The
Next Thing That Surprised Us Was The Way In Which The Ship Was Pitching,
Though It Appeared A Dead Calm.
Up she rose and down she fell upon a
great hummocky swell which came lazily up from the S.W., making our
horizon from the boat all uneven.
On deck we had thought it a very
slight swell; in the boat we perceived what a heavy, humpy, ungainly
heap of waters kept rising and sinking all round us, sometimes blocking
out the whole ship, save the top of the main royal, in the strangest way
in the world. We pulled round the ship, thinking we had never in our
lives seen anything so beautiful as she then looked in the sunny
morning, when suddenly we saw a large ripple in the waters not far off.
At first the captain imagined it to have been caused by a whale, and was
rather alarmed, but by and by it turned out to be nothing but a shoal of
fish. Then we made for a large piece of seaweed which we had seen some
way astern. It extended some ten feet deep, and was a huge, tangled,
loose, floating mass; among it nestled little fishes innumerable, and as
we looked down amid its intricate branches through the sun-lit azure of
the water, the effect was beautiful. This mass we attached to the boat,
and with great labour and long time succeeded in getting it up to the
ship, the little fishes following behind the seaweed. It was impossible
to lift it on board, so we fastened it to the ship's side and came in to
luncheon. After lunch some ropes were arranged to hoist the ladies in a
chair over the ship's side and lower them into the boat - a process which
created much merriment. Into the boat we put half a dozen of champagne-
-a sight which gave courage to one or two to brave the descent who had
not previously ventured on such a feat. Then the ladies were pulled
round the ship, and, when about a mile ahead of her, we drank the
champagne and had a regular jollification. Returning to show them the
seaweed, the little fishes looked so good that someone thought of a
certain net wherewith the doctor catches ocean insects, porpytas, clios,
spinulas, etc. With this we caught in half an hour amid much screaming,
laughter, and unspeakable excitement, no less than 250 of them. They
were about five inches long - funny little blue fishes with wholesome-
looking scales. We ate them next day, and they were excellent. Some
expected that we should have swollen or suffered some bad effects, but
no evil happened to us: not but what these deep-sea fishes are
frequently poisonous, but I believe that scaly fishes are always
harmless. We returned by half-past three, after a most enjoyable day;
but, as proof of the heat being much greater in the boat, I may mention
that one of the party lost the skin from his face and arms, and that we
were all much sunburnt even in so short a time; yet one man who bathed
that day said he had never felt such cold water in his life.
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