NOTES ON BRAZIL. 



23 



That this luminous quality is not confined to the surface of the 

 water, where, for the most part, it appears in the English Channel and 

 the German Ocean, is evident to all who have passed the tropics, and may- 

 be clearly proved to those who have not ; for the shark, when he has taken 

 the bait at night, and finds himself hooked, generally plunges downward, 

 if line enough be given, many fathoms below the bottom of the vessel, 

 and is visible even there by the light which he creates around himself 

 while floundering in the water. That the light in question does not 

 proceed from his own body, but from the water which he agitates, or 

 rather the matter Avhich it contains, is manifest, because the larger 

 living fishes, as they dart around and beneath us during the obscurity, 

 leave behind them long lucid trains, just of the same kind and in the 

 same manner as the vessel herself does. 



In fine weather, near the coast of Brazil, the ship frequently falls 

 into patches of water which exhibit a brown and dirty appearance, for 

 several miles in extent. Strangers are apt to suppose that they are on 

 the edge of a shoal; and more than once I have seen the helm put 

 hastily down in order to avoid the supposed sand-bank. Yet the 

 brownness of the water arises from the spawn of fishes; and when 

 examined by a microscope, or powerful lens, is found to be mingled 

 with vast numbers of the small fry, which have just broken into active 

 existence. They seem to have been deposited by their parents during 

 the winter months ; for I have noticed them from June to November, 

 but not in March, April, or May. They probably serve as food for 

 those fishes which are more fully grown, or the ocean would soon be 

 overstocked with inhabitants. 



Our knowledge of these inhabitants must depend for its perfection 

 upon the fisherman's art. In this respect British seamen do not generally 

 excel. Their duty on board is more regular and constant, and they 

 have less time to be lounged away in the sun, or to be trifled with in 

 attending a line, than foreigners are allowed; and the circumstance of 

 their sailors, in the merchant's service, furnishing their own provisions 

 on board, renders the art of fishing, among them, important to almost 



