SA A V O Y A G E ROUND THE WORLD.
177*.
October.
Thurfday 2;
time, and nurfed the hope of making many interefting
difcoveries relative to the fcience of nature.
On the 29th, early in the morning, we difcovered the
land of the extremity of Africa, covered with clouds and
fo g ; and feveral gannets and fmall diving-petrels, together
with fome wild ducks, came out to fea from thence.
Soon after the land difappeared entirely, and we could not
fee it again till three o’clock in the afternoon, when its
parts were much plainer, though the clouds ftill involved
them. The wind blowing frefh, and the Adventure being
a great way a-ftern, we could not venture to get into the
Table bay during night, but flood .off and on till the
next morning, having thick fqually weather, and heavy
fhowers of rain.
The night was fcarcely begun, when the water all round
us afforded the mod grand and aftonifhing fight than can
be imagined. As far as we could fee the whole ocean
feemed to be in a blaze. Every breaking wave had its
fummit illuminated by a light fimilar to that of phofpho-
rus, and the fides of the veflel, coming in contact with
the fea, were ftrongly marked by a luminous line. Great
bodies of light moved in the water along our fide, fome-
times flower, fometimes quicker; now in the fame direction
with our courfe, now flying off from i t ; fometimes
we could clearly diftinguifh their fhape to be that of fifties,
which when they approached any fmaller ones, forced
thefe
thefe to haften away from them. Defirous of enquiring
into the caufe of this aftonifhing phenomenon, we procured
a bucket full of the illumined fea-water. The moft
accurate attention to it proved, that innumerable minute
fparks, of a round fhape, communicated this luminous,
appearance to the water, and moved about in it with great
brifknefs and velocity. After the water had been Handing
for a little while, the number of fparks feemed to de-
creafe; but on being ftirred again, the whole became as
luminous as before. Again, as the water gradually fub-
fided the fparks were obferved to move in directions contrary
to the undulations of the water,. which they did not
before, whilft the agitation was more violent, and feemed
to carry them along with its own motions. We fufpendcd
the bucket, to prevent its being too much affedled by the-
motion of the fhip; the bright objefts by this means betrayed
more and more a voluntary motion, independent of
the agitation of the water caufed by our hands, or by the
rolling of the veflel. The luminous appearance always
gradually fubfided, but on the leaft agitation of the water,
the fparkling was nenewed, in proportion as the motion-
was encreafed. As I ftirred the water with my hand, one-
of the luminous fparks adhered to my finger. We examined
it by the common magnifier of Mr. Ramfden’s
improved microfcope, and found it to be globular, tran-
fparent like a gelatinous fubftance, and fomewhat br ownifh:
by