1778 THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 25'7 



sapphirine to a deep violet colour, which were fre- 

 quently mixed with a ruby, or opaline redness; and 

 glowed with a strength sufficient to illuminate the 

 vessel and water. These colours appeared most vivid 

 when the glass was held to a strong light ; and mostly 

 vanished on the subsiding of the animals to the bot- 

 tom, when they had a brownish cast. But, with 

 candle light, the colour was, chiefly, a beautiful pale 

 green, tinged with a burnished gloss ; and, in the 

 dark, it had a faint appearance of glowing fire. They 

 proved to be a new species of oniscus, and, from their 

 properties, were, by Mr. Anderson (to whom we owe 

 this account of them), called oniscus Jidgens; being 

 probably an animal which has a share in producing 

 some sorts of that lucid appearance, often observed 

 near ships at sea, in the night. On the same day two 

 large birds settled on the water, near the ship. One 

 of these was the procellaria maxima (the quebranta- 

 huessos\ and the other, which was little more than 

 half the size, seemed to be of the albatross kind. 

 The upper part of the wings, and tip of the tail, 

 were black, with the rest white ; the bill yellowish ; 

 upon the whole, not. unlike the sea-gull, though 

 larger. 



On the 6th, at noon, being in the latitude of 4<4 

 10' N., and the longitude of 34^- E., we saw two 

 sails and several whales; and at day-break, the next 

 morning, the long-looked-for coast of New Albion * 

 was seen, extending from north-east to south-east, 

 distant ten or twelve leagues. At noon our latitude 

 was 44 33' N., and our longitude c 235 ZO' E. ; and 

 the land extended from north-east half north, to south- 

 east by south, about eight leagues distant. In this 

 situation we had seventy-three fathoms' water, over a 

 muddy bottom, and about a league farther oft* found 

 ninety fathoms. The land appeared to be of a mo- 



* This part of the west side of North America was so named 

 by Sir Francis Drake. 



