THE INDIAN OCEAN. 345 



that this power is in some way connected with the 

 sustenance of the animal, as minute fislies are 

 frequently found in a benumbed state attached to 

 these processes. The little creature, as it floats upon 

 the broad billows, bears a very striking resemblance 

 to a small ship, of which the bladder is the hull, and 

 the puckered membrane the sail ; and as the edge of 

 the sail is a beautiful pink hue, and the lower part 

 of the hull deep blue, a fleet of them, floating and 

 rolling in a calm upon the long glassy swell of the 

 sea, presents a scene of striking novelty and elegance. 



Another creature much resembling this in appear- 

 ance is found in the same regions in equal numbers. 

 It is called by sailors the Sallee-man (Veldla mutica) ; 

 and consists of an internal cartilage, of a semi-pel- 

 lucid white hue, enclosed in soft parts, of a purplish 

 green. A broad oval base floats on the water, across 

 which runs obliquely an arched crest or sail : beneath 

 are placed the brown viscera, covered with a thick 

 mat of colourless tubular papillce : the edge of the 

 oval base is fringed with slender blue tentacles. No 

 part of this animal seems to have the power of 

 stinging, so formidable in the preceding. 



It will be remembered, that in the description of 

 the Arctic Seas, a little animal (Clio horealis) was 

 mentioned as forming a large portion of the food 

 of the whale. Its place is supplied in the Pacific 

 and Indian Oceans by two or three species nearly 

 allied to it in structure, but furnished with a glassy 

 shell. One of these is named TL/alea tridentata; 

 its shell is small and somewhat globular, resembling 

 a bivalve without a hinge ; the hinder part being 



