Hour, been only one degree nearer or one degree further, we
should have lost the entire sight; when we saw it we were 14 degrees
6' (a minute is equal to a nautical mile).
All observations with the sextant {9} were out of the question until
we were once more some degrees from the zenith.
17th August. Shoals of tunny-fish, (fish four and five feet long,
and belonging to the dolphin tribe,) were seen tumbling about the
ship. A harpoon was quickly procured, and one of the sailors sent
out with it on the bowsprit; but whether he had bad luck, or was
unskilled in the art of harpooning, he missed his mark. The most
wonderful part of the story, though, was that all the fish
disappeared as if by magic, and did not appear again for some days;
it seemed as if they had whispered and warned each other of the
threatened danger.
All the oftener, however, did we see another inhabitant of the sea,
namely, that beautiful mollusca, the physolida, called by the
sailors Portugiesisches Segel-schiff; (Portuguese sailing-ship.)
When floating upon the surface of the sea, with its long crest,
which it can elevate or depress at pleasure, it really resembles a
delicate tiny little sailing vessel. I was very desirous of
catching one of these little creatures, but this could only be
effected by means of a net, which I had not got, nor had I either
needle or twine to make one.
