Alexandria gazette & daily advertiser. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1817-1822, 1818-07-17

10 come forth again with redoubied lustre,
The toaming edges of the waves appear, az
a distance, like long lines of phosphoric
light, chasing each other: and whenever a
wave dashes over the decks. the sparks it
contains runs with the water to and fro. as
the ship rolls from side to side On the 1871
flying fish made their first appearance, ai.I,FS
on that account il was hoped that do!ph.ns
were not far of; we prepared with grea,
eagerness of expectation to revenge the
cause of these defenceless creatures, BY IN
attac'. ON The pursuers : but in vain for nore
approached The ship. On the 18th, a sho.I
vi bonettas played about the ship and in
the afternoon large turtle was observed
asleep, floating close TO the ship. On The
2lst, the Island ofMadeira appeared far to
the westward. eth, at day-break, land
was discovered TO the southeast, being the
Salvages, considered as belonging to The
Madeira Islands, and uninhabi,ed. On the
26th, Teneriffe, with its peak. showed il.
self; 2Gt. We passed close TO Palma. On
the 9th, at day-break, land was seen:ir
was Sal, one of the Cape de Verd Island,
In the evening some flying fish felIon board
their bodies are shaped somewhat like
herring. with large eyes; their wings, Or
flying fins, reach nearly TO their tails, and
sUread 3 inches; but when dry, they can
no longer support the fish above the water
After morning service the Island of Bona.
vista was IL sight. Gth-This morning We
had pleasing exhibition of the wondenu
swifiness and agility of host OF botte.no.
sed porpoises. For half an hour they'll
ed and irisked about the ships bows, lean.
ing out OF the water, pursuing each other.
tumblDg head over tail, and performing Ill
kinds Of tricks. On the 9Th, considerable
storm took place, a wave broke two OF the
cabin windows. and oyerstreamed all the
books, papers, and whatever lay on tie
lockers. In Tire evening, hawk perchei
on the fCreyarG, ani was taken: she wasa
beautiful bird. protested against her dc.
sirIction, as contrary TO all rules OF hospital.
ty, but could not save her. On the i7th,
We caught fish il was an albicore, land had
a Tying fish in lis stomach lis length wa,
two feet, its color dark greer with iarker
stripes, and srots on the back IFS BELLY is
Of the most brilliant mother. oi-pearl, its
mouth small, the bod Y narrow across the
back, and the belly sIoping of 10 an inch
and half at the root of the tail the latter
is vertical and forkcd. 1t had six fins; two
on the breast, one on each side, and two
dorsal fins, from which, to the root oil the
tail, six small triangular fins were placed IN
a row. On the 18th we crossed the line,
when the usual ceremonies took place.
Neptune and his wife appeared in the per.
sons OF the black carpenter and second
mate. On the Sd OF December, a species
of that curious animal, called by some, the
Portuguese man OF war, was thrown bya
wave into the main chain, and brought on
deck for our inspection. ltsecmed 10 be I
yourg one It's body only three inches long,
and shaped like that Of snail, quite trans
parent, OF light cerulian blue. passing
into green towards the head, which had a
crest like a fan, also transparent and tnged
with purple at the top. A number OF an.
tenna o.; deep blue color proceeded from
the tody, and tail from three TO four feet
lcng. looking like string Of small blue
beads. On examining il, Mr.. Buck hap
pened TO prick its body with sharp point
OF penkniie it instantly shrunk together
and almost vanished, nothing but small
PUPPY substance remaining. On the 5thwe
were visited by various kinds ofwater fowl,
Cape pigeons, Mother Carey's chickens.
and several birds, with long beaks, un-
known to us in general we have lately ap.
peared as ii we were quite alone, SWIM
ming in this vast ocean, not creature ap-
us. On the 18th, small spe-
cics of catfish was thrown on board and
on the 18th the captain shot two albatro:-
SEES. This is magnificent bird il is OF TIE
purest white. covered with a most beau-
ful downy plumage. A small pretty bird,
called the Cape pigeon, also came on board.
About noon, Tor several hours, when the
heavens were remarkably cloudless, but
the air filled with reddish haze, the sun
was surrounded by very large perihelion,
in appearance about ten diameters from IFS
orb towards the east IFS brightness was 50
great that it family showed prismatic CO.
lors. On the 10th the air and water seem.
ed filed with all kinds OF birds flying or
and a shark was seen scudding
along on some murderous Grand. On the
Esd the second mate reused US from Our
dulness by calling out 'landn TWAS the
Table mountain we were exceedingly de
lighted with the view before US. On the
9th breeze sprung up, and we sailed ior-
wards gramp,is followed us and hume.
rous large gulls: Cape.town presents i.
self al The foot of the Table mountain: III:
company landed, and were comfortably
situated in the CRAVE Straat-After din.
rer we walked to see the town, and enter.
ed the governors, late the COmpany's gar
dens. The avenues are planted with oak
of luyuriant foliage, skirted or each side
with hedges Of myrtle. Within stone
fence, several ostriches and other birds, and
in separate buildings lion, lioness, and
tiger are kept. The variety Of faces, com
people. is striking. The greatest part ar
black or tawny. No. many HotteDtoIs.-
Many are MahometaDs hut there appears