10 
INCIDENTS OF THE VOYAGE. 
few minutes ; several made courses distinctly angu- 
lar, and some, I am quite sure, rose and sunk in un- 
dulations, To confirm my own observations, I re- 
quested a gentleman on board to notice this point ; 
and he was quite certain of both these facts. 
Nov, 24dh, — I observed to-day a Flying-fish, after 
flying a very short distance, suddenly turn down- 
ward, abruptly and perpendicularly, as if alarmed, 
and enter the water. The action exactly resembled 
that of a bird. 
Nov, — Several times I have observed in the 
flight of the Exocoetus, when near, an occasional 
fluttering of the pectorals. In general, these wing- 
fins appear motionless ; but at the moment of rising 
to avoid the crest of a wave, there is a slight but 
rapid vibration of these organs, distinctly perceptible, 
if the fish be pretty close to the ship. I saw an Exo- 
coetus to-day which was much larger than the species 
hitherto observed, with the pectorals wholly of a 
sooty black colour. Probably it is the Exocoetus 
Novehoracensis of Dekay. The others are still 
rather numerous, but do not rise in fiocks. 
Nov, ^'Ith, — This morning multitudes of Flying- 
fishes rose, disturbed by the ship ; a distinct species, 
differing from both the former in many points (Plate I. 
Fig. 1.). This species is much smaller; the pec- 
torals are so delicately transparent as to be almost 
invisible ; the upper parts are of a fine deep blue ; 
their flight is swifter, more hurried, and continued 
for a shorter distance ; they often merely shoot along 
at the surface, just cutting the water, and sometimes 
emerge for five or six feet only. The form appears 
