of one of the neighbouring islands, who exercised his autho- rity with the most grinding tyranny and injustice. A conspiracy against his life was formed by a sub- ordinate chief, which was discovered, and he him- self condemned to death with his family. One of his daughters, however, a beautiful girl, was re- served for a more hateful destiny, that of becoming the wife of the cruel tyrant. It happened that an- other young chief, who had long loved this maiden, had, a little while before, accidentally discovered the submarine cavern, when diving in pursuit of turtle. He had kept his discovery a profound se- cret, reserving it as a safe retreat for himself, in case he should be unsuccessful in a plan of revolt, which he also had in view. No sooner, however, were the tyrant's decisions known, than he hastened to the damsel, and acquainting her with her danger, besought her to escape with him. The emergency was great; little solicitation sufficed to obtain her consent; the woods concealed her until evening, when her lover brought his canoe to a lonely part of the beach, in which she embarked with him. As he paddled her across the rippling waves, he made known to her his discovery of the grotto, in which he proposed to conceal her, until they N 2 268 THE OCEAN. could find an opportunity for escape to a distant island. Arrived at the cliff, he conducted her through the waters, to her new abode, where they rested awhile from their fears and fatigue, par- taking of some refreshment, which he had previously stored there for himself. Early in the morning he returned home to avoid suspicion; but failed not, in the course of the day, to repair again to the place which held all that was dear to him : he brought her mats to lie on, the finest g?iatoo for a change of dress, the best of food for her support, sandal- wood oil, cocoa-nuts, and everything he could think of to render her life as comfortable as possible. He gave her as much of his company as prudence would allow, and ? the most appropriate times, lest the prying eye t curiosity should find out his retreat. But, though happy in each other's affection, dur- ing their sojourn in this secluded cave, the length of time he found it necessary to be absent from his bride, to prevent suspicion and detection, was a great source of discomfort; and he longed for an opportunity to arrive, when he might without hazard acknowledge her as his chosen wife, and re- store her to liberty and security. At length he proposed to his vassals an emigration to the Feejee islands, and requested them to accompany him. They complied, but asked him respectfully, if he would not take a Tonga vdfe with him. He laughingly replied, no; but that he might pos- sibly find one by the way. Having put to sea, he steered by the cliffs of Hoonga, the isle of the .', I THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 269 grotto ; and suddenly bidding his crew wait, while he fetched his wife, dived to their astonishment be- neath the wave. They waited awhile in the great- est suspense and wonder ; and at length, when they had despaired of seeing him more, how was their astonishment increased to see him suddenly appear, accompanied by a lovely female! Soon, however, they recognised her features, as those of one whom they had believed to have been slain, in the general massacre of her family ; but having been briefly informed by the chief of the events that had transpired, they joyfully congratulated him on his happiness. At length they arrived safely at Feejee, where they resided under the protection of a chief two years ; when, hearing of the death of the tyrant, from whose persecutions they had fled, the young chief returned with his wife to their native island, and lived long in peace and happiness. The only point of difficulty in this pleasing story is the time which the young bride is said to have spent in the cavern ; viz. two or three months ; as it is not easy to understand how the air could have remained so long fit for the support of life, if un- renewed by communication with the atmosphere. However, it is quite probable, that there might have been clefts in the ceiling, which might admit air without admitting light ; although Mr. Mariner could discover none, even by swimming up each of the chambers with the torch in his hand. He, however, bears testimony, expressly, to the purity of the air during his visit to the retreat, so that we will not reject the narrative on that account. 270 THE OCEAN. The islands of the third class differ greatly in appearance and structure from those of either of the preceding. Abundant traces of their volcanic origin show that they have been elevated from the bed of the ocean, by the resistless energy of fire, which has given a bold and irregular form to their rocky mountains that greatly increases the romantic VOLCANIC ISLAND. beauty of their scenery. Every visitor to the South Seas has spoken in eulogy of these lovely islands. The highly wrought descriptions given in Cook's voyages, are declared by recent writers to be no whit beyond the reality. Instead of the long low coral island- with its o'rove of cocoa-nut trees alip.ost THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 271 eatly in either of volcanic from the of fire, to their romantic le South islands. I Cook's 0 be no long low !s almost springing from the water's edge, these islands rise up from the sea in tall cliffs, or gentle slopes, while the towering mountains of the interior, wooded to their summits, pierce the clouds. " The mountains frequently diverge in short ranges from the interior towards the shore, though some rise Hkc pyramids with pointed summits, and others present a conical or sugar-loaf form, while the outline of several is regular, and almost circular." In some places the mountain-ranges terminate in abrupt precipices frowning over the Pacific, that frets and foams below ; in others, there is a broad belt of level land, of the most fertile character, and rich in the various productions of a tropical region. To these are now added charms of another character. When visited by Cook, there was the loveliness and mag- nificence of Nature, but that was all ; man was evil ; plunged in the grossest idolatry, cruelty, and licen- tiousness, he strangely contrasted with the scenes around him : but, now that the glad tidings of sal- vation through the Lord Jesus Christ have been, by the grace of God, made known to them, how incomparably is the scene enhanced ! The wretched hat is exchanged for the neat and picturesque cot- tage ; cultivated fields and pleasant gardens chequer the mountain sides ; the sound of the axe and ham- mer has replaced the savage war-cry, and the peace- ful people flock to the worship of the true God, instead of a licentious dance beforfe a hideous idol. O, how far does the moral beauty of such a change as this, exceed the beauty of mere natural scenery, though it be lovely as is that of Tahiti ! Captain 272 THE OCEAN. Gambier has thus described his emotions on visit- ing these scenes : " After passing the reef of coral which forms the harbour, astonishment and delieht kept us silent for some moments, and were succeeded by a burst of unqualified approbation at the scene before us. We were in an excellent harbour, upon whose shores industry and comfort were plainly per- ceptible ; for in every direction, white cottages, pre- cisely English, were seen peeping from amongst the rich foliage, which everjrwhere clothes the lowland in these islands. Upon various little elevations be- yond these, were others, which gave extent and animation to the whole. The point on the left, in going in,* is low, and covered with wood, with several cottages along the shore. On the right, the high land of the interior slopes down with gentle, gradual descent, and terminates in an ele- vated point, which juts out into the harbour, form- ing two little bays. The principal and largest is to the left, viewing them from seaward ; in this, and extending up the valley, the village is situ- ated. The other, which is small, has only a few houses; but so quiet, so retired, that it seems the abode of peace and perfect content. Industry flou- rishes here. The chiefs take a pride in building their own houses, which are now all after the Euro- pean manner ; and think meanly of themselves, if they do not excel the lower classes in the arts ne- cessary for their construction. Their wives, also, surpass their inferiors in making cloth. The queen * The captain is speaking of the harbour of Fa-re, in the island of Huaheine. THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 273 and her daughter-in-law, dressed in the English fashion, received us in their neat little cottage. " The sound of industry was music to my ears. Hammers, saws, and adzes, were heard in every direction. Houses in frame met the eye in all parts, in different stages of forwardness. Many boats, after our manner, were building, and lime burning for cement and whitewashing. " I walked out to the point forming the division between the two bays. When I had reached it, I sat down to enjoy the sensations created by the lovely scene before me. I cannot describe it ; but it possessed charms independent of the beautiful scenery and rich vegetation. The blessings of Chris- tianity were difiused among the fine people who in- habited it ; a taste for industrious emplojrment had taken deep root ; a praiseworthy emuk Ion to ex- cel in the arts which contribute to their welfare and comfort, had seized upon all, and in consequence civilization was advancing vdth rapid strides." The volcanic islands, like the first described class, are protected from the fury of the tempestuous ocean, by the natural rampart of a coral reef. The reef is often a mile and a half, or two miles from the beach, though sometimes it approaches so close as to be connected with it, interrupting in that part the continuity of the lagoon. The usual width of the coral rock is from five to twenty or thirty yards ; yet over this the waves usually break, and when rolling in upon an unbroken line of reef, perhaps two miles in length, the spectacle is one of surpassing grandeur and beauty. The N 5 ^74 THE OCEAN. BOLABOLA. island of Bolabola, however, is surrounded by a ring of land almost unbroken, on which are grow- ing groves of cocoa-nuts ; the reef bemg wholly elevated above the sea. The openings in the reefs in the larger islands are almost invariably placed opposite the mouth of a river. One can readily understand, that a current of fresh water would be detrimental to the health of a poljrpe formed for living in the sea, and therefore the openings here might have been expected. But this effect is increased by the- sedi- THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 275 [ by a grow- wholly islands mouth that a to the le sea, ! been y sedi- ment deposited, as has already been observed in speaking of the coral islands. The little green wood- ed islets, which serve as gateways here, as in the former case, are susceptible of ready explanation. Where a river empties itself, a great quantity of vegetable matter, rubbish, and earth, is perpetually carried down, and this would naturally be deposited at the shallows on either side, where the stream met the boiling waves of the ocean. The heap would very soon be raised, by accumulations, above the surface of the tide, decomposition would take place, seeds v/ashed down would spring up, and, under a tropical climate, the young soil would speedily be clothed with trees and shrubs. In the small isles where there is no efflux of fresh water, the process would be more protracted, but not es- sentially different : the current driven in through the aperture, would bring sea-weeds, and the float- ing matters washed off the land, and when the soil was once raised above the surface, though com- posed of but sand and pulverized coral, the cocoa- nut would grow and thrive. It is remarkable to see this graceful pahn rising from the very sea-sand, where its roots are daily wet with salt-water, yet towering to the height of seventy feet, throwing out its elegant plumose fronds, and producing its clusters of flowers and fruit, as luxuriantly as if it were growing in the rich alluvial valleys of the interior. These little fairy islets, so useful as well as ornamental, give a very peculiar character to the prospects from the land. " Detiv- ri from the large islands, and viewed in connexion with the ocean 276 THE OCEAN. rolling through the channel on the one side, or the foaming billows dashing, and roaring, and breaking over the reef on the other, they appear like emerald gems of the ocean, contrasting their solitude and verdant beauty with the agitated element sporting in grandeur around." Upon the mind of an European, the sailing in a small vessel through one of these sheltered la- goons, hap a most novel and interesting effect. The shore, on the one hand, presenting its shifting as- pects of beauty, as the boat skims past ; the con- volvulus and other brilliant creeping plants entwin- ed about the dark rocks, or trailing in unrestrained wildness over the sands ; the solema- groves, now revealing their sombre and shady retreats, now pro- jecting their massy foliage in full sunlight; the valuable bread-fruit (Artocarpus), the light and ele- gant aito (Casuarina), the magnificent tamanu (Cal- lophyllum), with its glossy evergreen leaves, the hutu {Barringtonia), of giant height, adorned with large flowers of white and pink, are relieved by the coral- tree {Erythrina), with its light green waving leaves a id bunches of scarlet blossoms, and the hoary fo- liage of the candle-nut {Alurites). The cocoa-nut, always beautiful, whether growing alone or in groves, but particularly pleasing when seen planted around a neat whitewashed cottage, in company with the broad-leaved plantain or banana; the light tree-ferns displaying their elegant tracery against the sky, the native chestnut {Tuscarpus) rearing its stately head above its fellows, and marking the position of a run- ning stream ; these and many other trees of beauty THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 277 and usefulness strike the eye of a stranger. Sea- ward, there is the long line of the reef; a low but impregnable barrier, with the surging wave foaming over it ; and beyond, the boundless Pacific, unbroken by any object, save the white-sailed canoe in the distance, scarcely distinguishable from the crest of a wave, but perhaps freighted with the hum bis native missionary, bearing, to some neighbouring island, that gospel of Christ, which he has found to be " the power of God unto [his] salvation." Beneath and around is the placid and lake-like lagoon, the progress of the boat alone dimpling its smooth face. So transparent is the water, that the varied bottom is distinctly visible many fathoms do'vn, showing the groves of living coral branching in fantastic imitation of the shrubs and trees on the shore, and representing to the charmed imagi- nation an extensive sub-marine shrubbery of many hues. Even the irregular movements of the spined urchins {Echini) are clearly seen, as they crawl upon the sands, and the multitudes of playful little rock- fishes {Lahri), of every rich and glowing tint, gliding with easy and graceful motion among the branches, rivet the spectator's attention. Mr. Ellis thus describes his feelings in a similar situation, walking on the lonely sea-beach by moon- light : " The evening was fair, the moon shone brightly, and her mild beams, silvering the foliage of the shrubs that grew near the shore, and playing on the rippled and undulating wave of the ocean, added a charm to the singularity of the prospect, and enlivened the loneliness of our situation. The ! 