14 A'OYAGE FROM ENGLAND 



the prey, and are covered with a number of suckers and protuberances. 

 The bladder appears to be unchangeable ; I have not been able to 

 discover any canals leading into it ; it does not shrink on the death 

 of the animal, and even in spirits of wine it retains its shape. Its 

 power of motion is but small ; it can bend itself into the shape of a 

 crescent, and also turn its two ends up and down. By these motions 

 it rights itself, when a wave has upset it. The bladder may be 

 touched without any painful sensation, but the suckers excite a burn- 

 ing smart. This remarkable animal is called by the English the 

 " Portuguese man of war," by the French Galere, and by the Por- 

 tuguese Agoa viva, or Caravela. Nearer to the equator the number 

 of these animals again decreased ; here, on the contrary, we found the 

 Medusa pelagica very common. Aquatic birds also hovered about us 

 at times: after a thunder shower the steersman caught a noddy 

 (Sterna stolicla) with his hands, which alighted quite fatigued on 

 the deck ; some man-of-war birds (Pelicaiius Aquilus, Linn.) also 

 showed themselves, which had been driven from the neighbouring 

 rocks. 



While we were passing through the northern torrid zone the wea- 

 ther remained on the whole favourable, but the continually increasing 

 heat often incommoded us greatly. Black clouds sometimes arose, 

 quite insulated, in the horizon ; they spread, and came on quickly, 

 bringing with them extremely violent thunder showers, which instantly 

 deluged the ship, but within half an hour they were generally suc- 

 ceeded by bright sunshine. As we at length began to be in want of 

 good fresh water, these showers were often very welcome. Imprudent 

 sailors, who neglect to take in the topsails on the approach of these 

 storms, frequently suffer damage from the sudden squalls, and some- 

 times even perish ; our people informed us that a vessel had met with 

 this disastrous fate only a short time before. One of these squalls in 



