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1832 Jan. 6th (a) Santa Cruz Luminous Sea

The sea was luminous in specks & in wake of the vessel of an uniform slight milky colour.— When the water was put into a bottle it gave o[ut] sparks for some few minutes after having been drawn up.— When examined both at night & next morning, it was found full of numerous small (but many bits visible to naked eye) irregular pieces of (a gelatinous?) matter.— The sea next morning was in the same place equally impure.—

Jan 10th (b)

Lat. 21. Sea very luminous, chiefly from a crustacean animal, which gave a very green light, retaining for some time after having been taken out of water.—

Jan 11th. (c) Velella V. A (3)

Lat 22°. A & B represent a beautiful little animal, magnified about 4 5 times its size:— A is the animal expanded: B partially closed.— 1 is flat circular]membrane: 2 a mantle, which the animal is]perpetually folding & unfolding: 3 retractile ten

Do. (d) V. A (4) Medusa Allied to the Medusae (?) 1. a transparent membranous bag, with the lower margin sinuous: 2 [sketch] slightly red or purple: 3. four tentacula with adhering cups at the ends.— Magnified about 10 times.

Do. (e) Physalia Caught a Portugeese Man of War, Physalia.— get some of the slime on my finger from the filaments it gave considerable pain, & by accident putting my finger into my mouth, I experienced the

(D) Lat. 19 N The animal is frequently seen with central depending part up & unfolded, like a right cork: tentacula & arm twisted bene

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For more particulars Vide page (73) August 24th.—

(1) A transverse section of the head gives an [illeg] the flat bunch of bristle are not placed at each end but rather nearer to each other.— In another specimen the granular mass (D) was absent.— But there was a much more transparent & less granular substance running up half way the animal from the tail.—

Description.— Animal transparent, membrane gelatinous: length .6 of inch: narrow: Head simple, rather wider than body: shape truncated cone with terminal orifice. on each side a flattened bunch of curved bristles about 8 in number, moveable & clasping mouth: Neck narrow. Body with thin vessel passing through centre.— Tapering towards the end [illeg] each side in some specim a small kidney shaped granular mass.— Extremity pointed, slightly downy.—

March 28th. few miles W of Abrolhos Island. 18°S Bottom at 20 fathoms— Caught great numbers of this animal In some, granular matter (D) was absent, in others it filled the whole tail or tapering extremity & from it were sent off 2 gut-shaped bags containing small grains or balls, larger than those at end.—

[in margin:] No. 159

There was an evident peristaltic motion in the internal tube or intestine: the animal could expand this irregularly.— In the gut were curious small bodies, like beads strung together.— The animal moved through the water by starts, bend bending its body at the same time: could contract & shorten its self: has row of very fine hairs at tail sides of granular substance & middle

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1832

sensation that biting the root of the Arum produces.—

Jan 11th (a) Limacina Limacina moving itself by the rapid motion of its expanded arm.—

Do. (b) Lat. 21°N ….. PL: 1, Fig: 1.— A very simple animal: A. nat: size: B magnified:— E about 7 or 8 bristles on each side of the head with which the animal frequently clasped its head: C, the head with the bristles folden over it: D: a granular substance, ova (?).—

Do. (c) Lat. 22°N V A (2) Biphora The net came up with a great number of Biphoræ: when placed in water it was quite wonderful with what perfect regularity the animal contracted itself: from five observations with a second watch there were precisely 19 pulsations in every 30 seconds.— PL: 1, Fig: 2. — represent a very rough drawing of the animal: E nat: size: AB. the tunic: the upper end of which has its margin labiate: A represents exactly the appearance of a lip: the lower end B is simple:— Embracing 2/3 of cylinder there are ten flattened striated tubes (c), which are seen to contract during pulsation of the animal.— This uniform motion, together with the partial closing of the end or valve A, must drive the water through the animal: & its reaction accounts for the jumping motion by which it swims in the water:— D. is an appendage with marks on one side as represented: there are I should think tubes for there was an evident rapid circulation going on in them: F. bristles (?) in rapid & continual motion.— the heart, the membrane from transparency not visible, certainly the heart is not much clearer in Creseis.

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(A) [sketch] great number in a brown jelly invisible to the naked eye

(B) April 1833 [page crossed]

All the time we were at St Jago, this dust continued to fall so as to be a serious injury to astronomical instruments. Horsburgh in E India Directory P 11 mentions the misty state of the atmosphere between the Cape Verd islands & mainland, & gives it as a reason for Ships avoiding this passage.— This shows to how great an extent it happens.— Although the amount deposited in the ocean during a short period may be small, yet when we consider the extreme constancy of the trade winds, in the course of centuries it must be great.— The dust would seem to be formed from the abrasion of Volcanic rocks & in Geolog of Quail island I show how hard a conglomerate is forming probably from the union of such decomposed rock with Lime.— May not this dust then be helping to consolidate (if mixed with other sediment) beds of mud at the bottom of the Atlantic. Aerial currents would not at first supposed to be instrumental in geological changes.— (I see I have written this note twice)

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1832

Jan 13th (a) Lat 19° (V (10)) Creseis (?) Shell straight, conic, length .15, fragile extremity, contracted with oval ball at end. siphon striated lateral. A, magnified figure. B, extremity.— [sketch]

Jan 12th (b) Lat 15°30' Sea with numerous ova or rather balls of a brown granular substance in a gelatinous matter.