278 THE OCEAN. scene was unusually impressive. On one side, the mountains of the interior, having their outline edged, as it were, with silver from the rays of the moon, rose in lofty magnificence, while the indistinct form, rich and diversified verdure, of the shrubs and trees, increased the effect of the scene. On the other hand was the illimitable sea, rolling in solemn ma- jesty its swelling waves over the rocks which de- fended the spot on which we stood. The most pro- found silence prevailed, and we might have fancied that we were the only beings in existence; for no sound was heard, excepting the gentle rustling of the leaves of the cocoa-nut tree, as the light breeze from the mountain swept through them ; or the hollow roar of the surf, and the rolling of the foaming wave, as it broke over the distant reef, and the splashing of the paddle of our canoe, as it approached the shore. If was impossible, at such a season, to behold this scene, exhibiting im- pressively the grandeur of creation, and the insig- nificance of man, without experiencing emotions of adoring wonder and elevated devotion, and exclaim- ing with the Psalmist, *When I consider thy hea- vens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained; what is man, that thou art mindful of him, or the son of man, that thou visitest him ? ' " * The same pleasing writer has given us a vivid pic- ture of the emotions awakened by passing a night upon the open sea in a small boat. He was pro- ceeding from the island Eimeo to Huaheine : " No- * Polynesian Researches, 2nd Ed. vol. ii. p. 245. THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 279 thing can exceed the solemn stillness of a night at sea within the tropics, when the. wind is light, and the water comparatively smooth. Few periods and situations, amid the diversified circumstances of human life, are equally adapted to excite con- templation, or to impart more elevated conceptions of the Divine Being, and more just impressions of the insignificancy and dependence of man. In order to avoid the vertical rays of a tropical sun, and the painful effects of the reflection from the water, many of my voyages among the Georgian and So- ciety islands have been made during the night. At these periods I have often been involuntarily brought under the influence of a train of thought and feel- ling peculiar to the season and the situation, but never more powerfully so than on the present oc- casion. " The night was moonless, but not dark. The stars increased in number and variety as the even- ing advanced, until the whole firmament was over- spread with luminaries of every magnitude and bril- liancy. The agitation of the sea had subsided, and the waters around us appeared to unite with the indistinct, though visible, horizon. In the heaven and the ocean, all powers of vision were lost; while the brilliant lights in the one being reflected from the surface of the other, gave a correspondence to the appearance of both, and almost forced the il- lusion on the mind, that our little bark was sus- pended in the centre of two united hemispheres. " The perfect quietude that surrounded us was equally impressive. No objects were visible but the 280 THE OCEAN. lamps of heaven and the luminous appearances of the deep. The silence was only broken by the murmurs of the breeze passing through our matting sails, or the dashing of the spray from the bows of our boat, excepting at times, when we heard, or fancied we heard, the blowing of a shoal of porpoises, or the more alarming sounds of a spouting whale. " At a season such as this, when I have reflected on our actual situation, so far removed in the event of any casualty from human observation and assistance, and preserved from certain death only by a few feet of thin board, which my own unskilful hands had nailed together, a sense of the wakeful care of the Almighty has alone afforded composure. " The contemplation of the heavenly bodies, al- though they exhibit the wisdom and majesty of God, who * bringeth out their host by number, and call- eth them all by names, by the greatness of His might,' impressed at the same time the conviction that I was far from home, and those scenes which in memory were associated with a starlight evening in the land I had left. Many of the stars which I had beheld in England were visible here : the constellations of the zodiac, the splendours of Orion, and the mild twinkling of the Pleiades, were seen ; but the northern pole-star, the steady beacon of juvenile astronomical observation, the Great Bear, and much that was peculiar to a northern sky, were wanting. The effect of mental associations, con- nected with the appearance of the heavens, is sin- gular and impressive. During a voyage which I subsequently made to the Sandwich Islands, many THE PACIFIC OCEAN. ^81 a pleasant hour was spent in watching the rising of those luminaries of heaven, which we had been ac- customed to behold in our native land, but which for many years had been invisible. When the polar star rose above the horizon, and Ursa Major, with other familiar constellations, appeared, we hailed them as long absent friends; and could not but feel that we were nearer England than when we left Tahiti, simply from beholding the stars that had enlivened our evening excursions at home."* A stranger is forcibly struck with the remark- able fearlessness which the natives of these islands have of the sea. They appear almost as amphi- bious as seals, sporting about in the deep sea for many hours, sometimes for nearly a whole day together. No sooner does a ship approach a large island, than the inhabitants swim off to wel- come her ; and long before she begins to take in sail, she is surrounded by human beings of both sexes, apparently as much at home in the ocean, as the fishes themselves. The children are taken to the water when but a day or two old, and many are able to swim as soon as they are able to walk. In coasting along the shore, it is a rare thing to pass a group of cottages, at any hour of the day, without seeing one or more bands of children joy- ously playing in the sea. They have several dis- tinct games which are played in the water, and which are followed with exceeding avidity, not only by children, but by the adult population. One of these is the fastening of a long board or pole on * Poly. Res. iii. 164. 282 THE OCEAN. a sort of stage, where the rocks are abrupt, in such a manner that it shall project far over the water : then they chase one another along the board, each in turn leaping from the end into the sea. They are also fond of diving from the yard-arms or bowsprit of a ship. But the most favourite pastime of all, and one in which all classes and ages, and both sexes, engage with peculiar delight, is swimming in the surf. Mr. Ellis has seen some of the highest chiefs, between fifty and sixty years of age, large and cor- pulent men, engage in this game with as much interest as children. A board about six feet long, and a foot wide, slightly thinner at the edges than at the middle, is prepared for this amusement, stain- ed and polished, and preserved with great care by being constantly oiled, and hung up in their dwel- lings. With this in his hand, which he calls the wave-sliding board, each native repairs to the reef, particularly when the sea is running high, and the surf is dashing in with more than ordinary violence, as on such occasions the pleasure is the greater. They choose a place where the rocks are twenty or thirty feet under water, and shelve for a quarter of a mile or more out to sea. The waves break at this distance, and the whole space between it and the shore is one mass of boiling foam, Each person now swims, pushing his board before him, out tf sea, diving under the waves as they curl and break, until he is arrived outside the rocks. He now lays himself flat on his breast along his board, and waits the. , v/proach of a huge billow ; when it comes, he iaC/ .itly balances himself on its sum- ^ THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 283 mit, and paddling with his hands, is home on tl»o crest of the advancing wave, amidst the foam and spray, till within a yard or two of the shore or rocks. Then, when a stranger expects to see him the next moment dashed to death, he slides off his board, and catching it by the middle, dives sea- ward under the Nwive, and comes up behind, laugh- ing and whooping, again to swim out as before. The utmost skill is required in coming in, to keep the position on the top of the wave; for, if the board get too forward, the swimmer will be over- turned and thrown upon the beach; and, if it fall behind, he will be buried beneath the succeeding wave : yet some of the natives are so expert as to sit, and even to stand upright upon their board, while it is thus riding in the foam. Their sport is, however, not unfrequently disturbed by the appearance of a shark. This terrific animal is particularly abundant among the South Sea Islands, and remarkably bold and ferocious. The cry of " a Shark 1" among the surf swimmers, will instantly set them in the utmost terror, and generally they fly with precipitation to the shore ; though sometimes they unite, and endeavour to frighten him away with their shouting and splashing. Often, however, the animal is too determined lightly to give up his prey, as was the case in the following instance recorded by Mr. Richards of the Sandwich Islands. " At nine o'clock in the morning of June 14th, 1826, while sitting at my writing-desk, I heard a simultaneous scream from multitudes of people, * Pau i ka mano !' (Destroyed by the shark !) The 284 THE OCEAN. beach was instantly lined by hundreds of persons^ and a few of the most resolute threw a large canoe into the water, and, alike regardless of the shark WHITE SHARK. THE ATTITDDE OF THE FIHH IN TAKINO ITS PRBT. and the high rolling surf, sprang to the relief of their companion. It was too late; the shark had already seized his prey. The affecting sight was only a few yards from my door, and, while I stood watching, a large wave almost filled the canoe, and at the same instant a part of the mangled body was seen at the bow of the canoe, and the shark sv/im- ming towards it at her stern. When the swell had 1 1 THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 285 rolled by, the water was too shallow for the Shark to swim. The remains, therefore, were taken into the canoe, and brought ashore. The water was so much stained by the blood, that we discovered a red tinge in all the foaming billows, as they ap- proached the bear^h. " The unhappy sufferer was an active lad about fourteen years old, who left my doer only about half an hour previous to the fatal accident. I saw his mother, in the extremity of her anguish, plunge into the water, and swim towards the bloody spot, entirely forgetful of the power of her former god.* " A number of people, perhaps a hundred, were at this time playing in the surf, which was higher than usual. Those who were nearest to the vic- tim, heard him shriek, perceived him to strike with his right hand, and at the same instant saw a Shark seize his arm. Then followed the cry which I heard, which echoed from one end of Latraina to the other. All who were playing in the water made the utmost speed to the shore, and those who were standing on the beach saw the surf-board of the unhappy sufferer floating on the water, without any one to guide it. When the canoe reached the spot, they saw nothing but the blood with which the water was stained for a considerable distance, and by which they traced the remains whither they had been carried by the Shark or driven by the swell. The body was cut in two by the Shark, just " The Shark was formerly worshipped in the Sandwich Islands. 286 THE OCEAN. above the hips: and the lower part, together with the right arm, was gone." * A dreadful instance of the voracity of these for- midable animals occurred a few years ago among the Society Islands. Upwards of thirty natives were passing from one island to another, in a large double canoe, which consists of two canoes fastened toge- ther, side by side, by strong horizontal beams, lash- ed to the gunwales by cordage. Being overtaken by a storm, the canoes were torn apart, and were incapable, singly, of floating upright. In vain the crew attempted to balance them, they were every moment overturned. Their only resource was to form a hasty raft of such loose boards and spars as were in the craft, on which they hoped to drift ashore. But it happened, from the small size of their raft, and their aggregated weight, that they were so deep in the water, that the waves washed above their knees. Tossed about thus, they soon became exhausted with hunger and fatigue ; when the Sharks began to collect around them, and soon had the boldness to seize one and another from the raft, who being destitute of any weapon of defence, became an easy prey. The number and audacity of these monsters every moment increased, and the forlorn wretches were one by one torn off", until, but two or three remaining, the raft at length, light- ened of its load, rose to the surface, and placed the survivors beyond the reach of their terrible assailants. The tide at length bore them to one of the islands, a melancholy remnant, to tell the sad fate of their companions. * American Missionary Herald. THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 287 With such simple vessels as were used by these people, it is surprising that such accidents did not •more frequently occur. When we consider that, before their intercourse with Europeans, they pos- sessed no metal tools, that their work was perform- ed wholly by the eye, without line, rule, or square, and that the seams were closed merely by, as it were, tying the planks to each other with cinet, it does seem surprising that their canoes could even live in a sea. Yet they were strong and secure, and many of them remarkably dry and comfortable, leaking very little, for they were accustomed to insert between the seams the cocoa-nut husk, which always swells when wetted; and the expansion of this substance closed the crevices neatly. Their craft, though varying much in size and minor points, according to the purposes for which they were intended, were built nearly on the same model; the stem and stern generally being curved upwards,' so as to project out of water. As they were much higher than wide, they needed some contrivance to obtain uprightness ; and this they secured, either by lashing two together by cross-beams, making the double canoe just now alluded to, or by means of an outrigger, which is a stout plank or spar, parallel to the side of the canoe, and fixed at some distance from the larboard side, by two horizontal poles, which connect it with the vessel. The out- rigger floats on the water, and while it remains fast, there is no possibility of capsizing. They were furnished with masts, sails made of the leaves of the pandanus. woven into sort of mat 288 THE OCEAN. rigging made of cocoa-nut fibre, wliich makes good rope. The mode in which these scattered isles were peopled is a subject of interesting discussion, as the physical character of the inhabitants, their lan- guage, and many peculiarities in their customs, seem to indicate their Asiatic origin; while, on the other hand, it was deemed highly improbable that the progress should have been made in a direction op- posed to that of the tradewind, and in such feeble craft as they possessed. But the trade-wind is occa- sionally exchanged for violent and continued gales in other directions ; and instances have come to our knowledge, in which voyages of several hun- dred miles have been performed by native canoes, directly to windward. Thus, Captain Beechey found at Byam Martin Island a native of Tahiti named Tuwarri, who, with a few companions, had sailed from Chain Island on a voyage to Tahiti; but after being out some time, he was met by a violent storm, which drove him far out of his course and knowledge. At length, after very severe pri- vations and sufferings, he arrived at Byam Martin, four hundred and twenty miles distant in a wind- ward direction from the point of embarkation.