4 BERTHA'S VISIT TO HER 



islanders, and in the mourning dress of the 

 Otaheitans. 



25th. Last night we had the good fortune to 

 procure one (ff the luminous creatures that make 

 the sea so brilliant. After many fruitless at- 

 tempts, a bucket of water brought up a fine spe- 

 cimen, about two inches long, and as thick as 

 my finger; somewhat cylindrical and transparent. 

 On its surface are numerous little tubercles ; and 

 as there seems to be a cavity all through the 

 body, it might at first be thought one individual, 

 but the captain showed me that it is an assem- 

 blage of animals united together. He examined 

 the specimen very minutely^ and then put it into 

 a phial of spirits of wine to preserve it. He seems 

 to be very fond of natural history, and told us that 

 the sparkling appearance of the sea, which may be 

 observed in all parts of the world, is produced by 

 animalculse, or little creatures that can only be 

 discerned by a microscope. 



2Qth. We have seen more birds to-day. 

 Some of them were petrels ; they remained along 

 time skimming about the ship, and though they 

 greedily devoured any fat substance thrown into 

 the sea, all our endeavours to procure one failed. 

 One species was the stormy petrel, which they 

 say is seen all over the Atlantic Ocean. Some 

 chopped straw being thrown overboard, we saw 



