THE VOYAGE. 9 



structcd a large four-pointed grab-hook and then through the kindness of 

 OIK of the sailors I procured about fifty feet of small cord, which, when 

 attached to the former, made of it a very effective instrument for catching 

 isolated bunches of the Sargassum from the steamer's side, as we steamed 

 along. Among the intricate branches of this plant live a great variety 

 of small crustacca. \\orms, etc., while the surface of the stems themselves 

 are frequently covered with the calcareous tubes of the more minute 

 annelids or encrusted with bryozoans of most delicate lacelike patterns. 

 Hut there are other things to interest and occupy the mind as one steams 

 along through this portion of the tropics. From the surface of the water 

 rise numerous schools of flying fish. It was interesting to note how they 

 would start suddenly from the water and continue their course, directed 

 upward at a considerable angle, until attaining a maximum altitude of 

 perhaps thirty feet, when instantly their course would be altered to that 

 of an incline, and they would descend until near the water's surface, over 

 and just above which they would glide, rising and falling with such per- 

 fect rhythm, as the crest and trough of each successive wave was encount- 

 ered, as to maintain at all times a nearly equal elevation above the surface. 

 Then suddenly, when the original momentum had been expended, they 

 would plunge directly downward and immediately disappear beneath the 

 surface of the water. The total distance covered at one flight would be 

 perhaps about three hundred yards, and in general appearance it was not 

 unlike that of the flight of a covey of our common quail, when startled 

 from a growing field of grain, with a breeze just sufficient to cause the 

 surface of the latter to move in gentle undulating waves. All the indi- 

 viduals of each group rise almost instantly and take the same direction, 

 all settling in each instance in the same immediate vicinity. The whole 

 flight is accomplished in such manner as to suggest, that in either instance 

 each animal pertained to an automaton, or at least, that one controlling 

 mind dominated and directed the action of each. Moreover, the normal 

 distance of the flight of the quail does not differ materially from that of 

 the flying fish, though the former is without doubt capable of a much 

 more sustained flight than the latter. 



Occasionally there could be seen from the side of the steamer a 

 "Portuguese Man of War," Physalia atlantica, gliding along upon the 

 surface of the water like a miniature ship with most beautifully colored 

 sails. These and other objects served during the day to fill in the inter- 



