210 
On the 29th of June, both wind and weather continued favour¬ 
able to us; otherwise things remained as before. Captain Croker, 
who did every thing in his power to entertain his passengers, 
set off in the evening a couple of rockets, and other fire-works, 
which afforded us much pleasure. Mr. Croker, who is very 
experienced in a seafaring life, related us many of his adventures 
on the deep, which we found very interesting. We twice per¬ 
ceived swarms of flying fish arise from the water, which after 
flying a considerable distance, plunged anew into their native 
element; they did not, however, come sufficiently near to enable 
us to observe them distinctly. A large dolphin likewise made 
its appearance, and we were still escorted by mother Carey’s 
chickens, and saw numerous sea-gulls. 
On the 30th of June no change; wind favourable, weather fine 
and clear, and a curiosity in natural history! We generally kept 
a pair of hooks in our wake. One of these hooks had caught a 
mollusc which goes by the name of Portuguese man-of-war. 
It is of a violet colour, and has a spongy body with long feelers 
and two bladders, the largest of which is about the size of a carp. 
This bladder the animal fills with air at pleasure, in order to en¬ 
able itself to swim, and when the sun shines upon it, it displays 
very fine colours. Otherwise we caught nothing, as heretofore, be¬ 
cause fish most generally avoid copper-bottomed vessels, such as 
ours. In the evening we saw in the ship’s wake the phosphoric 
sealight. 
Under a continually favourable wind, we made great progress 
on the 2d of July, and had the agreeable certainty of leaving 
the bank of Newfoundland behind us, so that we had reason to 
hope, during the remainder of our voyage, not to be again in¬ 
commoded by fogs; latitude 41° 24', longitude 50°. Notwith¬ 
standing the constantly favourable and fresh breezes, the sea was 
so smooth, that our ship had no more motion than if we were 
sailing on a stream. And thus passed off the third of July; the 
air, which had thus far been very warm, became to-day rather 
cool, which made our cabin very comfortable. At a cable’s 
length from our vessel we perceived a numerous herd of por¬ 
poises, which were sporting on the surface of the water; latitude 
42°, longitude 46° 48'. 
The 4th of July was the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration 
of American Independence; it was of course duly celebrated 
on board our vessel. The American flag was hoisted early, and 
at dinner more wine than usual, and of various kinds, was drank 
freely. Several toasts were proposed: Mr. Croker drank the 
health of the King of England ; whereupon Dr. Garret proposed 
that of the President of the United States; I gave Governor 
Clinton’s; thereupon followed a great many of like kind. We 