* Such involuntary emigrations as this, when we con- sider how intimately the various groups are con- nected with each other, and with the Indian Archi- pelago, seem sufficient to warrant the conclusion, that the tide of population has flowed in a direction from west to east. * Voyage to tlie Pacific, &c. THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 289 In the transparent waters of the lagoons and sheltered bays, fishes of great variety and beauty are seen; and as many of them are of large size, and of exquisite flavour, the obtaining of them torms no small part of the occupation of the Poly- nesians. Some of their modes of fishing are highly ourious and ingenious. One, which is very sue- cessful, reminds us of a wire mouse-trap. A cir- cular space in the lagoon, of about three or four yards m diameter, is enclosed by building up a wall from the bottom to the surface, in a part where It IS not very deep. In one part of the top an opening IS left a foot or two wide, and five or six inches deep. From each side of this aperture an- other stone wall, likewise reaching to the surface, IS built to the length of fifty or a hundred yards m a diverging direction, so as to include a large space of water, which is open at one end, but be- coming narrower and narrower, leads into the cir- cular pen. Fishes are usuaUy found in these traps every mormng, which are either taken out with a hand-net, or allowed to remain till wanted, as in a preserve. Many fishes, which have the hahit of springing of rafts These are from fifteen to twenty feet long, and SIX or eight feet wide, built of light wood, such as the native hibiscus. Along one side a fence ItT« •' '"'"^ *" *' ^''«^' °f fo" » five rl- ,. f "f ^ T "^ "P"^'" '*^^' i» the raft, to which slender poles are attached horizontally, one above another. A kra« ,>«rf„ „f J' ® -o- r— V "* iiicii proceed with o 290 THE OCEAN. twenty or thirty of these rafts to a shallow part of the lagoon, and then arrange themselves in a large circle, enclosing a large space of water. They then gradually narrow the circle by approaching each other, keeping the fenced edge of the raft on the outside. At this juncture a few persons go into the circle with a canoe, and beat the surface of the water violently with long white sticks, making as much commotion as possible. The fish, alarm- ed, dart away towards the rafts, and leaping out of water, endeavour to clear them ; but, striking against the perpendicular fence, they fall on the raft, and are gathered into baskets, or into canoes prepared on the outside of the circle. From the seeds of some of the native plants, a liquor is prepared, which has the property of in- toxicating fishes, and rendering them insensible. The mixture is frequently poured into the water in narrow places near the shore, or upon the reef; soon after which, the fish come out of their retreats, and float in considerable numbers on the surface as if dead, when they are caught without resist- ance. Sometimes the long leaves of the cocoa-nut are tied up in bunches, and affixed along a line, which being carried out and dropped into the water, the two ends are towed in two canoes towards the shore. This rude apology for a net, drives many fishes into the shallows, whence they are taken out with hand-nets, or speared. Nets, however, made on the same principle as our own, are manufactured by them, and are exceedingly well made. They THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 291 are of various kinds: a casting-net is used with much dexterity being thrown from the hand "er a shoal of smaU fishes, as the fisherman walks along the shore. Salmon-nets are made forty fathoms long, and are very effective; stones tied in bags of mat mg being used instead of leads, and floats of light wood for corks. Fishing with the barbed spear is a favourite amusement in these islands. Before the introduc tion ol iron, the implement was made of hard wood- ten or twelve pointed pieces being fastened to th^ end of a pole eight feet long ; but now iron heads are usually employed, barbed on one side. With these spears the natives proceed to the reef, and wade into the sea as high as their waists, their feet being defended from the sharp points of the coral and the spines of the sea-urchins by sandals made ol tough bark, twisted into cords. Stationing them- selves near an opening in the rocks, they watch the motions of the fishes, as they shoot to and fro and dart the spear, sometimes with one hand, but more commonly with both, frequently striking their prey with great dexterity. The fishermen often pursue their avocation by night; sometimes in the dark, sometimes by moonhght, but more usually by torchlight. Their torches are either large bunches of dried reeds firmly tied together, or else are made of the candle-nut {Aleuntes triloba), which the natives use to light their houses. These nuts are heart-shaped, about as arge as a walnut, and enclosed in a very hard shell. After being slightly baked in an oven, the 02 •^ 092 THE OCEAN. shell is removed, a hole bored through the kernel, and a rush passed through the hole, when they are hung up in strings for use. Torches are made by enclosing four or five strings of the nuts in the leaves of the screw-pine (Pandanus), which not only keep them together, but increase the brilliancy of the light. These nocturnal fishing expeditions are described as producing a most picturesque effect. Large par- ties of men proceed to the reef, when the sea is comparatively smooth, and hunt the totara, or hedge- hog-fish, probably a species of Diodon ; and it is a beautiful and interesting spectacle, to behold a long line of reef illuminated by the flaming torches, the light from which glares redly upon the foam- ing surf without, and the calm lagoon within. Each fisherman holds his torch in his left hand high above his head, while he poises his spear in his right, and stands with statue-like stillness, watching the approach of the fish. A similar mode of fishing is practised in the rivers, and though the circumstances are different the effect is not inferior. " Few scenes," says Mr. Ellis, " present a more striking and singular effect, than a band of natives walking along the shallow parts of the rocky sides of a river, elevating a torch with one hand and a spear in the other ; while the glare of their torches is thrown upon the over-hang- ing boughs, and reflected from the agitated surface of the stream. Their own bronze-coloured, and lightly- clothed forms, partially illuminated, standing like figures in relief; while the whole scene appears in THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 293 ! kernel, en they ire made ts in the not only iancy of lescribed irge par- te sea is »r hedge- md it is behold a torches, 16 foam- 1. Each gh above lis right, hing the I in the different says Mr. ar effect, 1 shallow g a torch vhile the ;rer-hang- mrface of i lightly, ling like jpears in bright contrast with the dark and almost midnight gloom that envelopes every other object." * Another mode of fishing by torchlight is describ- ed by the late Mr. Williams, who accompanied some natives of Atiu on an excursion. The object of the pursuit was the flying-fish, which is only taken by night. Double canoes were used, which having been dragged from the rocks, thirty feet above the level of the water, down a broad sloping ladder, were launched over the surf. A torch was lighted, and the principal fisherman took his station on the fore FISHING BY TORCHLIGHT. part of the canoe, bearing a ring-net attached to a hght pole twelve o- fifteen feet long. The rowers * Poly. Res. i. 150. 294 THE OCEAN, I ! now commenced paddling with all their might, while the headsman produced a great noise by stamping on the hollow box of the canoe. The flying-fish, which were securely feeding at the outer edge of the reef, terrified by the noise and splashing of the oars, darted out to sea. The torch answered a double purpose; enabling the headsman to discern his prey, and dazzling the eyes of the fishes ; and as they dashed past the canoe, on the surface of the water, he thrust forward his net, and turned it over upon them. Many of the natives have ac- quired great skill in this exercise, and the quick- ness of their sight, and the celerity of their move- ments are astonishing ; so that sometimes vast quan- tities of fish are taken in this manner.* A large number of fishes are taken with the hook, as by more cultivated nations; and with all the su- periority in art, and all the advantage of metals possessed by Europeans, the native-made hooks are preferred, as far more efiective than ours. Many of them are really beautiful productions, and when we consider their total want of metallic tools, ex- cite our astonishment rt the skill and ingenuity of the manufacturers. Our hooks are all made on one pattern, however varying in size ; but the forms of theirs are exceedingly various, and made of dif- ferent substances, viz., wood, shell, and bone. " The hooks made with wood are curious; some are ex- ceedingly small, not more than two or three inches in length, but remarkably strong, others are large. The wooden hooks are never barbed, but simply • Missionary Enterprises, p. 270. a] e] re h. \ h ex- THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 295 pointed, usually curved inwards at the point, but sometimes standing out very wide, occasionally arm- ed at the point vnth a piece of bone. The best are hooks ingeniously made with the small roots of the aito-tree, or iron-wood {Casuarina). In selecting a root for this purpose, they choose one partially exposed, and growing by the side of a bank, preferring such as are free from knots and other excrescences. The root is twisted into the shape they wish the future hook to assume, and POLYNESIAN FISHING-TACKLE. allowed to grow till it has reached a size large enough to allow of the outside or soft parts being removed, and a sufficiency remaining to form the hook. Some hooks thus prepared are not much 296 THE OCEAN, thicker than a quill, and perhaps three or four in- ches in length. Those used in taking sharks are formidable-looking weapons ; some are a foot or fifteen inches long, exclusive of the curvatures, and not less than an inch in diameter. They are such frightful things, that no fish, less voracious than a shark, would approach them. In some the marks of the sharks' teeth are numerous and deep, and indicate the effect with which they have been used."* The most curious, as well as most serviceable hooks are made of the inner part of the shell of the pearl-oyster, or other large bivalves, the inte- rior of which is pearly, called mother-of-pearl. These have great care and pains bestowed upon them: the smaller ones are cut almost circular, and made to resemble a worm, thus answering the pur- pose of bait as well as hook. A much larger kind is that used for the capture of the albacore, bonito, and coryphene. The shank is about six inches in length, and nearly an inch in width, cut out of pearl-shell, in the shape of a small fish, and finely polished. The barb is formed separately; it is an inch and a half in length, and is firmly bound in its place by a bandage of fine flax. The line is fastened to this, and braided all along the curve of the hook, and again fastened at the head. Some- times a number of long bristles are attached to the shell to mimic the appearance of the fl3dng-fish. The line is affixed to the end of a long bamboo rod ; and the anglers sitting in the stern of a light * ElliB. THE PACIFIC OCEAN. been 297 single canoe are rowed briskly over the waves. The rod is held so that the hook shall just skim the tops of the billows; the albacore or bonito, deceived by the resemblance, leaps after the fancied flying- fish, and finds itself a prey. Twenty or thirty large fishes are occasionally taken by two men in this manner, in the course of a morning. A still more ingenious mode of deception is prac- tised upon these large fishes, by employing a swift double canoe, from the bows of which projects into the air a long curved pole resembling a crane. At some distance from the end, this divides into two .-, i,i^__.:i\^ ANGLING IN A DOUBLK CANOK. branches, which diverge from each other. The foot is secured in a sort of socket between the two canoes, and is so managed that the ends of the pole are o5 mm 298 THE OCEAN. capable of being lowered or elevated by a rope which proceeds from the fork. A man sits in the high stem, holding this rope in his hand, and watching the capture of the fishes. From the end of the pro- jecting arms depends the line, with the pearl hook fashioned to resemble the flying-fish. To increase the deception, bunches of feathers are fastened to the tips of the arms, to represent those aquatic birds which habitually follow the flying-fish in its course, to seize it in the air. The presence of these birds is so sure an indication of the position of the fish, that the fishermen hasten to the spot where they are seen hovering in the air. The canoe skims rapidly along, rising and falling on the waves, by which a similar motion is communicated to the hook, which skips along, sometimes out and some- times in the water, while the plumes of feathers flutter immediately above. The artifice rarely fails to succeed; if the bonito perceives the hook, he instantly engages in pursuit, and if he misses his grasp, perseveres until he has seized it. The mo- ment the man in the stern perceives the capture, he hoists the crane, and the fish is dragged in, and thrown into a sort of long basket, suspended between the two canoes. The crane is then lower- ed again, and all is ready for another candidate. Yet another mode of fishing, not wanting in in- genuity, is adopted by the inhabitants of the Samoa group. A number of hollow fioats, about eight inches in height, and the same in diameter, are at- tached to a stout cord, a short distance apart. To Ctach of them a line is attached, about a foot in II THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 299 length, to the end of which a piece of fish-bone is suspended by the middle. This bone is ground exceedingly sharp at each end, so that when it is seized by the fish, the points enter the mouth in contrary directions, and secure it. The floats an- swer other purposes besides the obvious one of regulating the depth of the snare, attracting the fish by the whiteness of their surface, and showing by their motion when the prey was taken. Not only in the smooth waters of the lagoon channels is the hook and line used, but in the open ocean; as, notwithstanding the frail character of their vessels, the barbarous natives of these oceanic isles are skilful and fearless in navigation. Even the terrific shark is attacked in his own element ; sometimes involved in a net, when frequently he makes havoc among the fishermen before he can be transfixed by their spears; and sometimes caught, as intimated above, with the insidious hook. The most daring you^g men, usually the chiefs, are the first to assault the monster ; while the elders watch the proceedings in their canoes from a distance, par- takers of the excitement, though no longer sharers of the heroism. The eagerness with which these expeditions are set on foot, and the ardour with which they are prosecuted are only equalled by the excited feelings of those who, in other countries, pursue the more noble objects of the chase. The fishes of these seas are, many of them, in- teresting : some of them have been already named. The Albacore and the Bonito are common in the -_^ ^»-. v.. ^..x lav i a^,iiic, ana «ire bom members 300 THE OCEAN. of the Mackarel family. They are of considerable size, but the Albacore {Scomber Germo) is the larger, sometimes being found six feet in length. Like its relative, our own Mackarel, it is a fish of much elegance, and its colours are beautiful. The back is bright azure, with a golden tint; the belly and sides silvery with rainbow reflections like mother- of-pearl, and the small notched fins near the tail are bright yellow. In slight winds, when the mo- tion of a ship is slow, these fishes are usually to be seen around her ; if she be becalmed, and con- sequently motionless, they remain at some little distance, when the most tempting bait is ineffec- tual; but if she be sailing rapidly before a brisk breeze, they pertinaciously keep her company, keep- ing close alongside, and seizing the hook with avir dity. The Albacore, as already hinted, is one of the hunters of the little Flying-fish. It is said to be highly interesting to watch one of these fishes keenly engaged in pursuit of its volatile prey; to mark the precision with which it keeps exactly be- neath during the aerial leaps of the victim, keeping it steadily in sight, prepared to snap it up, on the instant of its submersion. The Flying-fish, how- ever, by its exceeding agility, darting again into the air in a moment, sometimes contrives to escape the fearful jaws of its adversary. The Albacore, in its turn, has occasion to exer- cise cunning and contrivance, to evade the attacks of a still mightier foe. Mr. F. D. Bennett mentions that, on one occasion, " the Albacore around the ship afforded us an extraordinary spectacle; they erable iarger, ike its much ! back y and other- le tail e mo- lly to 1 con- little leffec- brisk keep- h avir )ne of laid to fishes jy; to tly be- eeping jn the how- [1 into escape exer- ittacks jntions id the ; they THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 301 were coUected close to the keel of the vessel, in one dense mass of extraordinary depth and breadth, and swam with an appearance of trepidation and watchfulness. The cause of this unusual commo- tion was visible in a Sword-fish lurking astern, awaitmg a favourable opportunity to rush upon his prey when they should be unconscious of danger or away from the protection of the ship. The as- sembled Albacore continued, in the meantime, to pass under the keel of the vessel from one side to the other, often turning simultaneously on their side to look for the enemy; their abdomens glittering in the sun as a wide expanse of dazzling silver. It was evident that the Sword-fish desired but a clear field for his exertions ; and in the course of the day we observed him make several dashes amongst the shoal, with a velocity which produced a loud rushing sound in the sea; his body, which when tranquil was of a dull brown colour assuming at these times an azure hue."