(at its extremity) 3.25 inches. The "wings" resemble, in 
many respects, those of butterflies, especially in the 
veining. The veins or rather spines fork twice or thrice. 
The eye is very large, the iris hazel, the back dark slaty, 
the upper sides bluish, the lower sides and entire under¬ 
parts silvery white. The mouth is directed upward. 
Arrive at St. Thomas. 
The first land, St. Thomas, was sighted about three 
o'clock and an hour later mountainous islands loomed ahead 
and to the right and left — Porto Rico, St. Thomas and 
the Virgin Islands. We reached our anchorage in the harbor 
at St. Thomas at about eight o'clock. It is now eleven. 
The night is delightfully cool, yet wholly without chill, 
and the strong trade wind sweeps steadily overhead and 
ruffles the water about the ship. A Russian training ship 
lies at anchor near us. The moon has just risen over the 
mountains to the eastward. We are too far from shore to 
hear any of the night sounds of the land. 
During the forenoon I saw only one bird, a large 
brown sea-bird which I did not recognize but which I now 
believe to have been a Booby Gannet. Soon after land was 
first sighted and about thirty miles to the northward of 
St. Thomas, the sea over a large area was literally alive 
with Puffini ( Puffinus auduboni ), sitting on the water 
