400 THE PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE SEA. 



ship to and cast the lead ; had no bottom at 60 fathoms. I then 

 kept on our course, tried the water bj thermometer, 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 re- 

 markable 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 ser- 

 pents 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 ta|)ered at the ends. By 

 bringing one end within about one fourth of an inch of a lighted 

 lamp, the flame was attracted toward it, and burned with a red 

 light ; the substance crisped in burning something like a hair, or 

 appeared of a red heat before being consumed. In a glass of the 

 water there were several small round substances (say -Ytih. of an 

 inch in diameter), which had the power of expanding to more than 

 twice their ordinary size, and then contracting again ; when ex- 

 panded, the outer rim appeared like a circular saw, only that the 

 teeth pointed toward the centre. This patch of white water was 

 about 23 miles in length, north and south, divided near its centre 

 by an irregular strip of dark water half a mile wide ; its east and 

 west extent I can say nothing about. I have seen what is called 

 white water in about all the known oceans and seas in the world, 

 but nothing that would compare with this in extent or whiteness. 

 Although we were going at the rate of nine knots, the ship made 

 no noise either at the bow or stern. The whole appearance of 

 the ocean was like a plain covered with snow. There was scarce 

 a cloud in the heavens, yet the sky, for about ten degrees above 

 the horizon, appeared as black as if a storm was raging ; the stc^r ; 

 of the first magnitude shone with a feeble light, and the 'Milky 

 Way' of the heavens was almost entirely eclipsed by that through 

 which we were sailing. The scene was one of awful grandeur; 

 the sea having turned to phosphorus, and the heavens being hung 