* Mr. Bennett conjectures, with much probabiHty, that it IS as a protection against the attacks of the bword-fish, that Albacore and other fishes so often attach themselves to a ship, or the body of a whale • the vicinity of so large a body being sufficient to' deter the former from making his impetuous thrusts among the shoal, lest his bony weapon being driven into the solid substance by the violence of his as- sault, he might not be able to retract it. Instances are not rare, however, in which the Sword-fish perhaps forgetting his usual caution, (for he is re- * Whaling Voyage, vol. i. p. 270. m '^mmm^ 302 THE OCEAN. puted a very cautious fish,) has left his sword in the hull of a ship. The Foxhound, a South Sea whaler, was cruising in the Pacific in 1817, when one day, when most of the crew were below at dinner, a loud splashing was suddenly heard in the sea by a New Zealander on deck, *vho, on looking over the side, saw a large dark body sinking, and immediately gave the alarm of a man overboard. The crew, however, were found to be complete, and the occurrence passed over. Soon after, one of the men observed a rugged object projecting from the vessel's side, which, on examination, proved to be the snout of a Sword-fish, with part of the head attached ; broken oif by the fracture of the skull. On the vessel's arrival at Sidney, the pro- jecting part was sawn off, after vain endeavours to extract the weapon ; and at the conclusion of the voyage, the pierced wood was taken out and placed in the British Museum. It is worthy of observation that, with very few exceptions, the immense population of the ocean is carnivorous. The principal circumstance that re- gulates the choice of diet among fishes, seems to be the power of mastery. Of terrestrial creatures, a very large number are peaceful, never, under or- dinary circumstances, willingly taking the life of even the most helpless around them ; but the sea is a vast slaughter-house, where nearly every inha- bitant dies a violent death, and finds a grave in the maw of his fellow. We have just seen the Sword- fish preying upon the Albacore, and the Albacore upon the Flying-fish ; while the Flying-fish itself, THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 303 of ol A ^/^^«^i*^> i« the greedy devouier of other fishes smaUer than itself. Yet, let us not arraign the providence of God, as if it were cruel and unkind : a sudden termination of existence is the most merciful mode, as far as we can conceive, checked "'^^'^'''^ °^ ^"'""^^ ^^^ '"^^ h^ " Harsh seems the ordinance, that life by life Should be sustain'd ; and yet when all must die, And be like water spilt upon the ground, Which none can gather up,-the speediest fate. Though violent and terrible, is best. 0 with what horrors would creation groan, What agonies would ever be before us,— Famine and pestilence, disease, despair. Anguish and pain in every hideous shape. Had aU to wait the slow decay of Nature ! Life were a martyrdom of sympathy ; Death, lingering, raging, writhing, shrieking torture ; 1 he gr. vould be abolished ; this gay world A vallej .. dry bones, a Golgotha, In which the living stumbled o'er the dead TiU they could fall no more, and blind perdition bwept frail mortaUty away for ever. 'Twas wisdom, mercy, goodness that ordain'd Life in such infinite profusion,— Death So sure, so prompt, so multiform to those That never sinn'd, that know not guilt, that fear No wrath to come, and have no heaven to lose."* Before we leave these charming regions, we will for a moment notice a few other of the various tribes of hving beings that make the sea their home A the shoreU. Tt is Jj^.::C7^ * Pelican Island. BE 304 THE OCEAN. ference, of a dull brown hue, the body and legs entirely covered with stiff, curved bristles. It covers itself with decaying vegetable rubbish, mud, sand, &c., and thus lies in ambush for it? Dassing piey. Thus masked, it maintains its as character by the most sluggish movements, a.i :i the JHtle heap were slightly moved by the tide ; but when taken into the hand, or otherwise alarmed, it can be sufficiently active. The spines upon its bo^y to retain the rubbish, the short but strong claws easily concealed, the eyes placed at the end of long footstalks, curviiig upwards, and thus raised above the mass, show beautiful adaptations of its struc- ture to its economy. Another crab of the reef {Calappa tuberculata), makes use of another artifice for concealment. It is heart-shaped, with the margin of its shell pro- jecting broadly. When alarmed, it draws its feet under the margin, and folds them close to its side, claps its broad flat claws upon its head, and lies motionless, in which state it may be handled with- out manifesting any sign of life. A sailor seeing one of these little crabs on the shore, picked it up, and after admiring it awhile, put it into his pocket as a " curious stone;" he was presently astonished by the efforts of his prize to escape from durance vile. On the barrier reefs are found elegant animal- flowers {Diazona) expanding their numerous tenta- cles of pink and white, which form a wide circular disk, at the summit of a round fleshy stem. If touched, or otherwise alarmed, they rapidly fold in- wards their beautiful tentacles, and sink to the rock, THE PACIFIC OCEAN. SOS contracting to a very diminutive size, so as easily to elude observation. The same reefs are enUvS aUo by numbers of another species of Sea-aneZe £ wlf",*"* ""'"' ''"^^ "^-- of *« -" When r ". r^'l' °' """^ °f "'<>« «^Pan^. 01 the sun, they display a series of squares with elevated margins, the interior being of a br^ green, the exterior of a fawn colour These "iso ::^TLZ7'ir t^"^"'-' touch, zt: entire helds of them, bemg connected toeether bv a common fleshy disk upon the rock, are' ch^^ged n a moment, as if by magic, from brilliant grfen to duU brown, which- again, as they recover from their alarm, .s soon replaced by the verdant hue. served in the Pacific, several of which have the power of making long leaps out of the water, even to the same height and distance as the flying-fish whence these kinds are denominated by^seLen' Ryuig Squid. One of these, which appeL to h^ve been an Onychoteuthk, is described by Mr F D Bennett^ as having fallen, in one of its leap;, upon the deck of the ship in which he was sailing. The whde class to which these animals belong! is re! markable for the powerful apparatus with wtich the anunals are endowed for seizing prey, in the nume- rous long and flexible arms, fu^shed with cl. lie suckers which forcibly adhere to any object at the wdl of the creature. But the genus W mentioned IS favoured above its fellows, for, in ad- dition to the usual structure, there is placed in each 306 THE OCEAN. sucker-cup of the long feet, a sharp projecting hook. On the smooth and glossy scales of fishes, lubricated with slime, it might not be always easy at once to create a vacuum ; but these hooks are plunged by the action of the sucker into the flesh of the struggling victim, whereby a firm hold is obtained, and the prey is dragged to the powerful beak. Some of these animals frequent the crevices and holes of the rocks, whence they protrude their long arms for the capture of prey. They form an ac- ceptable article of food to the South-Sea islanders, who have exercised their ingenuity in devising a mode of entrapping them. The instrument employ- ed for this purpose is described as a straight piece of hard wood, a foot long, round, and polished, and not half an inch in diameter. Near one end of this, a number of the most beautiful pieces of the cowry, or tiger-shell, are fastened one over another like the scales of a fish or the plates of a piece of armour, until it is about the size of a turkey's egg, and resembles the cowry. It is suspended in a horizontal position, by a strong line, and lowered by the fisherman from a small canoe, until it nearly reaches the bottom. The fisherman then gently jerks the line, causing the shell to move as if inhabit- ed by an animal. The Cuttle, deceived by the ap- pearance of the supposed cowry, (for no bait is used,) darts out one of its arms, which it winds aroimd the shell, adhering fast by its suckers. The fish- erman continues jerking the line, and the Cuttle strengthens its hold by affixing more of its arms. THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 307 until Its adhesion is very strong, when, rather than quit Its prey, it permits itself to be dragged from lured.*'"' '"^ *^' '"'^^'' '^ '^' """*"'' ""^ ^^P- There are certain species of oceanic birds, which It IS difficult to identify with any particular region, as they are true cosmopolites. The Tropic-birds, Albatrosses Terns, Petrels, and Boobies, are of this extended character, following and attending the voy- ager for many thousands of miles, and even from one ocean into another. Yet there are certain, though somewhat indefinite, limits to their range ; limits governed, however, by climate, rather than by InZt ^T;^^""- Thus the Dusky Albatross {Dzomedea fuhgtnosa) was observed by Captain Beechey to be numerous in the Atlantic froni the k''.nt 1 f '" '^' ^"'^'^^^ °^ ^^° ««"th ; when It suddenly disappeared; but after rounding Cape col\tf clilf ' ""' ^^"^^^^^ ^^~ ^"'P ^^^ The Tropicbirds {Phaeton) in like manner, as their name imports, chiefly frequent the ocean within the tropics; and according to the statements of all voyagers, are very rarely seen beyond the paraUel 1 «97 *T . ^ ""T^^ *° Newfoundland, however, in 1 ; . / frequently saw the Tropic-bird, though our latitude during the whole voyage wa. not so low as 40 . Elevated in the air far above the mast- Head, the long projecting tail-feathers, looking like a smgle slender shaft, while it turns its head to * Ellis. ■ 308 THE OCEAN. and fro, as on suspended wing it examines the ves- sel below, it is not liable to be confounded with any other ocean-bird. The seamen have given it the name of " boatswain ;" perhaps on account of its shrill whistling note, like the official call of that authoritative personage ; or, as I was told, because it carries a marline-spike. This was, doubtless, P. jEtherius ; which has the feathers of the tail white, but the "Pacific species (P. Phoenicurm) is much more handsome, the tail being scarlet. They are thoroughly ocean-birds, rarely approaching the land except to lay and hatch their eggs. The Red-tailed Phaeton excavates a hollow in the sand for this purpose, beneath the shade of bushes, where she lays one egg : the islanders frequently take the old birds from the nest, for the tail feathers, which are highly esteemed. The Albatrosses are large birds, being but little inferior to a swan in size. The floating carcass of a whale affords a rich feast to many sea-birds, among which these are pre-eminent, now swooping in the air, now alighting on the body, now swimming and feeding on the fragments of oily fat that escape; now screaming harshly as they quarrel for the offal. They are powerfully endued for flight, and make vast excursions from land, ranging through the whole Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. I have already alluded to the singular manner in which the body of a sea-bird is penetrated by air. Mr. Bennett records a very curious circumstance resulting from this structure, in the case of a bird allied to the albatross, taken in the Pacific Ocean. II THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 309 It was shot in the wing, and brought on board alive, fighting savagely with its beak and feet. With a view to preserving its plumage uninjured, I en- deavoured to destroy the bird by compress ng hs windpipe, but found that as the breathing becUe laborious, a loud whistling sound was emitted from somepart of thebody, and upon close investigatio" meed It to the bone of the wing, which was^ra.^ admitted withm its tube a forcible current of air whenever the lungs made an effort at respiration ': the bird was, in fact, breathing through its broken wing ; and so sufficient was the supply of air the lungs received through this novel channel, that I w^ weaned by my attempts to suffocate my prize and was compelled to destroy it in another man^ •IXwP* „f^b"^,r' "'"' '*'".'""* *" ™"«'"«'' narratives 1 R i J7^7' " *■'""'"" ^''^ the name of the Booby (Sula fusca), so named by seamen from ll^fTTl* "^T^"^ "^^ familiarity, suffering it- self to be knocked down with a stick or takenlvith the hand when it aUghts, as it often does, on the spars or shrouds of a vessel. This habit seems quite unaccountable; many other birds have manifested a similar fearlessness of man when first discovered bu tbT^T T'' ""' ""^"^'y "^ precaution but the Booby will manifest the same unnatural Oneness after being long accustomed to the crueltv of man It does not arise from helplessness, as it IS a bu:d of powerful wing, Uke its relative the com- • Wlaliiig Voyage, i. 260. 310 THE OCEAN. mon gannet ; neither is it a sufficient explanation to affirm, as is sometimes done, that it arises from a peculiar difficulty in rising to flight after alight- ing, because it is not unfrequently caught in the air by the hand ; so incautiously does it approach man. Notwithstanding this apparent stupidity, the Booby is a dextrous fisher"; hovering over a shoal of fishes, he eagerly watches their motions, turning his head from side to side in a very ludicrous manner ; he presently sees one of the unwary group approach the surface, down he pounces like a stone, plung- ing into the wave, which boils into foam with the shock. Nor fails he to seize the scaly victim, with which he emerges into the air, and soon it is lodged whole in his capacious stomach. But the Frigate- bird {Tachypetes aquilus) has watched the proceed- ing, and instantly betakes himself to the pursuit; flight is vain from the swiftest ranger of the ocean, whose extended wings measure a width of seven feet. The Frigate swooping dovm upon the unfor- tunate Booby, compels him to disgorge the fish which he has just swallowed, and which, long ere it can reach the water, is seized, and again devoured by the oppressor. The Frigate-bird neither swims nor dives; the seamen fully believe that it even sleeps upon the wing ] whether this be so or not, there is good evidence that the same individuals vdll remain in the air for several successive days ; they are never known to alight on a vessel. Though the chase of the Booby is so usual as to be considered one of its constant means of dependence, yet it also fishes THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 311 for Itself, precluded, however, from plun:.-i„g i„,o the sea, ,t can take only such as, like the flying- fish, leap into another element. With such sue- eesa, however, does it attack these, that it ha^ been seen to snap up three in succession in the course of a few minutes. If. after having captured a hsh, ,t IS awkwardly placed in the beak, it hesi- Tz::i:: '"" '*■ ^^^^-^ "' ^^'^^-^ '» »^.- ^^ To the immense congregations of aquatic birds, for the purpose of hatching and rearing their young m places congenial to their habits, allusion has al- ready been made; and the following picture, vividly drawn by the pen of an accomplished naturalist, is probably not overcharged. Le VaiUant, on visiting the tomb of a Danish T"\"i ^f^'f' ^'^' "^^^ '^' Cape of Good Hope, beheld, after wading through the surf, and clambering up the rocks, such a spectacle L he supposed had never appeared to the eye of mortal. AH of a sudden there arose from the whole sur- face of the island an impenetrable cloud, which formed, at the distance of forty feet above our heads an immense canopy, or rather a sky, composed of birds of every species and of all colours ;-lcormo rants, sea-gulls, sea-swallows, peUcans, and, I be- lieve the whole winged tribe of that part of Africa wa. here assembled. AH their voices, mingled to-' gather and modified according to their Afferent kinds, formed such a horrid music, that I was every moment obhged to cover my head to give a little rehef to my ears. The alarm which we spread was II ■ 312 THE OCEAN. SO much the more general among these innumerable legions of birds, as we principally disturbed the females which were then sitting. They had nests, eggs, and yoimg to defend. They were like furious harpies let loose against us, and their cries render- ed us almost deaf. They often flew so near us, that they flapped their wings in our faces, and though we fired our pieces repeatedly, we were not able to frighten them: it seemed almost ihi- possible to disperse this cloud." I! THE INDIAN OCEAN. oTthf otL" Tf"''''^^ '"^ ^^'™^'™ *- «ther much „ .' v"' '' '°""''y '^^^ '■"Patent, ina.. much as It .s the pathway of the richest commerce of the world, the highroad on which are bornTIhl gems, and go d. and spices of the gorgeousEast It .s separated from the Pacific by that grand as semhlage of islands known as the OrientaTArch I pelago. which for their immense size, the teeming uxunance of their vegetation, and the valuallf rivals. The isles of New Guinea. Borneo, and Su- matra are the largest in the world, their soil pos- sesses a fertility that seems inexhaustible; thX pro- duce consists of the nutmeg, the clove and ofher costly spices; frankincense, camphor, and other odo r ferous gums ; diamonds, rubies, and other precious wood, a„d drugs, the most valued of earthly things It IS a singular fact, that at the very same point of time when the genius and daring of Columbu was leading Spain into the possession of a new world in the west, Portuguese enterprise was W mg open the still more splendid and gorgeous re gions of Asia ir> «■• — . r. .