minute, and quite invisible to the naked eye, only covering a space
equal to the square of the thousandth of an inch. Their numbers were
infinite; for the smallest 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. [9]
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 somewhat resemble in form large prawns.
The sealers call them whale-food. Whether whales feed on them I do not
know; but terns, cormorants, and immense herds of great unwieldy seals
derive, on some parts of the coast, their chief sustenance from these
swimming crabs. Seamen invariably attribute the discoloration of the
water to spawn; but 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 yellowish, or
mud-like water; these strips were some miles long, but only a few yards
wide, and they were separated from the surrounding water by a sinuous
yet 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 imbedded: 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 directions of the bands
indicate 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 water which 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 carcase of
some whale, which probably was floating at no great distance. I do not
here mention the minute gelatinous particles, hereafter to be referred
to, which are frequently dispersed throughout the water, for they are
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