HK1TIMI l.NTo.Mo.sTU.U'A. 



Tristan d'Acunha, in the South Atlantic, without his CUT 



ha\ing been able to observe what formed the food of the 

 whale-. Leaving that quarter, ho\vever, at the end of 

 that time, and steering for Cape Horn, he one morning, 

 in the month of February, observed the surfaee of the sea 

 streaked with red lines, of several miles in extent, and 

 giving the appearance of blood to the water. The ex- 

 perienced sailors on board immediately announced that 

 they had now reached the yjW/>/r of the whales. 

 Accordingly, they very soon afterwards saw them sport- 

 ing about in the midst of these ruddy banks. Upon 

 examining the water thus coloured, Vauzeme found it 

 caused by an immense number of small Crustaceans, 

 which were of a red hue. They swarmed in myriads 

 on the surface of the sea, and, when the wind was bois- 

 terous, a whole bank of them would be taken up by a 

 wave, and carried on board the vessel, covering the deck, 

 and the clothes of the sailors. The whales swallowed 

 them in myriads, and they served for food not only 

 to them, but to the Cirrhopodes (the Coronulee and 

 Tubicinelhe), which live as parasites upon their skin. 

 The American Ushers on that station informed him that 

 these little creatures, in the tine weather of October and 

 November, remain concealed deep under the water, but 

 that after that time, they come to the surface io lay their 

 eggs. In our own seas, this same kind of Crustacean has 

 also been observed to be the food of cetaceous animals. 



In the IVith of Forth, Mr. Goods ir informs us,* that 

 during the summer months, great masses of animal matter 

 abound on the surface of the sea, and that this had long 

 been noticed by the fishermen on the coast, and was called 

 by them maidre. I'pon examining this matter, in the 

 neighbourhood of the Isle of May, lie found it to consist 

 of Cirrhopodes, Crustaceans, and Acalcpha ; but thai of 



all these, I he Kntoinosl racoiis Crustaceans abounded in 

 the greatest quantity, " or rather masses," he observes 



c\\ i ' 1 1 1 1 



