44 TRAVELS IN BRAZIL. 



the first time he had the opportunity of traversing 

 the Hquid element in such splendour. The sea 

 was covered with luminous balls, as large as a hazel- 

 nut, and with every wave that dashed against the 

 ship in its course, it seemed to throw out sparks 

 like hot iron, when it is hammered, or like a Cathe- 

 rine wheel, and lighted up all the surrounding ob- 

 jects. Besides these innumerable balls of fire, 

 there were other larger insulated luminous bladders, 

 most frequently near the ship, but likewise at a 

 distance from it, in places where the waves broke 

 in foam. The darker the night grew, the more 

 beautiful did the phenomenon appear; and on 

 moonhght nights it was less visible, and only on 

 the side where the shadow of the vessel fell. This 

 splendid sight has been an object of investigation 

 in the accounts of numerous voyagers. Forster 

 explains it partly as a consequence of the electri- 

 city excited by the violent friction of the ship, and 

 partly as phosphorescence from putrefied animal 

 substances or luminous insects. Adanson and the 

 later naturalists, as Von Humboldt and Peron, 

 ascribe this phenomenon entirely to mollusca, 

 zoophytes and other marine animals. We likewise 

 did not neglect carefully to investigate this impor- 

 tant subject. We had several vessels filled during 

 the night with the luminous sea water. The hand, 

 or whatever was wetted with this water, shone, and 

 the vessels, when shaken, were full of luminous 

 particles. The water, when examined the following 

 day, by means of an admirable microscope, made 



