34 Natural History Bulletin. 



be a fact. In the undulating llight of the lish the water is not 

 always touched on the " dip." Sometimes the vigorous flutter 

 of the fins lifts the animal when it does not touch the water at 

 all. The direction of flight can be suddenly changed without 

 contact with the water. These fish often fly aboard large 

 vessels, especially at night, when they seem to be attracted by 

 the lio"hts. In one instance a man is said to have been knocked 

 down b}' being struck on the chest by a large specimen of this 

 species, and at another time enough flew aboard during a sin- 

 gle night to make a mess for the passengers of a Pacific Mail 

 steamer next morning. 



A small squid was picked up on deck by the captain, having 

 probably been thrown on board by one of the high seas run- 

 ning during the night. 



Most of the seasick people seemed nearly over their troub- 

 les when the weather moderated somewhat about noon, and a 

 number set to work putting canvas covers over the dredges. 

 AV^hen they came to be used, however, it was found that the 

 canvas provided for the purpose was so rotten that it was 

 usually demolished during the first haul, exposing the nets to 

 wreck and ruin on the rocky bottom. 



A tow-net was also put on a frame, such as was used on the 

 '• Blake;" but the motion of the vessel was too great to admit 

 of its being used to any purpose at that time. In general we 

 found the dip-net more serviceable than the drag-net. 



About four o'clock in the afternoon a strong gale blew from 

 the eastward, and we were forced to lay to, not wishing to 

 unnecessarily risk our canvas, some of which was not so strong 

 as could have been desired. Of course this thing of lying to 

 in a gale and " wallowing it out " is far from a comfortable 

 experience, especially to those not yet accustomed to the sea. 



It seemed as if old Neptune was determined to show how 

 disagreeable he could make himself. It was not by any means 

 a bad thing, however, to have the sea do its worst in the way 

 of discomfort solely, as there was no danger, and thus get the 

 party in a proper frame of mind for enjoying its gentler moods, 

 which came afterward, and in abundance. 



