PEOSPHOEESCE5CE OP THE SEA. 
3G5 
not risen, but that part of tbe milky way which extends 
from the feet of the Centaur towards the” constellation of 
Sagittarius, seemed to pour a silvery light over the surface 
of the ocean. The white rock, crowned by the castle of 
San Antonio, appeared from time to time between the high 
tops of the cocoa-trees which border the shore ; and we soon 
recognized the coasts only by tho scattered lights of the 
Gruaiqueria fishermen. 
We sailed at first to X. X. W., approaching the penin- 
sula of Araya ; we then ran thirty miles to W. and W.S. W. 
As we advanced towards the shoal that surrounds Cape 
Arenas and stretches as far as the petroleum springs of 
Maniquarez, we enjoyed one of those varied sights which 
the great phosphorescence of the sea so often displays in 
those climates. Bands of porpoises followed our bark. 
Fifteen or sixteen of these animals swam at equal distances 
from each other. When turning on their backs, they struck 
the surface of the water with their broad tails ; they diffused 
a brilliant light, which seemed like flames issuing from the 
depth of the ocean.* Each band of porpoises, ploughing the 
surface of tbe waters, left behind it a track of light, the 
more striking as the rest of the sea was not phosphorescent. 
As the motion of an oar, and the track of the bark, pro- 
duced on that night but feeble sparks, it is natural to sup- 
pose that the vivid phosphorescence caused by tbe porpoises 
was owing not only to the stroke of their tails, but also to 
the gelatinous matter that envelopes their bodies, and is 
detached by the shock of the waves. 
We found ourselves at midnight between some barren 
and rocky islands, which uprise like bastions in the middle of 
the sea, and form the group of the Caracas and Chimanas.t 
The moon was above the horizon, and lighted up these cleft 
rocks which are bare of vegetation and of fantastic aspect. 
The sea here forms a sort of bay, a slight inward curve of 
the laud between Cumana and Cape Codera. The islets of 
Picua, Picuita, Caracas, and Boracka, appear like fragments 
of the ancient coast, wliich stretches from Bordones in tiie 
same direction east and west. The gulfs of Mochima and 
Santa Fe, which will no doubt one day become frequented 
* See Views of Nature, (Bohn’s edition,' p. 246. 
+ There are three of the Caracas islands and eight of the Chimanaa, 
