Page:A voyage round the world, in His Britannic Majesty's sloop, Resolution, commanded by Capt. James Cook, during the years 1772, 3, 4, and 5 (IA b30413849 0001).pdf/77

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rules, and admits of several exceptions. In this situation we also observed several man-of-war birds, (pelecanus aquilus.) It is a common belief among sailors that their appearance denotes a vicinity of land; but we were at present above a hundred leagues from any shore, so that this opinion seems to have no better support than many old prejudices. Each eradication of one of these is a gain to science; and each vulgar opinion, proved to be erroneous, is an approximation to, which alone is worthy of being recorded for the use of mankind.

On the first of September, several dolphins, (coryphæna hippurus,) were seen; and we likewise took notice of a large fish close to us, perfectly resembling the figure of a fish given in Willoughby's Histor. Piscium, appendix pag. 5. tab. 9. f. 3. which is taken from John Nieuhoff's account, and which the Dutch call zee-duyvel, or sea-devil. In its external shape it was similar to the genus of rays, but seems to be a new species; from whence it is evident, that even in the most frequented seas, such as the Atlantic, many new discoveries in natural history might be made, if those who can distinguish unknown from known objects, had always opportunities of enquiring into them.

On the third of September great numbers of flying-fishes were observed, and a bonito (scomber pelamys) was caught, whose meat we found to be dry and less palatable than it is generally represented. We were lucky enough