Narrative of Bahama Expedition. 33 



utterly wretched by the wallowing to which the •• Emily " now 

 abandoned herself. In justice to the unfortunates, however, 

 it must be said that they bore their trials stoically, and made 

 as little trouble as possible, although they doubtless thought 

 the romance of a life on the ocean wave a delusion. A trial 

 of the pumps showed that the vessel was remarkably tight, 

 not much more water coming up than had gonedown the 

 hatches. 



Thursday. May nth, latitude 28'^ 25,' longitude 76'^ 5' . 

 A very "•lumpy" sea was running all day, so that little "could 

 be done on board in the way of stud}^ or work. Some of the 

 stores had become shifted in the hold, and a barrel of water 

 upset during the storm. It was no easy matter for the men, 

 most of them at least semi-seasick, to go into the hold and put 

 things to rights while the vessel was rolling so outrageously. 



Attempts were made to secure specimens of the stormy 

 petrels flying about near the vessel. I have neyer seen one 

 caught with a pin-hook and thread, as is so often''attempted; 

 neither can a net be handled so skilfully as to catch these ex- 

 pert flyers. The origin of the name '• mother Carey's chicken,'' 

 or •• Carey chicken " as the sailors call it. is unknown to the 

 writer, but they have a " peep " almost exactly like that of a 

 young chicken. Their manner of treading water with out- 

 stretched wings and feet is highl}' amusing. On one occasion 

 I saw a large flock of these birds sound asleep on the water 

 in the daytime during a calm in the '• horse latitudes." • 



Many flying-fish were seen during our outward passage, 

 and the students were interested in trying to solve the question 

 as to whether theirs' is a true flight or not. There seems, 

 however, little room for doubt, as a carefuEobserver can soon 

 convince himself, that these fish are capable of genuine, al- 

 though very limited, flight. The flutter of the large pectoral 

 fins which serve these animals as wings, is so rapid that it 

 takes close w'atching to detect it, but it is nevertheless evident. 

 It takes longer watching to satisfy the observer that the ani- 

 mal can rise in the air by this fin motion, independent of the 

 impetus with which it leaves the water, but this, also, seems to 



