1867.] Natural History of Pratas Island. 151 



In the latter part of the afternoon a seining party came from 

 the ship, and the nets being prepared, four casts were made very 

 successfully. A great number of fish were taken and stowed away 

 in the sail-bags, but it was too late and too dark to examine them 

 very closely, and they were distributed amongst the ship's company 

 and dressed for breakfast. Among them were a great many of a 

 large silvery mullet ; no flying-fish, however. In one of these 

 hauls the net was so impeded by the quantity of the reticulated 

 Ulva before mentioned, that it was drawn in with great difficulty. 



It was now dark, and a breeze was springing up. A blue light 

 burnt from the shore was answered by another from the ship, thus 

 distinguishing her position, and Capt. Bullock and I embarking in 

 the gig were soon scudding along under sail. Meantime the full 

 moon rose grandly over the sea, and in half-an-hour we had 

 measured the way back to the ship which it had taken two hours' 

 hard pull to do in the morning. 



The towing-net hanging out from the ship when lying off the 

 island was, the first evening, filled with a dense brown deposit, 

 which on examination proved to be composed solely of Zoese, all of 

 the same species. The next morning on raising it again in the 

 same spot, not a Zoea made its appearance, but instead of them 

 were numbers of Leucifer, Entomostraca, and other minute Crustacea, 

 also little Atlantse ; fronds of reticulated Ulva, and decaying leaves 

 of Zostera, upon which were Lunulites, Spirorbis, and minute 

 Polyzoa. 



A strong N.E. wind prevented us the following day from 

 paying another visit to the island; while, lying under its lee, we 

 remained at anchor for the sake of the shelter it afforded us. But 

 on the second day, towards sunset, our attention was attracted by 

 the curious phenomenon of long rolling waves coming in from the 

 south-west, which increased as the evening advanced, causing 

 considerable motion in the ship. Towards midnight these S.W. 

 rollers increased to such an extent, the wind still blowing strong 

 from the N.E., that Captain Bullock deemed it desirable to slip 

 cable and put to sea, since the proximity of the reef was very 

 undesirable if bad weather set in, while the rolling swell endangered 

 our bumping upon the reef in a spot where our fair-weather 

 anchorage left but little room to spare. We kept outside the edge 

 of the reef therefore during the night, and next day approached its 

 N.W. corner. Here we saw the terrible sight of the long line of 

 breakers on our lee side, extending for miles along the northern 

 edge of the reef, over which the sea, lashed into foam by a strong 

 breeze of some days' duration, was dashing wildly in a broad straight 

 band of white foam. Finding that the wind freshened and that 

 we could do no more at the Pratas Shoal, we steered N.E. and left 

 the dangerous reef behind. 