Jan 16th (c) 20 miles NW of St. Jago (V A(10)) Vide PL: 1 Fig. 3 — a delicate Medusaria of a dirty orange colour: gelatinous, delicate, about .4 in diameter. A & B. represent a view from above: (a) is a long irregular narrow membrane, orange colour, terminating at (b) with four holes on the umbrella. (c) an outside transparent membrane: C a view of bottom much magnified. at centre there are vermiform appendages.— beneath which is membrane (a).

Jan 16th (e) Lat: 15°30' 82 PL: 1 Fig. 4: Physalia length .8.— (D). crest on the side. (E) part of it magnified.— F much magnified.— (A) tentacula about mouth. of two sorts. one small & bright blue. the other longer. reddish brown with dark spots.— (B) small process. (C) magnified.—

16th Jany (f) V. (11) (B) At 8 oclock this morning the vane was taken down from the mast head & found on the under side to be covered with a very impalpable soft yellow-brown dust.—It is probable it has been deposited lately as the ship has been on a tack for a day or two & this is the only way of accounting for the appearance of the dust on the lower side.— The dust under the blow pipe cakes & melts into black enamel: with soda gives a yellow one:— has a slight aluminous smell: under the microscope it is still quite impalpable.— It is probably of Volcanic origin: We are at present & were most part of yesterday

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(a) This fact of such quantities of Volcanic dust (& the wind in the island of St Jago constantly carried it to seaward to the great injury of fine astronomical instruments) must be in a great length of time of importance in a Geological point of view.— especially as it appears from the conglomerate at Quail Island is now forming from the union of Volcanic matter & lime from making so hard a matrix: perhaps at the bottom of the Atlantic it may form a hard rock.— The dust is formed at St Jago from the abrasion of the various Volcanic rocks:—

(a) Mr Forbes when two miles from the coast of Africa found his sails covered with a brownish sand The wind had blown all night NE. The nearest land to the wind was the coast of Africa between C. Verd & the river Gambia.— Turners Sacred History

X P 149. (Note): This brown sand doubtless is Volcanic dust: the great distance is very curious, as showing over what an extent this Geological phenomenon is acting.—

(1) The dirt collected in the bottom of a basin groups itself in same manner in a direction transverse to the motion of the fluid.—

(a) Lieut. Arlett (Geograph Journ Vol?) when surveying coast of Africa talks of quantity of dust: thinks water discoloured by it — Consult.— Charlottes statement about dust at Madeira.— Measure particles of dust transport of seeds of Cryptogams.—

[W. Arlett 'Survey of some of the Canary Islands and of part of the Western coast of Africa' J. Roy. Geog. Soc. Lond. 6:296-310, 1836.]

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Does not Horsburgh refer to this (a) to the East of St Jago.— There was scarcely any wind this morning, but since noon of yesterday it has come from the East.— before which it was for 24 hour E N E.— At noon of the 15th the Barom: stood at 30.16, by four oclock it had fallen .06.— it then rose gradually till this morning it was 30.2.— The weather generally has been light & fine, but very hazy. occasionally visible horizon. distant only one mile. There has been a long swell on the sea.— as if there had been not far off a heavy gale.— The dust might possibly have come from Mayo or Bonavista, but most probably owing to the wind from coast of Africa about Cape Verd.— I at first thought it might have been brought by the upper Equatorial current from some active Volcano.

St. Jago Jan. 19th (1) I had occasion to climb a sand bank this morning, which if it had been much steeper I should not have succeded in doing.— It was inclined at an angle of 30°.— The sand was very fine & the greatest slightest motion set it rolling.— I have often observed on flat sea-coast the sand furrowed into small regular ridges: as if it was mocking the waves that daily washed it.— The same appearance was presented by this bank of sand, only that in this case the furrows were longitudinal, instead of being as on the coast transvers to the line of inclination.—

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(a) Jan 30th. Found another. changed its colour in the same manner when first taken. Caught another: I first discovered him by his spouting water into my face when I certainly was 2 feet above him. When seen in water was of dark colour with rings: being with difficulty removed from a deep hole & placed in a puddle of water swam well & emitted a dark Chesnut brown ink.— he continued likewise to spout water, evidently being able to direct his siphon.— When on land did not walk well having difficulty in carrying its head which it continued filling with air as before with water.— From same cause the animal often made a noise when squirting out water. They are so strong & slippery that one hand is insufficient to hold them.— Whilst swimming generally changed colour & seemed to imitate colour of the rocks.—

Feb 3rd. Another upon merely seeing me instantly changed its colour, when in a deep hole being of a dark, but in shallow of a much paler colour.— From this cause & the stealthy way in which it creeps along occasionally darting forward had much difficulty in watching it.—

Cuvier in introductory remarck to the Cephalopodous animals mentions the fact of changing colour.

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St Jago

1832

Jan 28th (a) Octopus Found amongst the rocks West of Quail Island at low water an Octopus.— When first discovered he was in a hole & it was difficult to perceive what it was.—

As soon as I drove him from his den he shot with great rapidity across the pool of water.— leaving in his train a large quantity of the ink.— even then when on a shallow place it was difficult to catch him, for he twisted his body with great ease between the stones & by his suckers stuck very fast to them.— When in the water the animal was of a brownish purple, but immediately when on the beach the colour changed to a yellowish green.— When I had the animal in a basin of salt water on board this fact was explained by its having the Chamælion like power of changing the colour of its body.— The general colour of animal was French grey with numerous spots of bright yellow.— the former of these colours varied in intensity.— the other entirely disappeared & then again returned.— Over the whole body there were continually passing clouds, varying in colour from a "hyacinth red" to a "Chesnut brown".— As seen under a lens these clouds consisted of minute points apparently injected with a coloured fluid. The whole animal presented a most extraordinary mottled appearance, & much surprised