ihip, while 1 complained aloud, and from that moment c H A p.
date .töjxkY^Q'odfWtll' which Colonel Fourgeoud manifeded *•_
towards me in particular, as will bé feen throughout the
expedition. It i&'rwifch pain that I relate this paflage—
but no toonfideratian fhall prevent me from bringing
to' light {particular foibles',’ it will ever give me the
greateMplJafure to- render virtue confpicuous.
About the ,20th .of January1, wë .obferved' great numbers4.
<©f flying flflï, liUeuWnb^u's 'vUitam of Linnaeus,
which is’,about the fize of a herring.* The back of* this*
animal is* flat, and’ óï'ahioliwlbrown colour; the fidesr
and belly of a refplendent filvery white; the mouth
fm-ail; the.eyes:large.; the tail, bifurcated; and ;thè' ffcates-
hard, - fmooth,. and lilveryi5 ffTpon occasion the peótoral
fins areufed. as. wings!by this filh^'yet nè> longer than,
while! they continue wet, for 'as- fopn as the moifiure- isf
dried, the animal drops back’ intOMhe feat The furface
of thefe fins is of a golden hue, h eaut ifuh y * variegated
near the edges ' with fpdts-of azure blue : their length is
■ equal! to that of the body of the fxfh; arid its flight, which,
^.undertaken in order to avoid the purfmit of the: dorado,
andbther largefifh, is always ftraight forward,
add o f . fhort duration, on account of • the heceffity of
repeatedly wetting its wings *. Thefe animals are: fre-
* I have never feen thirneceffity. pro.*
perly accounted for: probably the mucus
which covers the fins or vyihgs may become
fo coufolidated by the heat of the
fun, and1;1.the afition of Me air, that it may
impede their motion) or it may be that
; the Bib itfelf cannot endure to be long, out<■
of its proper element: either of thefe flip-
•'pofitions ‘will account for.'Tts ’dropping fo •
-.often as it were involuntarily -on board t
{hips, and ,into,, the mouth of. its enemies,,
'the,dolphin, dorado, &c.
C 3 quently