OX BOARD THE "AURORA" 161 



On the twentieth of December, we passed an immense 

 school of fin-fish, the whole surface, as far as the eye 

 could reach, was literally covered with them; again, now 

 and then a shark or a dolphin would break the monotony, 

 but beyond that we met no different species from those I 

 described as inhabiting the Atlantic Ocean, namely: boni- 

 tos, porpoises, and numberless flying-fish— of which we 

 kept one or two dead ones on deck for quite a while. Soon 

 after leaving Valparaiso we saw two whales at a great 

 distance, but not one has since come within our view. 

 Birds have been our constant companions. The faithful 

 cape-pigeons had been replaced by the gulf-swallows, 

 which, in turn, had been succeeded by so-called tropical 

 birds, which are now followed by California wild-geese, 

 large, dark-brown birds, in shape resembling the alba- 

 tross, but much larger and stronger in build— probably 

 Pelicans. After several fruitless trials we managed to 

 catch a few, one of which measured no less than eight feet 

 ten inches from tip to tip, and whose dark blue beak 

 proved to be over five inches wide, while the claws were 

 fully six inches in length. 



Ships have been rather scarce on our trip, as we have 

 met only four so far, which makes one feel rather lone- 

 some on the wide, wide ocean. Saturday, the twenty- 

 ninth of November, we sighted a large Danish schooner, 

 heavy laden and South-bound; the Tuesday following, we 

 passed within two miles of an empty full-master, under 

 short sails, steering in Northeastern direction. Seeing 

 only top-sails, three (mars, cleaver and lee), we con- 

 cluded that this mysterious vessel must be a coursing 

 whaler. I passed the Equator the second time during 

 the night of the fourteenth-fifteenth of December a. p. 

 The night was clear and beautiful, the wind steady but 

 mild, so that we passed the line with lee-sails laid-by. 

 And then came Tuesday, the sixteenth, your ever remem- 

 bered birthday, beloved mother, and in chronological 

 succession, my second holiday since leaving Valparaiso. 

 You will be wondering how I celebrated it. .hist like the 

 other holiday during my trip; 1 smoked one cigar more 

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