Page:Wanderings of a Pilgrim Vol 2.djvu/395

 14th.—Rainy and uncomfortable. At night under the stern of the vessel the phosphoric light was beautiful: wishing to see what produced it, I desired the steward to throw out the bucket: he brought up a curious white jelly-like substance, two inches and a quarter in length, and three-quarters of an inch in width, at the thickest end, and shaped somewhat like a finger, covered with rings of small globules emitting a phosphoric light of a brilliantly transparent emerald colour. It extinguishes and resumes the light at pleasure. I put it into a tumbler-full of sea-water: any agitation of the water brought forth a powerful light. By daylight the next morning it had somewhat the appearance of a thinly haired dirty-white caterpillar, and its rounded form had become flat; in this state it weighed one dram one scruple; it was innocuous to the touch, it emitted no light, and was dead.

18th.—Neptune wished to come on board, but his company not being considered agreeable, the visit was declined, and a present promised to him at the end of the voyage.

19th.—The stars very bright—a lovely night in the trade winds—the comet very high, much more vertical; the end of the tail appeared some distance beyond Rigel in Orion—the stars hid their diminished heads as it passed over them—it set at a quarter past 9 ; its enormous magnitude was astonishing.

22nd.—The calm continued—the weather very warm—eight vessels around us wind-bound, as well as ourselves. To amuse the younger passengers, and pass away the time, which hung wearily on their hands, theatricals were commenced, concerts were given, and a newspaper was established and continued weekly, entitled "The Comet."

23rd.—The Magellan clouds visible—the southern cross, with its pointers very brilliant—the whole sky gemmed with stars—the moon, Vesta, and Mars, remarkably beautiful.

April 1st.—A glorious sunset over Trinidada and Martin Vas rocks.

4th.—Lat. S. 24° 39´, long. W. 29° 24´. The comet, which has been gradually diminishing in brightness, was invisible this evening, and we never beheld it again. The stock of water is