12 



for it is asserted, that Dutch pilots have found a 

 series of shoals from the banks of Newfoundland 

 as far as the coasts of Scotland, by using lines 

 composed of silk thread *. 



The causes that unroot these weeds at depths, 

 where it is generally thought the sea is slightly 

 agitated, are not sufficiently known. We learn 

 only, from the luminous observations of Mr. La- 

 mouroux, that if the fucus adhere to the rocks 

 with the greatest firmness before the display of 

 it's fructification, it separates with great facility 

 after this period, or during the season which 

 suspends it's vegetation like that of the terres- 

 trial plants. The fish and the molluscas that 

 gnaw the stems of the seaweeds no doubt con- 

 tribute also to detach them from their roots. 



From the twenty-second degree of latitude, we 

 found the surface of the sea covered with flying 

 fish 'jf which threw themselves up into the air 

 twelve, fifteen, or eighteen feet, and fell down on 

 the deck. I do not hesitate to speak of an ob- 

 ject, of which voyagers discourse as frequently 

 as of dolphins, sharks, seasickness, and the phos- 

 phorescence of the ocean. None of these objects 

 can fail of affording interesting observations to 

 naturalists, provided they make them their par- 



* Fleurieu. Voy. of the Isis, vol. iV, p. 524. (Labillar- 

 diere, Voy. vol. i, p. 331.) 



f Exocoetus volitans. 



