222 BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 



partly to the decay of phosphorous-holding fish is a fact, but it does not 

 sufficiently account for the entire oceanic phenomenon. That marine 

 zoophytes of extremely small size have their share in the production 

 of this phenomenon, is a fact beyond dispute. 



Being more of a botanist than zoologist, to me the floating 

 vegetable seaweeds had more charm than the phosphorescent 

 zoophyte, or the living seaweeds, the flying fish or the graceful 

 porpoise. 



In the Bight, and at the Heads and in Port Philip, the appear- 

 ance of floating Sargassum and Fucus Bacciferus looked tempting 

 as I admired long trails of them in the crystal blue of the tranquil 

 sea. Secure they lay in their position. My predaceous hand was 

 beyond their reach, or rather they were beyond the reach of my 

 onslaught. Nothing could stop the onward course of the steamer, 

 nor even slacken her speed for the purpose of marine-botanizing on 

 the part of a solitary individual like myself. 



Phyllospora comosa is a seaweed of extraordinary length and 

 beauty, as it is seen floating severalyards with the beautiful sunshine 

 heightening its rich olive colour. The long tape-like leaf, flat and 

 mucilaginous when obtained from the shore, and the olive-shaped 

 bladders with leafy expansions at the top, render the plant an object 

 of attraction. But when you are on board a steamer there is not 

 the slightest chance of your getting hold of these plants. They are 

 a vexation. So on 2Gth December 1888, I left them in their glory 

 undisturbed, and set foot on the terra firma of Melbourne to 

 botanize in more generous and approachable regions. To an in- 

 habitant of India, accustomed to the rich and luxurious vegetation 

 of the Konkan, at first sight Australia appears a barren land — a dead 

 level covered here and there with scrubby-trees which continuous 

 drought has almost starved unto death. Often you see however 

 tall and magnificent trees on some stratified sand stone reaching 

 down to the ocean-strand, unaffected by the battering and 

 beating of the ruffled waves of the salt water. The foliage, 

 whether in the bush or in the forest, among the scrubs or among 

 the vivid fern-gullies, varies considerably from bright dark 

 green to dull greyish hue. Fifty-three years ago when Charles 

 Darwin visited Australia during his voyage round the world in 

 H. M. S. "Beagle," which laid the foundation of his future fame, 

 and which gave to the scientific student an enormous amount of 

 information in Natural History, this venerable scientist made a 



