30 THE VOYAGE. 



dorsal and anal fins are opposite each other, and 

 placed near the tail, which is deeply but un- 

 evenly forked the lower limb being much the 

 longer; the ventral fins, which are posterior to 

 the middle of the body, are unusually long and 

 strongly rayed. 



But in the uncomfortably calm Pacific, where 

 I w r atched the flying-fish every day, and often all 

 day long, I had ample opportunity to observe its 

 so-called ' flying.' The species that tenant the 

 two oceans are very nearly allied, Exocetus voli- 

 tans being the one common to the Pacific ; but it 

 is of habits I wish to treat, not of minute specific 

 distinctions that can be settled in the studio. 

 It seems to me that the distance traversed when 

 the fish leaps from the sea, and the length of 

 time it remains out of the water, are much over- 

 estimated in books on Natural History. Ten or 

 twelve seconds may be taken as the average time 

 of its flight, and eighty yards the maximum 

 distance traversed when the water is perfectly 

 tranquil; if aided by a breeze of wind, or pro- 

 pelled from the crest of a breaker, the distance 

 accomplished would necessarily be greater; but 

 the fins have no power to raise the fish a single 

 inch above the level of its leap, and simply aid in 

 its support, as the extended skin of the flying- 



