AND SEEDS ON SHIP-BOARD. 79 
is usual in these latitudes, and the necessity for 
closing the ports, lest the spray should irrevo- 
cably ruin nay plants, caused them a great injury 
by the necessary exclusion of light. To the latter 
circumstance I attribute the first deterioration of 
my plants, especially those more recently set. 
When the sea became calmer, and permitted us to 
open the port-holes, the wind sweeping the sur- 
face of the waves cast a fine salt-spray upon my 
boxes, which doubtless proved highly injurious, 
since the contents of those chests that were ex- 
posed to the wind suffered much more than those 
of the other side. 
“ By the 11th of June, most of the teas had 
lost their foliage, and the stalks even of several 
had quite dried up. Some of the seeds had ger- 
minated ; the young shoots were slender, long, 
blanched, and furnished with a few pale leaves. 
By the 2nd of July, in latitude 24° north, and 
longitude 42° west, the strongest shrubs were 
s uff ering most severely, while some had sent out 
suckers, and the young seedlings had assumed a 
greener tint. Capt. Cecille took great interest 
in the safety of my proteges, and while the leak- 
age of some of the water-casks had compelled him 
to put the whole ship’s crew on a slender allow- 
ance of water, he ordered me an increased quan- 
tity for the benefit of the tea-shrubs. The 
