PHOSPHORESCENCE OF THE SEA. 171 



tributed in the upper stratum of water, to the depth 

 of six feet, we must confess that their numbers 

 infinitely surpassed the conception of the human 

 understanding." 



Another remarkable fact in connexion with the 

 ocean has been thus referred to by Coleridge : 



" Beyond the shadow of the ship, 



I watch'd the water- snakes : 

 They moved in tracks of shining white, 

 And when they rear'd, the elfish light 



Fell off in hoary flakes. 



" Within the shadow of the ship 



I watch'd their rich attire : 

 Blue, glossy green, and velvet black ; 

 They coil'd and swam, and every track 

 Was a flash of golden fire. 



" O happy living things ! no tongue 



Their beauty might declare : 

 A spring of love gush'd from my heart 

 And I bless'd them unaware." 



The phosphorescence of the sea exhibits the 

 greatest brilliancy between the tropics. Sometimes 

 the vessel, while ploughing her way through the 

 billows, appears to mark out a furrow of fire ; each 

 stroke of the oar gives rise to sparks of light, some- 

 times brilliant and dazzling, at others tranquil and 

 pearly. These movable lights, too, are grouped in 

 endless varieties ; and their thousands of luminous 

 points, like little stars, appear floating on the sur- 

 face ; and then, crowding together, form one vast 

 sheet of light. Then the scene becomes more 



