'% ' Prince Maccimilians 



they are connected witli the bladder. With these tentacula, whi<*h 

 -may be called tlie living part (for the bladder is not sensitive), the 

 animal seizes its prey ; they are capable of being lengtliened or 

 shortened, and are furnished with numerous suckers and papillge. 

 With regard to the bladder, I have not been able to discover any 

 ducts or canals that open into it; this bladder does not alter after 

 the death of the animal, and will retain its form even in spirits of 

 wine. Its power of motion is very limited; it curls mto the 

 form of a crescent, and its two points incline either upwards or 

 downwards. By this motion it supports itself when tossed about 

 by the fury of the waves. The bladder its alf occasions no pain to 

 the touch ; but the tentacula produce a burning smarting sensation. 

 The physalis is called by the English, the Portuguese man of war; 

 by the French, galere ; and by the Portuguese, agoa viva, or 

 caravela. As we approached the equator, the numbers of these 

 mollusca dimini'shed ; hnt on the other hand, the medusa pelagica 

 appeared very frequently. Sea-fowl also fluttered round the 

 ship, and on one occasion, after a storm, the pilot caught a sea- 

 swailow, {sterna stoUda, Linn.) in his hand. We also saw man of 

 war birds {pelacaniis aquilus^ Linn.), which had been driven down 

 from the neighbouring clilFs. 



The weather was upon the whole favourable, while we passed 

 the northern torrid zone: we had frequent showers of rain, but 

 these were very acceptable, as our store of fresh water was by this 

 time nearly exhausted. On the 22nd of June, the Janus passed 

 the equator, when the seamen made us undergo the usual ceremony 

 of a visit from Neptune. On the preceding evening, a deputy 

 from the monarch of the ocean came on board, and conversed with 

 the captain through a speaking trumpet. The flaming car in 

 which he departed, consisted of a burning tar barrel, which form- 

 ed a very pretty object as it receded in the darkness of the night. 



After we crossed the equator, the weather became less favour- 

 able; we had frequent showers of rain, accompanied by heavy 

 winds; the sea was often very rough, and we saw numbers of 

 storm-finches, (procellaria pelagica) porpoises, and larger ceta- 

 cea. We had now passed the 28*^ 25' west longitude from Green- 

 wich ; to avoid the rain and heavy winds which we had hitherto 

 experienced, we now steered further westward, and this brought 

 us into the currents which run towards the American coast. 



On the morning of the 27th of June, while we were seated at 

 breakfast, we were informed that we were in sight of land. Every 

 one hastened on deck, and to our joy we beheld the beautiful coast 

 of Brazil, rising above the surface of the ocean. We soon disco- 

 vered two species of sea-weed, (Jucus) and various other indica- 

 tions of our proximity to the coast, and at length we descried a fish- 

 ingraft, with thret, men on board. These rafts (Jangadus) are form- 

 ed of five or bix trunks of a light kind of tree, called in Brazil j)ao 



