28 THE VOYAGE. 
the Straits of Juan de Feuca on July 12. Re- 
ference to the track-chart shows how we idled 
and idled along on the sea, sauntering, rather 
than sailing; with a blazing sun right over 
the masthead, the heat was intolerable, and at- 
tended with a depressing languor, that forbade 
all energy, and fairly melted one in body and 
mind. The only land sighted was a very distant 
view of the Gallopagos Islands, a mere black look- 
ing spot on an interminable surface of blue. This 
group of volcanic islands, so strangely isolated, 
might have been a monster fish, a phantom ship, 
or even the great sea-serpent, for anything that 
could be definitely made out, even aided by a 
ship’s telescope. 
We caught great numbers of dolphins (Cory- 
phena hippuris), which are far more lovely to 
the eye than agreeable to the palate, in my esti- 
mation. This fish, usually from four to five feet 
in length, is built for rapid passage through the 
water: the tail, forked like horns, together with 
the long dorsal fin, reaching from head to tail, 
enables it to turn with an ease and celerity 
during even its swiftest transit through the sea. 
All who have written (in prose or poetry) about 
the dolphin have attempted a description of its 
marvellous colouring: to convey, by word-paint- 
