28 NATURAL HISTORY OF 



record occurred. We kept a fresh breeze for the next two 

 days, but it gradually fell on the 28th, and died away com- 

 pletely towards evening on the 29th, when, there being a 

 dead calm and no signs of any more wind, preparations were 

 made for getting up steam. While this was going on two 

 sharl^s paid us a visit, coming alongside the starboard gang- 

 way. They were about six feet long, and one of them, which 

 was of a rather light-brown, with the pectoral fins tipped with 

 white, was accompanied by half-a-dozen pilot-fish {Naucrates 

 ductor), which swam slowly around it, displaying their 

 elegantly barred sides very clearly. A few minutes later 

 a very large fish, probably a shark, but, from being at 

 some depth below the surface of the water, impossible 

 to ascertain its nature with certainty, was seen on the port 

 side of the vessel. A shark-hook was thereafter baited with 

 a piece of salt pork, and put over astern, but the tempting 

 morsel having been unfortunately insufficiently secured, the 

 sharks succeeded in making a supper of it, and getting off 

 scot-free. On the morning of this day we had a very heavy 

 tropical shower, which, though it only lasted a quarter of an 

 hour, sufficed to fill a goodly array of water-cans which were 

 brought on deck. 



On the 30th we went along under easy steam, and 

 soundings were taken with the deep-sea lead several times 

 during the day, but no bottom obtained at depths of 500 

 and 300 fathoms. There was a glorious sunset, the lumin- 

 ary leaving a bright red glow on a bank of dark neutral - 

 tinted clouds behind it, after it had dipped below the 

 waves. 



Early in the morning of next day I was roused by 

 the officer on watch to get my first view of the Southern 

 Cross, which afterwards became such a familiar object to us, 



