Living Things in the Waters 31 



but a big sea passed under him; his tail touched the 

 crest of the wave, and he was thrown forward into the 

 proper angle toward the wind, and then, rising like an 

 aeroplane, started off, making the longest flight I saw 

 on the whole voyage, almost disappearing in the distance 

 before he dropped, head on, into the side of a big roller. 

 Flying-fishes are very good to eat. The flesh is firm 

 and tastes like that of a Spanish mackerel. On the 

 return voyage we took on a supply of flying-fishes ob- 

 tained in the market of Bridgetown, Barbadoes, and 

 for several days the bill of fare at dinner enumerated 

 among other comestibles " filet of flying-fish. ' 



Standing at the prow of the ship we now and then 

 saw sea-pens (Pennatula) floating in the water. They 

 were deep purplish red in color, but were not very 

 numerous. Occasionally we saw ' Portuguese men-of- 

 war" (Physalid), their white floats followed by their 

 long purple processes streaming behind them. Ugly 

 things they are to handle, and the first officer told us a 

 story about one of his inexperienced shipmates who 

 some years ago had seen one of the things in the harbor 

 of Bahia and seized it with his naked hands. The terri- 

 ble nettle-like stings infected his right hand and arm, 

 which became inflamed and swollen so that for over a 

 week he was incapacitated for duty. Now and then 

 we saw masses of Vellellidcz, which are closely related to 

 the Portuguese men-of-war. They were not, however, 

 nearly as numerous as I have seen them on the Pacific, 

 between Vancouver and Yokohama, where untold 

 millions of them at times cover the sea for miles. They 

 are quite small, not more than an inch in diameter. 

 Their short tentacular processes when examined near 

 at hand are of a beautiful blue color, but as they appear 

 against the white foam of the bow-wave they resemble 



