XIV.] 7 : ALGE., 205 
us some account of the same plant as he encountered 
it off Tierra del Fuego. He says it “grows on every 
rock, from low-water mark to a great depth, both on 
the outer coast and within the channels. I believe 
during the voyages of the ‘ Adventure’ and ‘ Beagle,’ 
not one rock near the surface was discovered which 
was not buoyed by this floating weed. The good 
service it thus affords to vessels navigating near 
this stormy land is evident; and it certainly has 
saved many a one from being wrecked. I know 
few things more surprising than to see this plant 
growing and flourishing amidst those great breakers 
of the western ocean, which no mass of rock, let it 
be ever so hard, can long resist. The stem is round, 
slimy, and smooth, and seldom has a diameter of so 
much asaninch. A few taken together are sufficiently 
strong to support the weight of the large loose stones, 
to which, in the inland channels, they grow attached; 
and yet some of these stones were so heavy that, 
when drawn to the surface, they could scarcely be 
lifted into a boat by one person. ... The beds of 
this seaweed, even when not of great breadth, make 
excellent natural floating breakwaters, It is quite 
curious to see, in an exposed harbour, how soon the 
waves from the open sea, as they travel through the 
struggling stems, sink in height, and pass into smooth 
water.” And a little further on in his interesting 
narrative, he says: “I can only compare these great 
aquatic forests of the southern hemisphere, with the 
terrestrial ones in the intertropical regions.” 
The only other example of the Aelanospermee we 
are able to find room for is the beautiful Peacock’s 
