THE STRAIT OF MAGELLAN. 57 



identical in character should have been made in nearly the 

 same locality at an interval of more than thirty years from 

 each other. 



On the 11th, in the morning watch, we encountered a 

 squall, accompanied by thunder and lightning. Many 

 specimens of that beautiful petrel, the Cape pigeon {Daption 

 capense), wxre observed for the first time ; and, in the 

 forenoon, a large mass of floating weed was seen in the 

 distance. In the afternoon, when we were 120 miles off the 

 nearest land, a large dragon-fly flew on board and was 

 captured. In the evening it became almost dead calm, 

 though the vessel still slipped slowly through the water. A 

 fine sunset, accompanied by a frosty haze on the horizon, 

 ushered in a night of exquisite beauty. At this time we all 

 began to perceive a steady decrease in the temperature, the 

 evenings, which, while we were in the Plate, had been very 

 oppressive, now feeling quite chilly. 



The morning of the 12 th dawned calm and bright, the 

 air being delightfully fresh and exhilarating. In the fore- 

 noon we observed great numbers of small moths floating on 

 the almost rippleless surface of the water ; and early in 

 the afternoon I obtained in the towing-net some curious 

 gelatinous bodies, of a pyriform shape and firm consistence, 

 marked with rows of small yellowish-white appendages. 

 These, which I preserved in spirit, I then believed to be 

 Tunicata, allied to Pyrosoma ; but it was only during the 

 present year (1870) that an examination of the specimens 

 (now at the British Museum) proved that my conjecture was 

 correct, the animals turning out to be the remarkable Sycozoa 

 sigillinoides described and figured by Lesson in the Voyage de 

 la Coquille, but not noticed in any other work that I have 

 met with. Lesson remarks that his specimens were found 



