To California 
as town smoke from mountain air. I could see 
the bottom as distinctly as one sees the ground 
when riding over it. It seemed strange that 
our ship should be upborne in such an ethereal 
liquid as this, and that we did not run aground 
where the bottom seemed so near. 
One morning, while among the Bahama dots 
of islands, we had calm sky and calm sea. The 
sun had risen in cloudless glory, when I ob- 
served a large flock of flying fish, a short dis- 
tance from us, closely pursued by a dolphin. 
These fish-swallows rose in pretty good order, 
skimmed swiftly ahead for fifty or a hundred 
yards in a low arc, then dipped below the sur- 
face. Dripping and sparkling, they rose again 
in a few seconds and glanced back into the lucid 
brine with wonderful speed, but without appar- 
ent terror. 
At length the dolphin, gaining on the flock, 
dashed into the midst of them, and now all or- 
der was at an end. They rose in scattering dis- 
order, in all directions, like a flock of birds 
charged by a hawk. The pursuing dolphin also 
[ iBi ] 
