THE SARGASSO SEA. 339 



example of protective resemblaace than that which is .:howa in tha ^ulf- 

 weed fauna." — Sir Wyville Thomson, "Voyage of the Challetiger," vol. ii., 

 pp. 9—10. 



(297.) Captain Andrew Livingston, on his way from New Orleans to the 

 Strait of Florida, saw large quantities of it ; and every one who has navi- 

 gated the Gulf Stream has remarked the weed in it, or along its borders. 

 Sir Philip Broke and the Baron Alexander von Humboldt say that the 

 stream contains a great deal. Sir Philip says, " We were always surrounded 

 with gulf-weed." Major Rennell adds, " He spoke of that part of the Gulf 

 Stream out in the Atlantic ; the others might speak of other parts." 



In the "Sailing Directory for the Windward and Gulf Passages, the 

 Bahama Islands, &c.," by A. G. Findlay, is a description of Andros Island, 

 and it is there shown, that in the great sponging district, upon the Bahama 

 Bank, West of Andros, vast quantities of the gulf-weed are produced ; and 

 this is one of the beds from which the ocean has been supplied. 



On this subject, we have the following remarks by Captain Livingston, 

 whose name has so frequently occurred in the preceding pages : — 



" Many persons suppose that the gulf-weed (fucus natans) grows upon 

 the rocks about the Bermudas; others, that it originates among the 

 Florida Reefs ; and a third party, that it grows upon the water without 

 ever adhering to anything fixed. 



" All these positions seem to me equally wide of truth. Neither on the 

 Bermuda Rocks, nor among the Florida Reefs, has a single branch of gulf- 

 weed ever been found growing upon the rocks ; and, among all the gulf- 

 weed met on the ocean, no person has ever found a single tuft with roots, 

 or that, on mature examination, could be supposed, by any person of sound 

 judgment, to have grown on the surface of the water. On the contrary, 

 every stalk of the weed seems to have been broken off short from some- 

 thing to which it firmly grew, and all the ends of these stalks are uniformly 

 decayed, or dried up, from the end to a short distance. 



" It has been stated, as a well-known fact, that the fucus natans grows 

 on the rocks along the Gulf of Paria, and on the coasts of Caraccas, &c. 

 If this be the case, it is rather strange that it should not rather grow on 

 other rocks and coasts of the West Indies. It has also been stated, that 

 in the whole sea of floating bushes, Mar do Sargasso, not a withered plant 

 is ever discovered. This is not true, as I have seen abundance of fucus 

 natans in a state of great decay. I note the following from my journal of 

 the Brilliant, from Gibraltar towards Havanna: February 8th, 1819, 'the 

 weed much decayed;' 9th, a.m., ' weed passed through, much decayed;' 

 10th, p.m., 'passed through much decayed weed; I remark, that the 

 farther we run to the Westward, the more decayed is the gulf- weed;' 13th, 

 ' the gulf -weed begins to look fresher.'* 



" These particulars have been given in order to show that I have not 

 spoken at random; on the contrary, actually made my remarks on the spot. 



• On the 3th of February, the Brilliant was in 24° 17' N. and 65" 1' W. On the 9th, 

 in 24° 34' N. and 66° 59" W. On the 10th, in 24° 51' N. and 68° 39' W. On the 12th, in 

 25° 34' N. and 71° 5' W. On the 9th, the ship passed the meridian of Porto Rico, and 

 was hence proceeding toward Providence Channel, Bahama. The decayed weed, wa 

 have no doubt, had drifted from the central area of the ocean. — En. 



