NOTES ON BllAZIL. 



29 



fluid at every given depth below its surface, is a constant quantity, and 

 the instant that this, or in other words, the buoyancy of the plant, 

 becomes greater than the strength or adhesion of the stem, the head and 

 seed-vessels must break away and rise to the surface. This weed of which 

 I speak, exists over nine hundred square degrees of the Atlantic ; the 

 fresh nodules are almost uniform in their specific gravity and in the strength 

 of their stems, and therefore indicate that the bottom, through that 

 broad space, cannot be very uneven. 



Much indeed, would the general knowledge of the Ocean, or Marine 

 Geography, be extended : much would the Mercantile and Shipping 

 Interests be benefited, if under the sanction of Government, all the 

 JLog-Books of vessels arriving from abroad, were to be deposited at an 

 office, established for the purpose, to be examined there, and compared 

 with each other ; if those who kept them well were applauded, and 

 those who neglected to do so exposed. Every Master and every Mate 

 would be careful as to what he inserted, if he knew that his register of 

 circumstances and events was to be afterwards compared with those of 

 other vessels, which, though unseen, may be sailing within a few miles 

 of him. The Gentlemen at Lloyd's also, especially in time of war, would 

 be subject to much less imposition than they are, and Masters of real 

 merit would become known and distinguished. 



