Page:Journal of the Right Hon. Sir Joseph Banks.djvu/79

Rh flashes of light coming from it, perfectly resembling small flashes of lightning, and these so frequent that sometimes eight or ten were visible at the same moment; the seamen were divided in their accounts, some assuring us that it proceeded from fish, who made the light by agitating the salt water, as they called it, in their darting at their prey; while others said that they had often seen them to be nothing more than blubbers (Medasæ). This made us very eager to procure some of them, which at last we did by the help of the landing-net; they proved to be a species of Medusa, which when brought on board appeared like metal violently heated, emitting a white light. On the surface of this animal was fixed a small Lepas of exactly the same colour and almost transparent, not unlike thin starch in which a small quantity of blue is dissolved. In taking these animals three or four species of crabs were also obtained, of which one very small kind gave fully as much light as a glow-worm in England, though the creature was not so large by nine-tenths. Indeed, the sea this night seemed to abound with light in an unusual manner, as if every inhabitant of it furnished its share; as might have been the case, although none retained that property after being brought out of the water except the two above mentioned.

30th. Employed in examining the things caught last night, which being taken by the light of our lamps (for the wind which blows in at the windows always open will not suffer us to burn candles) we could hardly then distinguish into genera, much less into species. We had the good fortune to find that they were all quite new, and named them Medusa pellucens, Lepas pellucens, Clio, Cancer fulgens, and Cancer amplectens, but we had the misfortune to lose two more species of crabs through the glass in which they were contained falling overboard. Two other species of crabs were taken, one of which was very singular.

31st. Find that the crabs taken yesterday were both new; called them vitreus and crassicornis.

5th November. That the trade blows toward the northward upon the coast of Brazil has been observed long ago, although