AT SEA. 9 
iris yellowish gold colour. It has three rows of small teeth, separa- 
ted by a groove in the centre. When dying, the blue tint, for a few 
seconds, sometimes covers the whole fish, and then settles in the 
blue spots only. Linnaeus's description, as far it goes, is accurate. 
It follows the ship in company. In its belly was found the flying- 
fish. The Coryphaena hippuris is also called a dolphin by the 
sailors. 
The dolphins on the 31st were about the ship in shoals. The 
men killed eight. We had one for dinner, and it was as good as 
an albicore. On the 30th we saw many sharks, one of which, seven 
feet long, the men caught. The following day the dolphins were 
still more numerous, and every mess had one. 
The wind for the last five days had been extremely light, but 
we had been favoured by a current to the S. W. which enabled us 
to make a degree a day. The sea perfectly smooth. On the 1st of 
April the men killed nine dolphins. Long. 61° 59', lat. IP 5^', 
April 6. — The current deserted us on the ^d, and the breezes 
became extremely light. We had plenty of dolphins; and several 
very singular species of sea-blubber floated by. One was a large 
scarlet mass, about seven feet long and two or three wide, a part 
of which was got on board ; it consisted of a great number of dis- 
tinct living substances, adhering to each other. Each was about 
four inches diameter, tubular, and closed at the ends. A circular 
thread of scarlet spots was twined in circles amidst the gelatinous 
substance. Another was about two inches long by one in diameter; 
partly hollow. It had a dark yellow spot and one red close to each 
other, at the lower extremity. It was covered with fine prickles 
externally, which, produced no smart on being touched. 