* .= °"^ ^^ the east. It was in 1407, that 314 THE OCEAN. Vasco de Gama rounded the Cape of Good Hope, and penetrated to cHmes wliich had hitherto been invested with all the romance of mystery and fable ; then commencing a commerce which has poured incalculable wealth into the lap of Europe. This immense archipelago, which occupies a tract of the ocean four thousand miles in length, and fourteen hundred in breadth, is an assemblage of islands perfectly unique. The multitudinous islets of the Pacific, if all united, would not together form a third-rate island of this group. The land, though broken with countless thousands of isles, so equally divides the space with the oea, that one is at a loss to say which predominates. A large majority of the smaller isles and reefs are of the same struc- ture as the coral atolls of Polynesia, and present a similar character in their zoology and botany; but the larger tracts of land, almost a continent m their dimensions, are of the old formations. The widely scattered groups of smaU islands on the northern boundary, indeed,— the Ladrones, the CaroUnes, the Pelews, &c., we are at a loss to distinguish: they are usually arranged in the Indian Archipelago, while they are decidedly Polynesian in their cha- The boats which are used by the natives of these islands, from their very pecuUar construction, as well as from their unrivalled powers of saihrqr, de- mand a moment's notice. Lord Anson, who first met with them at the Ladrone Islands, and who calls them flying proas, considers them "so singular and extraordinary an invention, that it would do honour THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 315 to any nation, however dextrous and acute. Since If we consul. . the aptitude of this proa to the na- nearly under the same meridian, and within the ^:ts of the teade.wi„d, requires the vessels made ^ of in passing from one to the other to be pe. beam , or, f we examine the uncommon simplicity and ingenuity of its fabric and contrivance, or the extaordinary velocity with which it moves, we shall m each of these particulars find it worthy of our admiration, and deserving a place amongst the me- chamcal productions of the most civilized nations In direct contradiction to the practice of civiUzed na^ons. the proa is built with the two ends Ihke but^he two sides different. It is intended t^l^ wind ; the how becoming the stern, and the stern ^e bow, at pleasure. The ends of the boat are high, and project much above the water ; the wind- ward side is rounded, aa in other vessels; but the lee side is flat, and almost perpendicular. As the depth patly exceeds the breadth, it would of course, instantly fall over on the leeward side, but for an mgenious contrivance already alluded to as used m the Polynesian islands. A light but strong frame IS run out horizontally to windward, to th! end of which IS fastened a hollow log, fasK.ned into the shape of a small boat, which floats upon the • Anson's Voyage, p. 339. 9 2 316 THE OCEAN. water, preventing the capsizing of the proa in that direction ; while the weight of the apparatus, called an outrigger, prevents the same accident on the other. A mast rises perpendicularly from the wind- ward edge of the proa, fastened to the heel of the outrigger ; a bamboo yard is slung near the mast- PROAS OP THE LADRONES. head, so that its foot shall come into the boat in a diagonal direction near- the head, there being a socket at each end to receive the foot of the yard, according as the proa is on either tack. The sail attached is made of matting, and is triangular, the lower side being fastened to a boom running hori- zontally from the foot of the yard over the stem. When it is intended to alter the course by going upon another tack, the foot of the yard is lifted from the one socket, carried round to leeward, and THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 317 placed in the other, while the fast sheet being let fly, and the loose sheet hauled in, the boat is im- mediately trimmed again, without loss by lee-wav From their extraordinary power of lying near the wind, that IS, of saihng nearly towards the point from which the wind is blowing, as well as from their extreme narrowness cutting the water with iittle resistance, these boats are the fleetest vessels known. Anson affirms that they will run nearly twenty miles an hour, which, though greatly short ot what the Spaniards report of them, is yet a pro- digious degree of swiftness. In more modern voy- ages, we find the native boats called by the names of prows and prahus ,- as they seem, however, to reter to vessels of the same construction as those described by Anson, they are probably to be con- sidered as somewhat closer approximations to the true pronunciation of the native name. The navigation of these seas is rendered pecuU- arly unsafe, by the swarms of Malay pirates by which they are infested. Voyagers continually al- lude to the alarm which every collection of native boats inspires, as being so exceedingly swift, and the men merciless and daring. Whole colonies of these desperate adventurers proceed from Magin- danao to the coast of Borneo, where they seek some convenient, but retired, harbour, in which they make their home; not living, however, upon the land, but on board theiv prahus (or proas), which are fre- quently of sixty tons' burthen. During the south- east monsoon they cruise about near the entrance of the Straits of Malacca, ready to pounce upon 318 THE OCEAN. the native traders resorting to Singapore ; when about to return home, they surprise some defence- less native village, and carry off the whole of the inhabitants to be sold into slavery. During the absence of the pirates, their wives and children re- main in the harbour, to take charge of the booty that may be brought in; and as these are scarcely less warlike than the men, no other guard is neces- sary against the inoffensive natives of Borneo. When the band has acquired a considerable amount of plunder, they return to their own island, and others supply their place. Even in the neighbourhood of Singapore, although a British dependency, the Ma- lay pirates absolutely swarm. The numberless little islands in the Straits, divided by channels known only to themselves, are like so many impregnable fastnesses, into which they drag their unfortunate victims, and plunder them at their leisure, defying pursuit. The occupation has acquired all the form and regularity of a system. A chief of some petty Malay state, whose fortunes have been rendered des- perate by gambling, collects around him a few ad- venturous and restless spirits, and sails to some retired island. A village is formed, as a depot for the booty, and the armed prahus lie in wait or prowl about. If the adventure prove successful, the chief soon gains accessions ; the village grows into a town; and the fleet separates into squadrons, which scour the seas of different localities. They usually sail in company, the fleets consisting of three to twenty prahus, each of which carries large and small guns, and from fifteen to forty men. The captured ves- THE INDIAN OCEAN. 319 sels are burnt at the dep6t, and the goods put on board prahus disguised like traders, and sold at Sin- gapore. The captives are sold into slavery at Su- matra, to work on the pepper plantations of the Malays. Though their assaults are generally upon the na- tive tradmg boats, yet occasionaUy they venture to attack square-rigged craft. " An English merchant, who had resided several years in Java, embarked at Batavia on board one ot his own vessels, a large brig, taking with him a considerable siun of money for the purchase of the produce of the eastern districts. These facts having reached the ears of a famous piratical chief he determined to waylay the vessel, and accordingly mustering a sufficient number of prahus, cruised about, and meeting with the brig as he had expect- ed, commenced an attack upon her. The crew of the latter vessel consisted of two Englishmen, the captain and the chief officer, and about thirty Java- nese seamen, who, together with the owner, defended the vessel for some time. Towards the evening, how- ever, the unfortunate merchant was kiUed by a spear fired from a musket, and the pirates taking advan- tage of the confusion produced by this event, im- mediately boarded. The two remaining English- men, being well awaxe that certain death awaited them should they remain, threw themselves into the sea, and succeeded in reaching a bamboo fishing- buoy The pirates, too busily employed in plunder- mg their prize to think of anything else, did not perceive their place of refuge; and the vessels soon 320 THE OCEAN. drifted away out of sight. The condition of the persons who had thus escaped had altered very little for the better; they were immersed to the neck in water, dreading every moment the attack of sharks ; nor had either, during the whole of the night, the comfort of knowing that his companion was still in existence. Soon after daylight, some fishermen ap- peared, by whom they were perceived ; but instead of rescuing them immediately from their perilous situation, the Javanese consulted together for a few minutes, and then approached the sufferers, and de- manded who they were. On being told they were Englishmen, whose vessel had been attacked and captured by pirates, they were taken on board, treat- ed kindly, and conveyed to the Dutch settlement at Indramayo. Had they belonged to one of the Dutch cruisers, their fate would probably have been different ; for the fishermen are on bad terms with the ofl&cers of the government prahus, whom they accuse of robbing them of their fish."* The pirates who thus infest the Indian Archipe- lago are invariably Mahometans ; none of the Pagan natives ever being known to engage in these mur- derous expeditions. They show no mercy : the Eu- ropeans that fall into their hands are murdered, and the native seamen sold into slavery. The larger islands of the archipelago do not pre- sent a very interesting appearance from the sea. Though clothed from the tops of the mountains ('own to the very water's edge with the most lux- uriant vegetation, it is too uniform to be agreeable. * Earl's " Eastern Seas," p. 38. THE INDIAN OCEAN. 321 The eye seeks in vain for some variation, some break m the vast forest; all is rich massy foUage, like enormous heaps of green velvet. The solemn silence that prevails, joined with this gorgeous uniformity, creates an oppressive feeling of awe and loneliness. And when the dews of evening descend, and the gentle breeze blows off the land, it comes loaded with what have been described as spicy odours, but which are, in sober reality, but the sickly sweats produced by immense masses of vegetation in de- composition. They bear, in fact, the pestilence upon their wings. But while this is the general character of the great islands, there are exceptions. Java, settled by the Dutch, contrasts with Sumatra and Borneo; the gloom of the forest is enlivened here and there by verdant fields and lawns, while the white villas of the Europeans chequer the hills, and give a peace- tul and inviting air to the landscape. The smaller isles are said to be exquisitely lovely. " The sea near Batavia is covered with innumer- able little islets, all of which are clothed with lux- uriant vegetation. Native prahus, with their yellow mat-sails, are occasionally seen to shoot from be- hind one of them, to be shielded from view imme- diately afterwards by the green foliage of another • and over the tops of the trees may often be descried the white sails of some stately ship, threading the mazes of this little archipelago. One group, appro- priately named the Thousand Isles, has never yet been explored, and its intricacies afford concealment to petty pirates who prey upon the small prahus and p 5 322 THE OCEAN. fishing-boats. * * * A number of large fishing- boats were coming in from sea, and standing with us into the roads; and although we were running at the rate of seven knots an hour, they passed us with great rapidity. They had a most graceful ap- pearance; many of them were fourteen or fifteen tons' burthen, and each boat carried one immense square-sail. As the breeze was strong, a thick plank was thrust out to windward for an outrigger, on which several of the numerous crew sat, or stood^ to prevent the press of sail they were carrying from capsizing the boat. They were occasionally hidden from our view by their passing behind some of the small islets ; but in a few seconds they would appear on the other side, having shot past so rapidly, that we could scarcely fancy we had lost sight of them at all." * In sailing amongst the numberless islands of the Indian Archipelago, the voyager is struck with the frequent appearance of towns or villages built ac- tually over the sea. The houses are constructed on stout piles, which are firmly driven into the ground. A flat place is selected, where the tide ebbs and flows, that all dirt and filth from their habitations may be regularly carried away without trouble, and that they may be free from the presence of unpleasant and venomous reptiles. The houses are chiefly of split bamboo, thatched with leaves : the windows are made of the transparent inner shell of the pearl oyster : they are arranged in rows or streets, with walks three or four feet wide reaching to the land, * Earl's " Eastern Seas," p. 11. ishing- ^ with unning 3sed us ful ap- fifteen imense thick :rigger, ■ stood,, \g from hidden of the appear ly, that )f them of the rith. the uilt ac- icted on ground. 3bs and ons may ind that pleasant liefly of vindows he pearl ts, with [le land, THE INDIAN OCEAN. 323 but all heavy goods are transported by canoes, which pass under the houses. The mode of driving the piles, wiuth ...crtc-d into the bottom to ii».. Jit'pth of n% |V .urious and ingeiiiou^^. A cun-y- loaded with s to the weight of two or t), tons IS la*ht'd on ' ,ch side of a pih- nt hJk4 which, as the tide falls, are m licnvy pii^e of timbf r in then nmik^ ^" *'^" ' ' ' ^hich, eoujointty wi- greaf wci^lu ui tiu- caium, mik^ it i„to th*. bottuni rapidfy. TowD.s covenng ;, square mile may be seen lormod in this maiiTier. T!ie harbours ■\ r .;' .niafiiigeable. ' . t • N i I ihf wind, rir ' ■-{'... la nmiiir bow n;\. ■:.[''. iiig to masts, th< than the others; each of which carries a single huge M O II ni tl THE INDIAN OCEAN. 323 but all heavy goods are transported by canoes, which pass under the houses. The mode of driving the piles, which are inserted into the bottom to the depth of six feet, is curious and ingenious. A canoe loaded with stones to the weight of two or three tons is lashed on each side of a pile at high water, which, as the tide falls, are suspended from it; a heavy piece of timber is then made successively to fall upon the head, which, conjointly wifli the great weight of the canoes, sinks it into the bottom rapidly. Towns covering a square mile may be seen formed in this manner. The harbours and straits are crowded during the season with Chinese junks; which fail not to strike an eye accustomed to the elegant proportions and graceful tracery of an European ship, as ludicrously monstrous. Mr. Crawfurd says, "The appearance of a Chinese junk is remarkably grotesque and sin- gular. The deck presents the figure of a crescent. The extremities of the vessel are disproportionately high and unwieldy, conveying an idea that any sud- den gust of wind would not fail to upset her. At each side of the bow there is a large white spot or circle to imitate eyes. These vessels, except before the wind, are Vad sailers, and very unmanageable. They require a numerous crew to navigate them : of one of the largest size, it often takes fifty men to manage the hehn alone." The high stern and bow are alike flat, the latter having nothing answer- ing to a cut-water. There are from two to four masts, the main-mast being disproportionately larger than the others; each of which carries a single huge 'im 324> THE OCEAN. square-saii made of mats of split bamboo, extended bv horizontal rods of bamboo, on which the sail is rolled up when reefing is necessary. The largest, though sometimes of twelve hundred tons, have but one deck, but the immense hold is divided into com- partments, allotted to the several adventurers and their goods. Mr. Earl describes one which he met with in Banca Straits, in somewhat unfavourable style. *' While wind-bound," he observes, *' a Chi- nese junk passed close by us. A considerable num- ber of the crew were standing on the high, thatched habitation erected on their quarter-deck, and per- ceiving a Chinese passenger whom we had on board, they all hailed together to demand the state of the markets ; but they asked so many questions at once, that our friend became quite bewildered, and the junk passed astern before he could decide to which he should first reply. Even if he had spoken, the junk people could not have profited by his efforts, for they continued bawling until quite out of hear- ing. This junk, which was about two hundred tons' burthen, carried two immense mat-sails, with a num- ber of small yards extending along them, giving them the appearance of bats' wings. She passed us quickly, on account of the current being in her fa- vour ; but, although the breeze was strong, she went slowly through the water, and might be deemed little better than an unwieldy hulk."