THE INDIAN OCEAN. 363 



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 mutico)] 

 and consists of an internal cartilage, of a semi-pel- 

 lucid white hue, enclosed 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 pa-pillw : the edge 

 of the oval base is fringed with slender blue tentacles. 

 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 borealis) was 

 mentioned as forming a large portion of the food 

 of the whale. Its place is supplied in the Pacific 



