SEAWEEDS 



along the coast, just below low-tide marks. In Long 

 Island sound it is quite common. 



There is another form of sargassum which you will 

 like to know about. Great banks or floating mead- 

 ows of it are out in the midst of the Atlantic ocean. 

 These are called the sargasso sea, on account of the 

 floating plants which form it. 



This place was first reported by Columbus. His 

 sailors were frightened at the strange appearance and 

 wanted to turn back. They thought the vessel would 

 strike against the rocks. After sailing- for fifteen da} 7 s 

 they came into clear water. Since that time the Sar- 

 gasso sea has interested all sailors. Such an extent of 

 plants of one kind is not known elsewhere. 



Many animals live among this mass of seaweed. 

 Numerous air vessels make the plants light enough to 

 bear their weight. 



Often the gulfweed surrounds a ship and hinders 

 its progress, and then again, hours may pass without 

 a sight of the plant. 



This seaweed is found attached to the rocks on the 

 coast of Florida and in the West Indies. Plants are 

 sometimes carried by the current northward and are 

 found washed ashore. Perhaps this is the seaweed 

 that our poet Longfellow had in mind when he wrote 

 the following lines : 



140 



