FROM MY JOURNAL. 101 



I did not lose sight of it until after a gale. It was interesting to watch 

 this bird in a storm. It would fly close to the water, although the 

 waves were running what is poetically called " mountain-high." One 

 moment, it would be low down in the trough of the sea, and you would 

 suppose the monster wave sweeping along would overwhelm it, but the 

 bird would gracefully follow- the curve and rise to the crest of it, and 

 seem to bid defiance to the most violent shakes of Neptune's trident. 

 They breed in the sand or in clefts of rock, laying but few eggs at a 

 lime, but as soon as the young birds are capable of flying, they launch 

 out on their ocean adventures, returning only periodically to obey the 

 great law of their nature, the propagation of their kind. 



The porpoises when abundant, and they usually occur in troops, af- 

 ford constant amusement. They are full of fun themselves, and cut the 

 most curious antics around the ship. You will see them approaching 

 several miles off, and it looks very much as if they were playing the 

 game of leap-frog, for such a tumbling over each other — such a jumping 

 out of the water over the heads of those going before — such a racing 

 and snorting and shaking of tails — such a threshing of each other sides 

 can only be equalled by a crowd of impatient boys just let loose from 

 school. This animal (Phocana, Lin.) swims veiy swiftly, for even 

 when our ship was tearing through the water at nine-knots, the por- 

 poises would cross and recross her bow and shoot ahead of her with 

 ease. When below the surface of the water, they show the most beau- 

 tiful green color you can conceive, but this is the case with all large 

 fish. They are cunning fellows and are not easily caught, and this in- 

 duced a punning friend of mine to remark, who had tried in vain to 

 hook one, " after all, they are not so green as they look." 



As we neared the British channel, we were all called up one day to 

 see a big-Jish, and sure enough, within a few yards of the ship, three 

 or four monsters were gamboling in beautiful style. They were from 

 fifteen to twenty feet long ; they would poke their huge snouts out of 

 the water, turn on their sides, dive under the ship, thresh the surface 

 with their tails, and seemed to be cutting capers just for our amusement. 

 The sailors called them ^^JS''or capers?'' It was a larger species o{ Plio- 

 ccena, than our other friend of that genus. Tlicy kept us company for 

 some hours and then disappeared. Our boatswain got his harpoon rea- 

 dy, but like many another sportsman, just as he was prepared to take 

 aim, the game flew away. 



On my return voyage, the season was much farther advanced, and 

 the ocean game w^as much more plentiful. For many days together, 

 millions of sea-nettles {Medusa. Lui.) tloated past our chip. These ani- 



