PETRELS. 87 



These petrels kept flying astern of the vessel till it was 

 too dark to see ; but how they spend the night I can't 

 say. It cannot be on shore, for we were twenty or thirty 

 miles from land. They seemed never to rest on the 

 water, unless when they discovered the crumbs of cheese 

 and biscuit, or pieces of bacon which we threw for them 

 overboard, and then they settled on the water to enjoy 

 their prize at leisure. They frequently just touched the 

 water like a swallow, which they greatly resemble with 

 their wings hovering in the air and bent back ; and 

 they then appeared as if picking up their food from the 

 surface. 



"Sept. 14. — Saw four pilot-fish under the bows. They 

 are very beautiful creatures, coloured with alternate bands 

 of transparent bluish green and rich crimson brown, 

 varying in the sun to beryl-green and blood-red. Saw a 

 pale ghost-like fish glide past like a shadow, at a great 

 depth under water. Signer Shark shewed himself to-day 

 for a moment or two, far beneath the surface ; so did not 

 think it prudent to trust myself to the bosom of the deep. 

 Towards evening a vast flock of flying-fish rose at a dis- 

 tance of some hundred yards to windward of the vessel. 

 They were immediately pursued with hue and cry by the 

 whole posse of gulls, and these no sooner drove them into 

 the water than they were attacked by the bonitos, who 

 drove them back into the air. leaping after them to the 