* — The inflated ideas which the Chinese maintain of their own per- fection are adverse to any improvement in these singular structures ; indeed, an attempt at innova- * Eastern Seas, p. 129. THE INDIAN OCEAN. 325 found pmirTo'^^^^f^^J',^"^;'^- "-.' '» -- ment. At th. ^''^"'' ™"' ."^^ ""discreet improve- that con.ptf.rtr:::.:LTr^ • ""^r- neighbours th^ ;„.t '"^"" "^mediate gate, so reg^^'are 2 ''"^ "'''* '^"y """" roleibly weU '"°'''°°"^' '^'' '^'y get .n SHIP UNDER BARK POLES. ri:;..s:,™--r:r£„t: 326 THE OCEAN. canvas can be secured, the gale is howling shrilly through the spars and rigging, and the crests of the waves are torn off, and driven in sheets of spray across the decks. The lightning is terrible : at very short intervals the whole space between heaven and earth is filled with vivid flame, showing every rope and spar in the darkest night as distinctly as in the broadest sunshine, and then leaving the sight ob- scured in pitchy darkness for several seconds after each flash ;— darkness the most intense and absolute ; not that of the night, but the effect of the blinding glare upon the eye. The thunder, too, peals now in loud sharp startling explosions, now in long mut- tered growls all around the horizon. In the height of the gale, curious electrical lights, called St. Ulmo's fires, are seen on the projecting points of the masts and upper spars, appearing from the deck like dim stars. Soon after their appearance, the gale abates, and presently clears away with a rapidity equal to that which marked its approach. These storms are found, by carefully comparing the directions of the wind at the same time in dif- ferent places, or successively at the same place, to blow in a vast circle around a centre ; a fact of the utmost importance, as an acquaintance with this law will frequently enable the mariner so to determine the course of his ship, as to steer out of the circle, • and consequently out of the danger ; when, in ig- norance, he might have sustained the whole fury of the tempest. The course of the circle is the op- posite of that taken by the hands of a watch, and is the same with that of the still more striking phe- THE INDIAN OCEAN. 327 aown to the sea m ships." Thev freonpntl,. o WATERSPOUTS. iC'ealv to d". "•' "T"""'' *'"'"g'' '* >^ -' descending hne. Generally, the body of clouds 328 THE OCEAN. above descend below the common level, joining the pillar in the form of a funnel, but sometimes the summit is invisible, from its becoming gradually more rare. Much more constant is the presence of a visible foot ; the sea being raised in a great heap, with a whirling and bubbling motion, the upper part of which is lost in the mass of spray and foam which is driven rapidly round. The column, or columns, for there are frequently more than one, move slowly forward with a stately and majestic step, sometimes inclining from the perpendicular, now becoming curved, and now taking a twisted form. Sometimes the mass becomes more and more transparent, and gradually vanishes ; at others, it separates, the base subsiding, and the upper por- tion shortening with a whirling motion, till lost in the clouds. The pillar is not always cylindrical : a very frequent form is that of a slender funnel de- pending from the sky, which sometimes retains that appearance without alteration, or, at others, length- ens its tube towards the sea, which at the same time begins to boil and rise in a hill to meet it, and soon the two unite and form a slender column, as first described. When these sublime appearances are viewed from a short distance, they are attended with a rushing noise, somewhat like the roar of a cataract. The phenomenon is doubtless the effect of a whirlwind, or current of air revolving with great rapidity and violence ; and the lin -ft which are seen, are probably drops of water ascenJing in the cloudy column. They are esteemed highly dangerous ; instances jave THE INDIAN OCEAN. 329 been known, in which vessels that have been crossed by then, have been instantly dismasted, and left a to al wreck. It is supposed that any sudden shock will cause a rupture in the mass, and destroy it; and hence it is customary for ships to fire a cannon at such as, from their proximity or course there is any reason to dread. They are seen in all parts of the world, but are most frequent in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. That a Chinese junk, so clumsily rigged and so unwieldy, must be iU adapted to sustain the fury of a typhoon or to evade the rush of a waterspout, we may weU imagine, and doubtless many are wrecked from these causes. The following affect- ing narrative of a crew under such painful circum- stances will be read with interest :— " The dark sullen waters of the China Sea never looked less friendly nor more portentous than on the morning of the 12th of January, 1837 ; tempes- tuous weather, and a sea rising in mountains around and over the ship's sides, hurled her rapidly on her passage homewards, when suddenly a wreck was dis- covered to the westward. The order to shorten sail was as promptly obeyed as given, and the vessel was hauled towards what was discovered to be a China junk without masts or rudder, having many persons on deck vehemently imploring assistance. The ex- hibition of their joy, as they beheld our approach, was of the most wild and extravagant nature ; but It was doomed to be transient, the violence of the elements driving the ship swiftly past the wreck. It became necessary to put her on the other tack, a 330 THE OCEAN. manoeuvre which they construed into abandonment, and the air rung with the most agonizing shrieks of misery : hope appeared to have been rekindled at the eleventh hour, but to render despair more desperate, and death more frightful. ^ " The excitement on board was intense. A boat was immediately lowered, in which the hawser was placed, with a small line attached to it, as a mes- senger, and was thrown to the wreck for the pur- pose of towing her to the ship ; but this intention was frustrated by the breaking of the windlass to which it was fastened. The anxiety of these un- fortunate people to quit their perilous position was so great, that it became dangerous to approach them : one man, in a paroxysm of despair, jumped overboard after the hawser, as the windlass broke, in the vain hope of reaching the boat ; he was an ex- pert swimmer, but no human power could prevail against that sea ; the furious ocean mocked his ef- forts; he rose and sunk upon the swelling billows until nature was exhausted: he was lost in sight of his companions in misfortune and of the persons sent to theii aid, without any bt ' ig able to afford him relief. " Fears were entertained for the boat and her crew, as seen from the ship contending with the. violence of the element in which she floated, and a moment of doubt passed the mind as to the ex- pediency of permitting another attempt. It was only for a moment: the piercing cries borne upon the hollow blast, fell upon the sense with such ter- rific horror, that indecision seemed a crime; direc- THE INDIAN OCEAN. 331 tions were then issued to keep the boat away and a rope, wuh a bowline-knot at one end, was Thrown ^' the junk, into which signs were made for eZl eTen^^alTvTn „k ^"" "^^^'^ '"'" ^^ •"""' '"«' eventually, in hke manner, to the ship. Thus were eighteen persons rescued from the ve.7 grasp of death at a moment when every ray 7{ hopIaD peared to be utterly extinguished. Their ^^^1" was boundless : they almost worshipped tl^ffi^'s " ^ter being on board five days, we made Pulo Aor, where we took in water, and so d.sirous were those simple-hearted people of testifying their Z! It, but fiUed the casks themselves ; and at nartin/ knelt down and kissed each man's feet with Zlt vour of devotion. Here we separated from seven teen men who had been nine days at sea upon a" miserable wreck, water-logged, ,rithout waXto dnnk, and scarcely food to eat. One of them an old man died on the preceding evening rom'th^ effects of fatigue and exhaustion; the othtrs, Idoubt not, have long ere this time reached thei; homes and taught their friends and children to bless the Enghshmen and the English ship, which, under Providence, snatched them from a waterC grave and returned them to their affections "« ^ ' Thepnncipal object of commercial enterprise with * Unit. Serv. Joum. 1837, iii. 512. 332 Tiii: OfEAN. the Chinese, in their annual visits to the Oriental Isles, and, by consequence, that which forms the chief lading of the returning junks, is the edible birds'-nest; the production of a sprrirs of Swallow {Hirundo esculenta) ; of which, as it seems to be an oceanic production, I shall give a short account. For many ages the nests have been in use in China, and it is a remarkable instance of the fictitious value often attached by fashion to things of little moment in themselves, but procured from a distance with much expense, difficulty, and danger. From the accounts of travellers, which differ much in detail, we gather, that certain large caverns in the interior of the island, as well as on the coast, are frequented by immense numbers of these birds, of which there seem to be at least two species, one being, accord- ing to many observers, smaller than a wren ; the other, according to Sir E. Home, who dissected some brought home by Sir Stamford Raffles, " dou- ble the size of our common swallow." M. Poivre, who, in 1741, visited the Straits of Sunda, observed these birds in a little island called the Little Tocque. A party having landed to shoot green pigeons, this gentleman, accompanied by a sailor, walked along the beach in search of shells and jointed corals, which were very abundant. After having walked some distance, he was called by his companion, who had discovered a deep cavern. M. Poivre, hastening to the spot, found the entrance darkened by an im- mense cloud of small birds, pouring out in swarms. He entered, and with ease knocked down many of the little birds, with which he was at that time un- THE INDIAN OCEAN. 333 acquainted. As he proceeded, he found the roof ed two or three eggs or young, which lay softly on feathers, such as clothed the breast of the parents They were found be glued firmly to the rock bu having detached several, and brought them orboard they were recognised to be the same with those which fom, so valuable an article of merchandi et China. The sailor, profiting by this information preserved his portion, which he afterwards sold Zl h ndTo"k ?' '11''^^"' '^^™"^^> - ">e other hand, took colourr.l drawings of his captures and speculated concerning the nature of the nest He conjectures, that it is composed of a gluuv subst».^! Sir George Staunton found some caverns ninnin,^ horizontally iiito the side of the rock, i„ Z.^CZl numbers of these birds'-nests. " They seemed tlh! composed of fine filaments, cemented^S.W a transparent viscous natter, not unUke Ihat is left by the foam of t.e sea upon stones alternately covered by the tide, or those gelatinous animTsut stances found floating on every coast. The nests ad here to each other, and to the sides of tL elvern" mostly in rows without any break or interr^^ti™' The birds that build these nests are small grey sw^: lows with hemes of a dirty white. They were flyl' about m considerable numbers ; but they were !f 334 THE OCEAN. small, and their flight so quick, that they escaped the shots fired at them. The same nests are said also to be found in deep caverns at the foot of the highest mountains in the middle of Java, and at a distance from the sea. * * * The nests are placed in horizontal rows at different depths, from fifty to five hundred feet. Their value is chiefly deter- mined by the uniform fineness and delicacy of their texture ; those that are white and transparent being most esteemed, and fetching often in China their weight in silver. These nests are a considerable object of traffic among the Javanese ; and many are employed in it from their infancy. The birds, hav- ing spent near two months in preparing their nests, lay each two eggs, which are hatched in about fif- teen days. When the young birds become fledged, it is thought time to seize upon their nests, which is done regularly thrice a year, and is effected by means of ladders of bamboo and reeds, by which the people descend into the cavern ; but when it is very deep, rope-ladders are preferred. This ope- ration is attended with much danger, and several break their necks in the attempt." * Some of the caves on the coast of Java are only to be reached by a perpendicular descent of many hundred feet, on these frail ladders of cane, while the sea rages with fury far beneath the feet. When attained, the cavern must be explored by torchlight, the adventurous fowler securing a precarious footing over the damp and slippery surface of the irregular recesses where a false step would plunge him down * Embassy to China, i. 287. II THE INDIAN OCEAN. 335 into the boiling surf, or impale him upon the sham processes of the rocks T},» u . . P from s„pl, J ^^^^ "^^'^ ^^^ obtained Which are inferior, are coarser in texture, darker „ or defiled with the food and ordure of the pZi ' In ': ''^°"' °"^ ''""''-'> ■"«' thirty-tlL pounds. In the Chinese markets, thev fetch nrice, varying according to the quality, from 2^7 ^"T above ^..erling per A. fhe latrer'JIe b^i^^ at the rate of nearly seven pounds sterling per pouj and consequently almost equal to doubk L iZt of the article m silver! The amount shipperfSm the archipela^ is estimated by Mr. Crawfurd™ im p>cuk. 242,400 lbs., worth to the sellers at ^e islands, 284,200/. In defenceless and tmote are of little value j but in other more favourable localities, the clear profit is very great- for ^f computed that the whole expense^of^IIu ^t^, 1^ .ng and packing, does not much exceed one temh part of the whole amount. ** The nests are used in China, by the luxurious Tma ""?/r''"''P^' ''"' 'hough consider d by aiem a great dehcacy, have been but little esteemed cLnerSs ""V^h'^-r"^ *e preparair: ^.mnese tables. The substance of which they are composed is now generally agreed to be a seaXeTd 336 THE OCEAN. which floats on the Indian waters, a species of Ge- lidium, which can be reduced, by boiling or soak- ing in water, almost entirely into a clear jelly. It is probable, however, that the substance undergoes some preparation in the stomach of the bird before it is applied, or else that the filaments are cemented by a glutinous saliva. No inconsiderable part of the cargoes of the re- turn-junks is made up of a sea-weed called agar- agar, collected upon the coasts of Malacca. Boats go out to procure it from the reefs on which it groWs, when it is well washed in the rivers, dried, and packed in baskets. It grows in small bunches, with long and narrow fronds resembling shreds, of a light yellow hue. The finest portions are used in China to make a clear, tasteless jelly ; while the coarser parts are boiled down into a strong and sub- stantial glue, used in the manufacture of furniture and lacquered ware. A size is also produced from it, for stiffening paper and silk. In Canton, this substance produces from twenty to thirty-five shil- lings per hundredweights It is, however, light in proportion to its bulk. It is probable that this is the species described by botanists by the name of Gracillaria tenax, of which 27,000 pounds are said to be annually imported into China, and of which windows are made. Another important article of traffic with the Chi- nese, is the animal called by them trepang, the beche de mer (Holuthuria). There are several species of these animals, which are curious creatures. Gene- rally, they have some resemblance in form to a THE INDIAN OCEAN. 337 ZIZ^' ^'"T '^'^ "" '"■»«*'"«'» t-™*-! Sea. cucumbers; in the water, however, the body is often Ska-cucumbers (ffoltohuriai). greatly lengthened, and. on being touched, is sud deiUy contracted so as completel/to alte th fo™ with shelly teeth converging to a centre, y directly opprte * 1 T"«> " exchanged for one --arkable effect oTZ^a^r t' ^ ^^"^ mencement of the r»;„„ '^''*""''- It « the com- violence a. ,ho.eaTS&'v:."