340 OBSEEVATIONS ON THE CUERENTS. 



Some of the weed was quite browii, and in small fragments, evidently 

 separated into such by its sta~te of decay. It is true that the weed soon 

 decays when it is taken out of the water, as I have often tried the experi- 

 ment. The weed is never of a verdant green colour, but seems as if 

 blanched from having been, in some degree, hid from light ; I suppose 

 from vegetating under water." 



(298.) Mr. Turner, and many other botanists, thought that the greater 

 part of thefuci (weeds) which we gather on the surface of the ocean, and 

 which, from the 23rd to the 35th degree of latitude, appear to the mariner 

 like a vast inundated meadow, grow primitively at the bottom of the ocean, 

 and float only in their ripened state, when they are torn off by the motion 

 of the waves. 



" The causes that uproot these weeds, at depths where it is generally 

 thought the sea is but slightly agitated, are not sufiSciently known. It has 

 been said, that if the fucus adheres to the rocks with the greatest firmness 

 before the display of its fructification, it separates with great facility after 

 this period, or during the season which suspends its vegetation, like that 

 of the terrestrial plants. The fish and the moUuscae that gnaw the stems 

 of the sea- weeds no doubt contribute also to detach them from their roots. 



" On proceeding hence, toward the "West Indies, from the 22nd degree 

 of latitude, we found the surface of the sea covered with flying-fish, which 

 threw themselves up into the air 12, 15, or 18 feet high, and fell down on 

 the deck. I do not hesitate to speak of an object, of which voyagers 

 discourse as frequently as of dolphins, sharks, sea-sickness, and the phos- 

 phorescence of the ocean. None of these objects can fail of affording 

 interesting observations to those who make them their study." 



(299.) Captain Bourke, in the brig Archibald, December, 1815, found 

 large quantities of the weed near the parallel of 20°, to the Northward of 

 the Island Porto Eico, and of the Eastern part of Hajrti ; but on the 

 passage through the Bahama Channel, Eastward of the meridian of 70°, 

 and on the North sides of Hayti and Cuba, none of the weed was seen. 

 This may be accounted for on the supposition that it was drifted by the 

 current from the great bed of weed to the N.E., as before explained. 



Lieutenant John Evans, E.N., states: — "In November, 1810, H.M.S. 

 Belvedere, in the centre of the Atlantic, lat. 33° 20', long. 41° 37', passed 

 through prodigious quantities oi fucus natans, in line North and South, as 

 far as the eye could see; and, notwithstanding that there prevailed a very 

 heavy swell from the North, their position was not altered. The quantity 

 of this weed met with between the 30th and 36th degrees of latitude is 

 really astonishing ; at times you may sail for leagues through it, covering, 

 as a mantle, the surface of the sea. I have often seen it in lines about 

 300 or 400 fathoms in length (sometimes only a few yards), and frequently 

 in large and small patches of irregular shape, but generallj^ in a circular 

 form. The deep-sea Hne should be put over the side frequently in this 

 particular part of the Atlantic." - 



On the 17th of April, 1828, at noon, in the Mexican Sea, a vessel, under 

 the command of Lieutenant John Evans, was in lat. 26° 52', long. 89° 17'. 

 On this da,y fucus natans, or gulf- weed, was seen, in parallel lines, S.S.E. 

 and N.N.W. It was in flower, and completely covered with young bar- 



