BuLLEK. — Observations on an Ocean Voyage. 193 



origin, running with ns ; later on the Equtitorial current run- 

 ning against us, and then the still Nvaters of the Tropics ; at 

 first light S.W. winds in our favour, and now these trade- 

 winds right in our teeth, with a broken sea; and yet no birds 

 of any kind whatever ! We have now travelled three thousand 

 miles over this vast solitude without seeing any birds, and 

 Captain Kempson tells me it is ahvays so. Well may the 

 Arabs term it the "desert of water." In the afternoon a 

 Grey Petrel (of the size and appearance of Puffinus griseus) 

 appeared in sight, but did not remain very long. At night 

 the water was phosphorescent again ; but we seemed now to 

 have some different kind of animal producing this effect, for 

 they kept as near as possible to the sides of the ship, and the 

 sparks of light emitted presented a green tinge. 



13th February. — Weather unchanged. The Grey Petrel 

 appeared again at intervals ; no other object. 



14:th February. — The wind has freshened, and there is now 

 a rough sea. The Grey Petrel (if the same) has been joined by 

 a mate, and they have remained with us all day. About noon 

 we bore down upon a flock of about fifty Cape Gannets (Sitla 

 capensis) floating on the water. This species is distinguished 

 by its nearl}' black tail. During the whole of the afternoon 

 we were attended, at a long distance astern, by a small Alba- 

 tros which I take to be the true Diomedea culminata, but not 

 the species hitherto referred to by that name in New Zealand, 

 which has lately been distinguished by Messrs. Rothschild and 

 Salvin as a distinct form, and named Diomedea hulleri. 



15th February. — The wind freshened during the night, and 

 to-day we have had a heavy swell setting in from the west- 

 ward, along the wide expanse of ocean stretching away to 

 Cape Horn. We have been steaming most part of the day 

 only about fifty miles from land, and have seen more birds. 

 In the afternoon we came upon a flock of Diomedea culmi- 

 nata (?), about twenty in number, disporting themselves in the 

 water on our weather-bow. They took no notice whatever of 

 the steamer, although we passed quite near to them. In the 

 evening a pair of Boobies (Sulafusca) passed us on the wing. 

 We also came upon a flock of fifty or sixty Shearwaters 

 (? Puffinus major), and saw in the distance w^hat appeared to 

 be a pair of Lestris catarractes. 



16th February. — As w^e approach the Cape bird-life is 

 getting plentiful. The small Albatros already mentioned is 

 ever present, but, as a rule, keeps at a distance from the 

 ship. Large Seagulls hover over us, and the little Penguin 

 {Sjjheniscus demersus) plays about in the water, singly or in 

 pairs, diving frequently and remaining long under the sur- 

 face. Shags, and Petrels, and Boobies are plentiful, and an 

 astonishing number of Gannets. Of the latter I counted one 

 13 



