VOYAGE TO ALGERIA 159 



them a Spanish officer ablaze with gold lace and decora- 

 tions. Under slight pressure the requisite permission had 

 been granted. We landed our party, and in the afternoon 

 weighed anchor. Thanks to the kindness of our excellent 

 paymaster, I was here transferred to a more roomy berth. 

 Cadiz soon sank beneath the sea, and we sighted in 

 succession Cape Trafalgar, Tarifa, and the revolving light 

 of Ceuta. The water was very calm, and the moon rose 

 in a quiet heaven. She swung with her convex surface 

 downward, the common boundary between light and shadow 

 being almost horizontal. A pillar of reflected light shim- 

 mered up to us from the slightly rippled sea. I had pre- 

 viously noticed the phosphorescence of the water, but to- 

 night it was stronger than usual, especially among the 

 foam at the bows. A bucket let down into the sea 

 brought up a number of the little sparkling organisms 

 which caused the phosphorescence. I caught some of 

 them in my hand. And here an appearance was observed 

 which was new to most of us, -and strikingly beautiful to 

 all. Standing at the bow and looking forward, at a dis- 

 tance of forty or fifty yards from the ship, a number of 

 luminous streamers were seen rushing toward us. On 

 nearing the vessel they rapidly turned, like a comet 

 round its perihelion, placed themselves side by side, and, 

 in parallel trails of light, kept up with the ship. One of 

 them placed itself right in front of the bow as a pioneer. 

 These comets of the sea were joined at intervals by oth- 

 ers. Sometimes as many as six at a time would rush at 

 us, bend with extraordinary rapidity round a sharp curve, 

 and afterward keep us company. I leaned over the bow 

 and scanned the streamers closely. The frontal portion 

 of each of them revealed the outline of a porpoise. The 



