1 46 REMINISCENCES OF 



streams of light like serpents drawn in flame, and oc- 

 casionally immense globes of fire would roll along be- 

 neath the keel, at the depth of several fathoms, yet so 

 intensely bright that the little rudder fish were distinctly 

 visible sporting beneath the cabin windows. These 

 globes are generally as large as a flour barrel, and ac- 

 cording to Peron and Lesueur, they are sometimes seen 

 to reach the enormous diameter of twenty feet. I had 

 once the gratification to observe one of these animals 

 within a foot of the surface. It was a medusa, large 

 enough to fill a bushel basket, visible in every fibre by 

 its own illumination. 



At these times the crest of every wave resembles a 

 long line of ignited phosphorus, and every dip of the 

 oar, or plunge of the bucket, produces a flash of light, 

 and scatters scintillations on every side. Even the 

 larger fish, when they approach the vessel, are followed 

 by a luminous path like the tail of a comet, and they 

 are often struck with the harpoon, guided by this ap- 

 pearance alone. 



The sea at times resembles a field of snow or milk, 

 and Peron asserts that it is often tinged with prismatic 

 colours, vary ing at every moment ; but these phenomena 

 were not witnessed in our voyage. 



The strangest of all the modes in which the phospho- 

 rescence of the ocean is exhibited, was witnessed near 

 the island of Tristan D'Acunha, under circumstances 

 too impressive to be forgotten. 



