THE DRIFT OF THE SEA. 



313 



They sometimes swarm so thickly there that they change the col- 

 or of the sea, making it crimson, brown, black, or white, according 

 to their own hues. These patches of colored water sometimes ex- 

 tend, especially in the Indian Ocean, as far as the eye can reach. 

 The question, " What produces them ?" is one that has elicited 

 much discussion in sea-faring circles. The Brussels Conference 

 deemed them an object worthy of attention, and recommended spe- 

 cial observations with regard to them. 



905. Capt. W. E. KiNGiiAN, of the American clipper ship the 

 Shooting Star, reports in Ms last abstract log a remarkable white 

 patch, in lat. 8° 46^ S., long. 105° 30^ E., and which, in a letter 

 to me, he thus describes : 



" Thursday, July 27, 1854. At 71i. 45m. P.M., my attention 

 was called to notice the color of the w^ater, which w^as rapidly 

 growing white. Knowing that we were in a much frequented part 

 of the ocean, and having never heard of such an appearance being 

 observed before in this vicinity, I could not account for it. I im- 

 mediately hove the ship to and cast the lead ; had no bottom at 

 60 fathoms. I then kept on our course, tried the water by ther- 

 mometer, and found it to be 78-|°, the same as at 8 A.M. We 

 filled a tub, containing some 60 gallons, with the water, and 

 found that it was filled with small luminous particles, which, when 

 stirred, presented a most remarkable appearance. The whole tub 

 seemed to be active with worms and insects, and looked like a 

 grand display of rockets and serpents seen at a great distance in 

 a dark night ; some of the serpents appeared to be six inches in 

 length, and very luminous. We caught, and could feel them in 

 our hands, and they would emit light until brought within a few 

 feet of a lamp, when, upon looking to see what we had, behold 

 nothing was visible ; but, by the aid of a sextant's magnifier, we 

 could plainly see a jelly-like substance without color. At last, a 

 specimen was obtained of about two inches in length, and plainly 

 visible to the naked eye ; it was about the size of a large hair, and 



lations of identity with other provinces. The Red Sea and Persian Gulf are its off- 

 sets." — From Professor Forbes's Paper on the " Distribution of Marine Life." Plate 

 31st, Johnston's Physical Atlas, 2d ed. : Wm. Blackwood & Sons, Edinburgh and 

 London, 1854. 