^:'r'""'' climate have no conception of M^ P, V ^"'"P^^^te describes the scene on tl, *^- ^Iplunstone thus proach of the mom"! ™'^' "^ ^"'•'^ = " The ap- of clouds tttZ frr\bTr' ■'y vast masses vance towards fe norl t^S" °""'' ""* ""- ening as they approach he Sdtr^ ""^ "■'*" ening days, the ,k^ 7 ■^*^'' ^'"ne threat- in tl evenings S tir" " '"""'''^ «??«— during the ni|ht It t aCdtZ " ^l""^' ^^'^ '» storm as can hardlv b ''.*"*^"''<'d by such a thunder- only seen ItSnoLTof ^ 1 1' *"''- ""^ ''"^ It generally berins JtT ^^ .1 temperate climate. 'i^htning is seen'aw: ; ^uTinte!" ^""^ '"""^^ f mes it only illumines thTsktand T T' "'^'■ near the horizon- at l^f 'I: ''"'"'"*« "'ouds distant hiUs, and a^aS ^Z 7Z d" f ""^'^ '""^ >n an instant, it LppeC in ^t^a^^^:' '"'»' flashes, and exhihi't* fvZ , " successive ness of day Du L auT'!- "'^'r '" '^^ ''"ght- der never Lses to rfll . T *" '""'»"' ^-n. nearer peal, :ZtZ' ^^I tZi'' T sudden and tremenHni,« « i, ^^^ ^"c*i a -^e the most rrbLi:^:rartr*° 0 2 340 THE OCEAN. the thunder ceases, and nothing is heard but the continued pouring of the rain, and the rushing of rising streams. The next day presents a gloomy spectacle ; the rain still descends in torrents, and scarcely allows a view of the blackened fields ; the rivers are swollen and discoloured, and sweep down along with them the hedges, the huts, and the re- mains of the cultivation which was carried on during the dry season, in their beds." * The effect upon the sea is graphically depicted by Mr. Forbes : " At Anjengo," observes this author, "the monsoon commences with great severity, and presents an awful spectacle : the inclement weather continues, with more or less violence, from May to October. During that period the tempestuous ocean rolls from a black horizon, literally of * dark- ness visible,' a series of floating mountains heaving under hoary summits, until they approach the shore ; when their stupendous accumulations flow in suc- cessive surges, and break upon the beach: every ninth wave is observed to be generally more tre- mendous than the rest, and threatens to overwhelm the settlement. The noise of these billows equals that of the loudest cannon, and with the thunder and lightning so frequent in the rainy season, is truly awful. During the tedious monsoon I passed at Anjengo, I often stood upon the trembling sand- bank to contemplate the solemn scene, and derive a comfort from that sublime and omnipotent decree, • Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further ; and her.' shall thy proud waves be stayed ! '" f * Account of Cauljul, p. 126. t Oriental Memoirs. THE INDIAN OCEAN. 341 An effect, scarcely less sublimely magnificent, is produced by the coming in of the periodical spring- tide, at the mouth of some of the large rivers of India, which is called the Bore. The rising flood, confined by the narrowing coasts of a deep estuary, takes the form of an immense wave, which comes majestically rolling along, like an advancing cataract, bearing everything before it. So rapid is its march, that its progress from Hooghly Point to Hooghly Town, a distance of seventy miles, occupies but four hours. At Calcutta the wave is five feet high ; but in the channels formed by the numerous islands in the Burhampooter, its height is twelve feet ; and so terrific is it, that no boat dares to navigate the river at the time of spring-tide. As the middle of tho river, however, is comparatively free from the in- fluence, and only one side, usually, is subject to its greatest violence, the boats and larger craft hasten, on its approach, into the open water of the current ; but if unhappily overtaken, they are inevitably over- turned or swamped, while even large ships, that present their broadsides to its advance, are rolled so violently, that their yard-arms are dipped in the wave. The multitudes of fishes of billiant hues and fan- tastic shapes, that play in the tepid waters of these regions of the sun, ?-re incalculable. Numerous bands of Parrot-fishrs {Scarus) and Rock-wrasses {Lahriis) sport about the reefs, whose bodies are ornamented with crimson, yellow, and silvery tints, often arranged in the form of bands or stripes ; Gur- nards (Trigla), whose large fins resemble in their M:m- 342 THE OCEAN. form and delicate pencillings the wings of a butter- fly, take momentary flights above the surface; and the pretty tribe of Chcetodom, several of which are noted for the singular habit of shooting flies with a drop of water projected from their beak-like mouths, fearlessly approach the hand immersed in the water. But none of these are more curious than the Toad-fishes, or Anglers ( fn^ewwanw*), whose pectoral and ventral fins, have much of the form and also the functions of the feet of a quadruped, en- abling them to crawl out of the water and travel over the land. TIte head is armed with horn-like projections, terminating in shining filaments, which play freely in the water, and attract small fishes within the reach of its enormous mouth; a very re- markable instance of the superintending care exer- cised by the beneficent Creator over the well-being of his creatiires. The form of the fish is clumsy, and its motions slow and heavy, and without this provision for the attraction of its prey, it would probably fare but poorly. It is doubtless a species of Antennarius that is thus described by Mr. Earl, as observed on the coast of Borneo : " Large tracts of mud had been left uncovered by the receding tide, and flocks of gulls and other birds were feeding on the worms and small fish. Vast numbers of little amphibious creatures were running about in the mud, and they appeared to be sought after by some of the larger birds. They were from two to eight inches long, resem- bling a fish in shape, of a light brown colour, and could run and jump by means of two strong pectoral THE INDIAN OCEAN. 343 fins. On the approach of an enemy, they buried themselves in the mud with inconceivable rapidity, so that their sudden disappearance seemed to be the work of magic. One of the Malays was employed in catching them, as they are considered to be a great delicacy. He used for the purpose a thin plank, four feet long, and one foot broad; on one end of which were fixed several sharp-pointed nails, the points projecting beyond the end of the plank. He placed the plank flat upon the mud, and with the right knee resting on it, and kicking the mud with the left foot, he shot along the surface with great rapidity, the sharp-pointed nails transfixing the little creatures before they could succeed in burying themselves sufficiently deep to avoid it. This is a dangerous sport, and requires great skill in the fisherman to prevent accidents; for should he lose his plank, death would be almost inevit- able, the mud not having sufficient consistence to support him without the aid of this simple contri- vance."* Numberless creatures of the inferior classes, some of which are of exquisite delicacy and beauty, float on the surface of the Indian Ocean ; often in such immense hosts as to cover the sea for miles around. The Violet-snail {Janthina fragilis) is one of these, whose shr :' much resembles that of our garden-snail in form and size, but is of a pearly white above, and beneath violet. When alive it is covered with a sHppery membrane. A singular floating appa- ratus projects horizontally from the aperture of the * Eastern Seas, p. 213, 344 THE OCEAN. shell, resembling a collection of air-bubbles, but composed of a delicate white membrane, inflated, and puckered on the surface into the bubble-like divisions alluded to ; it is oblong, about an inch in length. The buoyancy of this float supports, the animal at the surface, where it lies with the con- vexity of the shell downward. Three or four drops of a blue liquid are contained in the body, which has been supposed to answer the purpose of con- cealment in time of danger, by imparting an obscu- rity to the water ; but it is hardly sufficient for this purpose, as the whole quantity secreted by one animal will not discolour half a pint of water.' Be- neath the float, at certain seasons, the eggs are sus- pended by pearly threads; and as the floats are fre- quently found in great numbers with eggs thus attached, but separate from the original animals, it is thought that they have the power of throwing off this appendage and forming a new one; in which case it serves the purpose of sustaining the eggs, and probably the young, within the reach of the light and heat of the sun. The Portuguese Man-of-war {Physalis pelagica), numerous in the warm parts of the Atlantic, is still more abundant in the seas of which I am writing. It is a beautiful little creature, though of very simple structu^, consisting merely of a semi-trans- parent membranous bag, round at one end, and pointed at the other, along one side of which runs a wide membrane, puckered into perpendicular folds, and capable of being contracted and dilated ; while from the opposite side depends a thick fringe of blue THE INDIAN OCEAN. 345 tentacles, among which are some of a great length, and of a crimson and purple hue. The tentacles have the faculty of severely stinging the hand that touches them, though ever so slightly ; and it is probable that this power is in some way connected with the sustenance of the animal, as minute fishes are frequently found in a benumbed state attached to these processes. The little creature, as it floats upon the broad billows, bears a very striking resem- blance to a little ship, of which the bladder is the hull, and the puckered membrane the sail; and as the edge of the sail is a beautiful pink hue, and the lower part of the hull deep blue, a fleet of them floating and rolling in a calm upon the long glassy swell of the sea, presents a scene of striking novelty and elegance. Another creature much resembling this in appear- ance is found in the same regions in equal numbers. It is called by sailors the Sallee-man {Velella mutica) ; and consists of an internal cartilage, of a semi-pel- lucid white hue, inclosed in soft parts, of a purplish green. A broad oval base floats on the water, across which runs obliquely an arched crest or sail: be- neath are placed the brown viscera, covered with a thick mat of colourless tubular papillce: the edge of the oval base is fringed with slender blue ten- tacles. No part of this animal seems to have the power of stinging, so formidable in the preceding. It will be remembered, that in the description of the Arctic Seas, a little animal {Clio borealiJ) was mentioned as forming a large portion of the food of the whale. Its place is supplied in the Pacific Q 5 346 THE OCEAN. and Indian Oceans by two or three species nearly allied to it in structure, but furnished with a glassy shell. One of these is named Ili/alea tridentata { Glass Shklls. {Hyaka U-ideniaia, and Cleodora pyramidata.) its shell is small and somewhat globular, resembling a bivalve without a hinge; the hinder part being consolidated, and armed with three spines ; the sides have a narrow fissure through which a semi-trans- parent membrane protrudes. The animal is furn- ished with a wing or fin on each side, which it uses as oars. A kindred species {Cleodora cuspidata) is of extreme delicacy and beauty. The shell is glassy, and colourless, very fragile, nearly in the form of a triangular pyramid, with an aperture at its base, from which proceeds a long and slender glassy spine; and a similar spine projects from each side of the middle of the shell. The animal is like the preced- ing; but the hinder part is globular and pellucid, and in the dark vividly luminous, presenting a sin- gularly striking appearance, as it shines through its perfectly transparent lantern. Both of these are found floating in great numbers on the surface of the sea. Among the sea-shells which attain a large size in r THE INDIAN OCEAN. 347 these seas, the Giant Clamp (Tridacne gigas) stands pre-eminent. It is found in abundance on the coasts of Sumatra, as well as of other islands, attnnhed to the rocks by a strong cable. This, which is called byssus, is formi of many tough threads, but slightly elastic, spun by the animal, or, rather, cast in a mould thread by thread; a glutinous fluid being secreted in a long groove or canal formed by the foot, which in the air rapidly acquires solidity. When complete, the united threads form, as ob- served above, a cable, projecting through an open- ing in the back of the shell, and adhering by the other extremity to the rock, so firmly as to resist the agitation of the sea, and so tough as to be sever- ed only by an axe. Marsden mentions one which was more than three feet three inches long, ani two feet one inch wide: and specimens have be<>n seen which had attained the enormous length of four feet. They are sometimes taken, when not adhering, by thrusting a long bamboo between the open valves, which immediately close firmly, and they are drag- ged out. The substance of the shell is perfectly white, several inches thick; and is worked by the natives into arm-rings, and by European artists is made to receive a polish equal to the finest statuary marble. Pearls, whose exquisite beauty have made them celebrated from the earliest ages, are well-known to be marine productions ; and as the shores of the In- dian Ocean yield the finest specimens, I may here say a word of the fishery for them. Many bivalve shells produce pearls of greater or less perfection ; .%. ^^w "i^:-" ^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) ^ A O A ^ ^ 1.0 I.I l^|Z8 |2.5 |5o ■^" HIHH 1.8 11.25 iu m ^.-m 'A r ^ VI ^. /J PhotDgraphic Sdences Corporation m f\ ^ A » ^■^^ •^^ 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. M580 (716) 872-4503 s^^^ y & w '^ 348 THE OCEAN. but what is known as the Pearl Oyster is the Avicula margaritifera of conchologists. The interior surface of the shell is covered with very thin plates or lamelUBy which are furrowed with microscopically minute and close parallel grooves, and in this struc- ture lies the property of reflecting opaline tints; a property which has been commimicated to other substances by mechanically impressing the sur- face with similar grooves. In some diseased states of the animal, or when the shell has received a tri- fling injury, or some foreign body— a grain of sand, for example— has found its way within the mantle, the pearly secretion is poured out in great abun- dance around the part, and, layer being imposed upon layer, produces a pearl, either attached to the inner surface of the shell, or loose and held merely in the folds of the mantle. The most productive fishery is in the Persian Gulf, and the finest pearls are found there : above 90,000/. sterling are sometimes realized from this source in the course of two months. Those with which we are most acquainted, are carried on on the coasts of Coromandel and of Ceylon ; the former being in the hands of the East India Company, the latter in those of the British Government. The Ceylon fishery has been well described by Captain Percival, the Count de Noe, and lately by Mr. Ben- nett. As the banks would soon be exhausted if fished every year, portions only are selected in turn, while the rest remains untouched to be recruited. In the month of November, the Government ap- points an inspection of the state of the banks, and THE INDIAN OCEAN. 349 those selected as fit for fishing, are advertised ac- cordingly, the fishery for the ensuing season being offered for sale. In January, the boats begin to assemble, and the adventurers from all parts of India congregate on a narrow spot of barren sand, which IS deserted for the greatest portion of the year but now presents the life and gaiety of a fair. Ihere is, perhaps, no spectacle," says Captain Percival, « which the Island of Ceylon affords more striking to an European than the bay of Condatchy during the season of the pearl-fishery. This desert and barren spot is at that time converted into a scene which exceeds in novelty and variety almost anything I ever witnessed; several thousands of people of different colours, countries, castes, and occupations, continually passing and repassing in a busy crowd; the vast numbers of small tents and huts erected on the shore, with the bazaar or mar- ket-place before each; the multitude of boats re- turning m the afternoon from the pearl-banks, some of them laden with riches ; the anxious expecting countenances of the boat-owners, while the boate are approaching the shore, and the eagerness and avidity with which they run to them when arrived in hopes of a rich cargo ; the vast numbers of jewel- lers, brokers, merchants, of all colours and all de- scriptions, both natives and foreigners, who are oc- cupied m some way or other with the pearls, some separating and assorting them, others weighing and ascertaimng their number and value, while others are hawking them about, or drilling and boring them for future use ;-all these circumstances tend to im- 350 THE OCEAN. press the mind with the value and importance of that object which can of itself create this scene."