12 
Experiments with Sea Weed. 
cannot find any better descriptive name for them than “tar- jackets” 
because they then are really stiff with dirt, our cook not excepted: on 
Sundays, on the other hand, they look as if they had just come out of a 
band-box, and t he tidied-up youngsters then proudly parade the decks. 
47. We had by now reached the latitude of the Canaries: our 
splendid sailer skimmed the seas as briskly as a bird : and with the fresh 
wind also holding up we could usually make from six to eight knots an 
hour. Though already inspired at sun-rise and sun-set by the sight of 
the limitless element, my enjoyment was further enhanced with 
oncoming night when the sky stretched itself out above us with its 
constellations and equally innumerable falling stars, when the moon- 
shine fringed the half transparent edges of the lightly curled waves, and 
the ship seemed to swim in a sparkling sea of fire. More or less large 
luminous globes swarmed over the whole wide expanse, and with every 
furrow that the proudlv sailing vessel cut into the approaching waves, 
the sparks, flying like glowing iron when struck with a heavy hammer, 
momentarily lighted up its immediate surroundings. 
4S. During the day, on the other hand, my attention was drawn to 
the immense masses of sea-wrack or sea-weed which from now onward 
surrounded the ship. The heaping up of this mass of vegetation has 
often been the subject of the most versatile speculation, and extremely 
varied views have been expressed as to its origin. Alexander von 
Humboldt having charged me on my departure, to make every attempt 
possible to propagate the sea-weed in barrels, I fished up huge 
quantities on the outward and homeward voyage, and found all the 
manifold varieties that have been described, but never a root to which 
the plant was attached. I kept larger and smaller pieces of plant in a 
number of tubs, supplied some of them hourly, others daily with fresh 
sea-water, while others again T left in that originally given them: yet 
all became black and were already spoilt within the course of two or 
throe days. On the outward vo'ylage, in January, notwithstanding the 
most careful search, I never succeeded in finding fruit, whereas on mv 
return in the months of June and July, they were absolutely overstrewn 
with them. 
40. When fishing up a parcel of it in the dredge-net, I at the same 
time drew on deck a complete world of molluscs, jelly-fish, sea-squirts, 
cuttle-fish, rotifers, crabs and smaller fry, amongst which the beautiful 
PJnisalia utricnlus and CaraveUa (“Portuguese Man-of-war” of the 
sailors) particularly interested me. It afforded ns the most beautiful 
sight, when with their lovely coloured tentacles, innumerable specimens 
passed us by. 
50. The nearer we approached the Equator, the more did our fellow- 
passengers and sailors who had already crossed the line chaff those of 
us who were now about to do so for the first time. If one of the ship’s 
apprentices had done a kindness to an older experienced sailor he could 
rest assured that the latter's thanks would contain some consolatory 
reference to the baptismal tonsure at the fatal Line. So when we. did 
get there finally, it was known that we harmless people were to be 
decoyed on deck. Here on arrival we suddenly found ourselves surrounded 
by sun-burnt faces, and saw Neptune in a sheep-skin turned inside out and 
fringed with dripping sea-weed, emerging from the hatchways to settle 
himself on a huge water-barrel. With eyes bandaged, each novice is 
