I S DISCOLOURED SEA. Mar. 1832. Mar. 1832. DISCOLOURED SEA. 19
drop of water which I could remove contained very many.
In one day we passed through two spaces of water thus
stained, one of which alone must have extended over several
square miles. What incalculable numbers of these microscopical
animals ! The colour of the water, as seen at some
distance, was like that of a river which has flowed through a
red clay district; but under the shade of the vessel’s side, it
was quite as dark as chocolate. The line where the red and
blue water joined was distinctly defined. The weather for
some days previously had been calm, and the ocean
abounded, to an unusual degree, with living creatures. In
Ulloa’s voyage an account is given of crossing, in nearly the
same latitude, some discoloured water, which was mistaken
for a shoal: no soundings were obtained, and I have no
doubt, from the description, that this little animalcule was
the cause of the alarm.*
In the sea around Tierra del Fuego, and at no great distance
from the land, I have seen narrow lines of water of a
bright red colour, from the number of Crustacea, which
somew’hat resemble in form large prawns. The sealers call
them W'hale-food. Whether whales feed on them I do not
know; but terns, cormorants, and immense herds of great
unwieldly seals, on some parts of the coast, derive their chief
sustenance from these swimming crabs. Seamen invariably
attribute the discoloration of the water to spawn; hut I
found this to be the case only on one occasion. At the distance
of several leagues from the Archipelago of the Galapagos,
the ship sailed through three strips of a dark yel*
M . L e s so n (V o y a g e d e la C o q u ille , vo l. i., p . 2551 m e n tio n s r e d w a te r
o f f L im a , a p p a r e n tly p ro d u c e d b y th e sam e c au se . P e ro n , th e d is tin g u ish e d
n a tu r a lis t, in th e “ V o y ag e A u x T e r re s A u s tra le s ,” g ives n o less th a n
tw e lv e re fe ren c e s to v o y a g e rs w h o h a v e a llu d e d to th e d isc o lo u re d w a te rs
o f th e s e a (v o l. ii., p . 2 3 9 ). I t was h is in te n t io n to h a v e w r itte n a n
e s say o n th e s u b je c t. To th e r e fe ren c e s g iv en b y P e r o n m ay b e ad d e d ,
H um b o ld t ’s P e r s . N a r r ., v o l. v i., p . 8 0 4 ; F l in d e r ’s Vo y ag e, v o l. i., p . 92 ;
L a b illa rd ie re , v o l. i., p . 2 8 7 ; U llo a ’s V o y ag e ; Vo y ag e o f th e A s tro la b e
a n d o f t h e C o q u ille ; C a p ta in K in g ’s S u rv e y o f A u s tra lia , &c.
lowish, or mud-like, water; these strips were some miles long,
but only a few yards wide, and they were separated from
the surrounding surface by a sinuous 5’et distinct margin.
The colour was caused by little gelatinous balls, about the fifth
of an inch in diameter, in which numerous minute spherical
ovules were embedded: they were of two distinct kinds, one
being of a reddish colour and of a different shape from the
other. I cannot form a conjecture as to what two kinds of
animals these belonged. Captain Colnett remarks, that this
appearance is very common among the Galapagos Islands,
and that the direction of the bands indicates that of the
currents; in the described case, however, the line was
caused by the wind. The only other appearance which I
have to notice, is a thin oily coat on the surface wdiich displays
iridescent colours. I saw a considerable tract of the
ocean thus covered on the coast of Brazil; the seamen attributed
it to the putrefying carcass of some whale, which probably
was floating at no great distance. I do not here
mention the minute gelatinous particles which are frequently
dispersed throughout the water, for they are not sufficiently
abundant to create any change of colour.
There are two circumstances in the above accounts which
appear very remarkable: first, how do the various bodies
which form the bands with defined edges keep together ? In
the case of the prawn-like crabs, their movements were as
comstantaneous as in a regiment of soldiers; but this cannot
happen from any thing like voluntary action with the
ovules, or the confervm, nor is it probable among the in-
fusoria. Secondly, what causes the length and narrowness
of the bands ? The appearance so much resembles that
which may be seen in every torrent, where the stream
uncoils into long streaks, the froth collected in the eddies
that I must attribute the effect to a similar action either
of the currents of the air, or sea. Under this supposition
we must believe that the various organized bodies
are produced in certain favourable places, and are thence
removed by the set of either wind or water. I confess
c 2 ’