to Prof. E. Forbes. 25 



observed in our wake on several occasions. A very fine Puffinus 

 [B. 6], apparently a new species allied to Gould^s Pro.flavirhyn- 

 cha, was found generally distributed across the South Atlantic, be- 

 tween the meridians of 28° W. and 1 J° E. longitude ; and on two 

 successive days, while approaching Tristan d^Acunha, myriads of 

 these birds passed the ship to the westward, apparently coming 

 from that island. * A few days afterwards, while 480 miles from- 

 the nearest land, a strange tern [B. 15] came on board and was 

 added to the collection. Our daily practice of heaving to to as- 

 certain the temperature of thew^ater at considerable depths (150 

 and 350 fathoms) permitted me to obtain a boat whenever the 

 sea was sufficiently smooth to admit of lowering one with safety, 

 and I was thus enabled to procure specimens of many of the 

 Procellariada. On one of these occasions the jolly-boat was 

 swamped and turned over keel up. Fortunately we all escaped 

 either by reaching the life-buoy or clinging to the boat until re- 

 lieved ; but my best gun, having none of the natatorial properties 

 of the birds it was intended to destroy, went down to the realms 

 of Father Neptune, where I can only hope it may prove useful 

 in developing the " young idea '' of the juvenile members of his 

 family. 



On our passage across the South Atlantic, the towing-net 

 afforded a rich harvest on more than one occasion. While nearly 

 becalmed in lat. 34° 40' S. and long. 4° W. the sea was found 

 teeming with marine animals. Great numbers of a small Phi/- 

 salia, Velella emarginata, two species of lanthina^ [R. 175, 176, 

 and S. 43, 44], two of Glaucus [S. 42], and one of Pneumoderma 

 [S. 40], were among those taken. Nor ought I to omit a beau- 

 tiful silvery blue Idotea [C. 6] which swims on the surface like a 

 Gyrinus, and along with lanthina preys upon the Velella. At- 

 tached to the cartilaginous skeleton of one of these last I also 

 found several blue Anatifce [R. 177]. When in about 14° E. 

 long. I was much pleased to meet with, among other pelagic 

 Crustacea (Phrozini [C. 34, 35], &c.), three species of Alima 

 [C. 38, 42, 43], a genus remarkable for its singular glassy trans- 

 parency. Here also occurred numerous examples of Hyalea in- 

 flewa, making, with the la^'ge H. tridental a (which was found ge- 

 nerally distributed) and H. longirostra (taken off Bio), the third 

 of the genus in my collection. 



The Rattlesnake arrived at the Cape of Good Hope on the 

 8th of March, and this made my third, and I hope my last, visit 

 to that colony. We did not sail until April 10th, our stay being 

 protracted by a succession of south-easterly gales, which impeded 

 the survey of Simon's Bay. The weatherj and the difficulty of 



* lanthina glohosa and /. ex'fgua. 