* The actual fishery begins in February and con- tinues during six weeks, or at most two months. The boats being prepared, each carrying twelve or fourteen hands and ten divers, leave the shore at the signal gun of the government officer, and arrive at the bank before daylight. At sunrise diving com- mences, and the divers, divided into two parties, descend alternately, the one set breathing while the other is below. To expedite his descent, each man has a conical piece of granite, through a hole in whicb a rope is passed; he grasps the rope with the toes of his right foot, which he uses with nearly the same pliancy as the fingers of his hands, and taking in his left a net like an angler's landing-net, seizes another rope in his right hand, and closes his nostrils with his left thumb and finger. The weight of the stone causes him to descend rapidly, and he loses no time, but hastily fills his net with the oys- ters he finds around. When he can retain his breath no longer, he jerks the second rope, and is instantly hauled to the surface by his fellows, leaving the stone to be pulled up afterwards. Generally, from a minute and a half to two minutes, is as long as a diver can remain under water ; but Captain Per- cival records a case in which a man " absolutely re- mained under water full six minutes." The effects of so long a submersion as even ordinarily takes place, are severe, and manifest themselves by gush- ings of water from the ears, mouth, and nose, and sometimes by discharges of blood. Yet they are * Percivars Ceylon, p. 59. THE INDIAN OCEAN. 351 ready to take tlieir turn again, frequently making forty or fifty plunges a day, and bringing up at each turn about a hundred oysters. The greatest danger to these adventurous men arises from the sharks, to whose rapacity aUusion has before been made. But against them the poor people believe that they possess an inviolable de- fence m the charms sold to them by pretended con- jurors, whose impudence and address secure their hold on their deluded votaries, even in spite of the frequent evidence of their faUibiUty. It is pro- bable, the constant bustle and noise, and the fre- quent splashings of the divers, deter the sharks in a great measure from approaching the scene. "As soon as the oysters are landed, they are placed m pits on the shore, and left to undergo decomposition ; in which state they diffuse an intol- erable odour, but to which habit speedily recon- ciles the people. When the flesh is decayed under that burning sun, the shells are opened with ease, and minutely examined for pearls : some, however, elude the utmost vigilance, to obtain which, numbers of people continue to search the sands for months after the merchants have departed, and they are now and then rewarded by a pearl of value. " In 1797 a common feUow, of the lowest class, thus got bv accident the most valuable pearl seen that season, and sold it for a large sum." In the Straits of Sunda and the adjacent seas, there are found several floating sea-weeds, which have a general resemblance to the Gulf-weed of the Atlantic, but possess a much more striking similarity S52 THE OCEAN. to terrestrial plants. Two species in particular, named from this resemblance Sargassum aquifoUum and aS*. ilicifolium, so closely imitate our common holly in their branches, berries, and twisted spinous leaves, as to induce a belief, at the first glance, that they are no other than sprigs of that familiar plant. Another species, found in the same locality, is call- ed A^. TaxifoUunif from its likeness to the yew. The former are highly interesting on another account : they afford a remarkable illustration of the fact, that the seed-receptacles of some sea plants are metamorphosed after the discharge of their seeds into leaves and air-vessels. Few would suspect that the round air-cells, that look like green berries, or the curled and thorny leaves, were alike the slender pro- cesses containing the seed, only in another stage of development j yet specimens are often found in which the process is actually going on, both the one and the other being but partially transformed. The pores with which the surface of the leaves are stud- ded, are but the orifices through which the seeds es- caped. As we approach the Cape cf Good Hope, the sea- birds peculiar to high latitudes again appear, and the sea and air are enlivened by myriads of gulls, terns, petrels, frigate-birds, and albatrosses. But among them we have yet to notice one pre-eminent among them, a master-fisher, which, for its powers of consuming the finny prey is, perhaps, unrivalled. It is the Pelican {Pelecanus onocrotalus), which abounds all around the shores of the Indian Ocean, ranging to the distance of several hundred miles THE INDIAN OCEAN. 353 from the coasts. This bird has great powers of flight, the extended wings covering a space of twelve feet. The throat is dilated into a capacious bag which can be wrinkled up when not in use, but when the animal is fishing forms a convenient pouch, in which the prey is stored as it is caught, until it is filled, when the booty is borne to shore, to feed the callow young, or to be eaten at leisure. The pouch of a full-grown PeUcan, when distended, wjU contain ten quarts of water. They fly to a long distance, and at a lofty elevation, and remain un- tired on the wing for a protracted period. A flock of PeUcans beating for prey is a splendid spectacle. Sometimes the whole troop soars upwards to an im- mense height, and then suddenly swoops down with arrowy velocity, splashing the sea in every direc- tion; presently they emerge, and again soar on high, till again they simultaneously dash down upon the shoals ; and thus Che flock perform their evolutions m concert, ranging over a wide bay, or a given space of water, with perfect order and regularity, and with astonishing rapidity. At other times they fly al- most at the very surface, beating the water with their wings, till the whole sea is one undistinguish- able mass of foam. In the beautiful poem of Montgomery, " The Peli- can Island," which I have ^^efore quoted, the manners of these interesting birds are ably described :— " Eager for food, their searching eyes they fix'd On ocean's unroll'd volume, from a height That brought immensity within their scope ; Yet with such power of vision look'd they down. 354 THE OCEAN. At though they watched the shell-fiah slowly gliding O'er sunken rocks, or climbing trees of coraL On inde&tigable wing upheld, Breath, pulse, existence, seem*d suspended in them : They were as pictures painted on the sky ; Till, suddenly, aslant, away they shot, Like meteors changed from stars to gleams of lightning, And struck upon the deep ; where, in wild play. Their quarry floundered, unsuspecting harm ; With terrible voracity, they plunged Their heads among th' affrighted shoals, and beat A tempest on the surges with their wings, Till flashing clouds of foam and spray concealed them. Nimbly they seized and secreted their'prey, Alive and wriggling in the elastic net, Which Nature hung beneath their grasping beaks ; ^ Till swollen with captures, the unwieldy burthen CloggM their slow flight, as heavily to land These mighty hunters of the deep retumM. There on the cragged cliffs they perchM at ease, Gorging their hapless victims one by one ; Then, full and weary, side by side they slept. Till evening roused them to the chase again." I have reserved till the last of these gleanings from the ocean, one of the most curious of its phenomena, and one that, while it vividly strikes the fancy of the voyager when he beholds it for the first time, fails not to maintain its power to interest after years of observation have made it famiUar. I have reserved it until the last because it is peculiar to no sea, but common to all, being observable in the frozen ocean of either pole, and imder the burning line ; in the Atlantic and in the Pacific. Still there seem to be greater intensity and brilliance in the display of the phenomenon in the tropical seas than in colder cli- mates. No sooner has night descended over the THE INDIAN OCEAN. 355 ocean, than the whole surface is seen to be, as it were, composed of light, assuming, however, various forms and aspects. The most usual appearances, as far as they have fallen under my own observation in the Atlantic, are as follow : On looking over the stem, when the ship has steerage-way, her track is visible by a line or belt of light, not a bright glare, but a soft subdued yellowish light, which immediately under the eye resembles milk, or looks as though the keel stirred up a sediment of chalk which diffuses itself in opaque clouds through the neighbouring water, only that it is light and not whiteness. Scattered about this cloudiness, and particularly where the water whirls and eddies with the motion of the rudder, are seen innumerable sparks of light dis- tinctly traced above the mass by their brilliancy, some of which vanish and others appear, while others seem to remain visible for some time. Generally speaking, both these phenomena are excited by the action of the vessel through the waves, though a few sparks may be observed on the surface of the waves around. But now and then, when a short sea is run- ning without breaking waves, there are seen broad flashes of light from the surface of a wave, coming and going like sudden fitful flashes of lightning. These may be traced as far as the sight can reach, and in their intermittent gleams are very beautiful ; they have no connexion with the motion of the ship. In a voyage to the Gulf of Mexico I saw the water in those seas more splendidly luminous than I had ever observed before. It was indeed a magnificent sight, to stand in the fore-part of the vessel and \ 356 THE OCEAN. watch her breasting the waves. The mass of water rolled from her bows as white as milk, studded with those innumerable sparkles of blue light. The ne- bulosity instantly separated into small masses, curdled like the clouds of marble, leaving the water between of its own clear blackness ; the clouds soon subsided, but the sparks remained. Sometimes, one of these points of greater size and brilliancy than the rest, would suddenly burst into a small cloud of superior whiteness to the mass, and to be then lost in it. The curdling of the milky appearance into clouds and masses, and its quick subsidence, were what I had never observed elsewhere. Many very interesting observations have been made on these luminous appearances, and there seems no doubt that to a very large extent they are produced by living animals; but as many species, varying greatly from each other, and belonging even to differ- ent classes of the animal kingdom^ have been recog- nised as contributing to the luminousness, we need the less v/onder that there should be variations in its aspects. Dr. Baird in some quotations from a jour- nal kept during a voyage to India, furnishes some in- teresting notes of the origin of the light. The writer speaks of " the broad bright flash, vivid enough to illmninate the sea for some distance round, while the most splendid globes of fire were seen wheeling and careering in the midst of it, and by their bril- liancy outshining the general light." On drawing a bucket-full of water the narrator "allowed it to re- main quiet for some time, when, upon looking into it in a dark place, the animals could be distinctly seen THE INDIAN OCEAN. 357 emitting a bright speck of light. Sometimes this was like a sudden flash, at others appeariiig like an oblong or round luminous point, which continued bright for a short time, like a lamp lit beneath the water, and moving through it, still possessing its defi- nite shape, and then suddenly disappearing. When the bucket was sharply struck on the outside, there would appear at once a great number of these lumi- nous bodies, which retained their brilliant appearance for a few seconds, and then all was dark again. They evidently appeared to have it under their own will, giving out their light frequently at various depths in the water, without any agitation being given to the bucket. At times might be seen minute but pretty bright specks of light, darting across a piece of water, and then vanishing; the motion of the light being exactly that of the Cyclops through the water. Upon removing a tumbler-fuU from the bucket, and taking it to the light, a number of Cyclopes were accordingly found swimming and darting about in it."* Dr. Baird concludes from these facts, that the bright globes were large Sea-blubbers {Medusa), and that the sparks were minute Entomostraca, somewhat similar in form to those figured in the former part of this volume. In some highly interesting observations made during a series of years by M. Ehrenberg, chiefly in the Red Sea, we find many minute animals mentioned as luminous; but it is remarkable that after many trials he could not detect the slightest light from any species of the Entomostraca. The water was found to be very full of small sUmy particles without any * Zoologist, 1848, p. 66. 358 THE OCEAN. definite form, which gave out light when the water was stirred. These were probably Medusa, torn but yet living, as in some cases fragments of these ani- mals are very tenacious of life. Several minute Me- dusa of various species gave out light, which seemed to be more vivid on any extraordinary excitement of the animals. A drop of sulphuric acid being put into a glass of water, several bright flashes of light were seen. One of the little animals was taken up in a drop of water on the point of a pen ; on a drop of acid being added, it gave out a momentary spark and instantly died. Several new species of luminous animals were discovered by thus mingling acid with quantities of sea water. The light of diflferent spe- cies is found to vary in character ; some of the sparks being yellow and dull, others clearer and whiter, and more lasting. The creature which produces the brightest Ught of all is a kind of sea-worm {Nereis cirrigera); it lives in groups or large masses, among the branches of sea-weed ; and when portions of tliis are thrown on shore by the waves, the animals sur- vive, and continue to shine very brilliantly for several days. In our own seas, a great deal of the light is owing to the presence of an exceedingly minute ani- mal, (Noctiluca miUaris), which does not exceed 16^6 6 P^* o^ *^ i^c^ ^^ diameter. It consists of a transparent globe, with a kind of tail proceeding from one part of the circumference. In the interior may be seen an oval nucleus, not in the centre, from which proceed numerous branching vessels. The lu- minous property appears to reside in these vessels, which, while the animal is alive, are seen to dilate and THE INDIAN OCEAN. 859 contract with a very rapid pulsation. The little globe is propelled in any direction by a jerking mo- NocTiLUCA M1LIARI8, greatly magnified. tion of the tail or stem ; and as it is a restless crea- ture, it is not a very easy matter to obtain a good sight of it for observation. Several species of fishes are imdoubtedly lumi- nous: the Sun-fish {Cephalus mola), when seen at a considerable distance below the surface in a dark night, is said to glow like a caimon-ball heated to whiteness. Ehrenberg found that the whole skeleton of an Egyptian fish {Heterotis Nilotica), emitted such a vivid light as he never saw equalled by any other fish, alive or dead. And Mr. F. D. Bennett discover- ed a new species of Shark, which he named Squalm fulgenSi from the whole surface of whose body pro- ceeded a greenish light, which rendered the animal the most ghastly object imaginable. But there can be no doubt that the main source of oceanic efful- gence is to be found in the countless millions of mi- ilk^^i^iJ^ 360 THE OCEAN. nute animals which throng the sea, but which are invisible without the aid of high microscopic powers. And truly, when from a lofty station on board a ship we survey a space of many square miles, and see every portion of its surface gleaming and flashing in living light; or mark the pathway of the vessel ploughing up from fathoms deep her radiant furrow, so filled vdth limiinous points, that, like the milky way in the heavens, all individuality is lost in the ge- neral blaze, and reflect that wherever on the broad sea, that furrow happened to be traced, the result would be the same ; one can scarcely conceive a more ma^riificent idea of the grandeur, the xmimaginable immensity of the Creation of God. »* 0- '* O Lord, how manifold are thy works ! in wisdom hast thou made them all. The earth is full of thy ricLes: so is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts. There go the ships : there is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play therein. These wait all upon thee ; that thou mayest give them their meat in due eeason. That thou ,givest them, they gather ; thou openest thine hand, they are filled vnth good." THE ENL>. LONDON I friMtod b7 8. jlc J. BzNTUT, WtLaoN, and Futr. Baogor Hoom Shoe Lane. ■t