horizon, with which they appear to be blended. It is at such a moment, that man feels his weakness and insignificance, while the elements are in commotion, the sea dashing around him, in all its terror and sublimity, and a fathomless abyss yawning beneath, insulated as he is from the rest of the world, and devoid of human assistance. His confidence is limited to a plank, and that apparently too fragile to withstand for a moment the violence and concussion of the waves. In spite of all the convictions of safety and of all resolutions to meet whatever may come, with firmness and fortitude, the imagination, startled by the creaking of masts, the piping of winds, and the dashing of the surge, will sometimes descend to the bottom of the ocean, and survey such horrors, as are depicted in the dream of Clarence : "What sights of ugly death within mine eyes! All scattered in the bottom of the sea. Some lay in dead men's skulls; and in those holes, That woo'd the slimy bottom of the deep, And mock'd the dead bones that lay scatter'd by." When the imagination has once reached the bottom of the ocean, it is very easy for it to extend its rambles through coral groves and those green recesses, which poets, and naturalists scarcely less fanciful, have supposed to exist. Buffon thinks that the depths of the sea exhibit all the varieties of hill and dale, earth and rock, that we observe on dry land; and that its plants and shrubs have a similar regular distribution. According to others, these vegetables and sub-marine productions are of the most gorgeous and splendid colours, vying in richness and beauty with the most picturesque scenery of the earth above. Fancy may go a step farther, and people these bright abodes with the inhabitants of the deep, or those fabled divinities, whom the poets of antiquity called into existence. I have never before so fully realized the imagery,* which * The dim and shadowy forms of ships, seen in the distant horizon, jour has been drawn from, and the epithets which have been applied to the ocean, by every writer from Homer to Byron, as my observation has enabled me to do in this short voyage. The epithet employed by the latter, in the first line of the Corsair, "O'er the glad waters of the dark-blue sea,” is exactly true to nature, and expresses with minute accuracy the colour of the ocean, at depths where there are no soundings. As you recede from the shore, the sea-green tinge vanishes, and the cerulean hue darkens in proportion to the depth of the water. So perceptible is this change, that we were able to discover in a moment when we had arrived on soundings upon the Grand Bank. A skilful mariner will ascertain with great accuracy the number of fathoms by the eye, without the use of the lead. Other natural objects, such as the sun, moon, and stars, acquire an additional interest, when seen from the ocean, particularly at their rising and setting. Some of our sunsets have been glorious beyond description. As the ruddy orb sunk into the sea, its disc became oblong, and flashed its splendours across the waves, tracing a pyramid of light of the brightest hue. This gorgeous imagery towards the west appears the more splendid, when contrasted with the darkness of the east, where there are no objects to reflect the beams of day, after the sun has reached the verge of the horizon, owing to the sphericity of the ocean. His disc appears to be tinged and gradually quenched by the billows, assuming as it sinks, a hundred different forms. On one evening, some of our passengers had the curiosity to climb to the round-top, while others held their watches below, for the purpose of ascertaining how much longer the sun could be seen at that height, than from the deck. The difference was found to be one minute and four seconds. neying onward over the pathless ocean, will often bring to mind Milton's sublime simile: "As when far off at sea, a fleet descry'd Hangs in the clouds, by equinoctial winds Of Ternate and Tidore, whence merchants bring. Their spicy drugs: they on the trading flood Through the wide Ethiopian to the Cape Ply, stemming nightly toward the pole." The moon, stars, and clouds, have to us been equally fruitful sources of observation, appearing under new aspects, and being dearer from the eternal solitude, which reigns over the long and desolate tracts of ocean. We have often stood upon the deck to see the star of evening go down, and the moon plunge her cold orb into the main, creating a silver drapery in the clouds around her, as she sinks to rest. When the sea is calm, twilight and the reflection of the rosy west is delightfully soft and tranquil. The mornings too are sometimes extremely beautiful, the clouds reposing in the utmost serenity along the horizon, and apparently resting upon the blue unruffled waters. By good fortune, the aurora borealis has been added to the phenomena of nature observed by us, during the passage. It brightened the whole north, and gave to the skies the appearance of the crepusculum at break of day. The latitude of this place has in some measure changed the aspect of the heavens, the sun setting at 7 minutes after 8 o'clock, making the day 16 hours and 14 minutes long. Evening twilight does not disappear till about 10 o'clock, and the day dawns at a little after two. There are of course at this season but a few hours of darkness, and even that brief reign is at present shortened by the moon, now fast becoming full-orbed. The Captain informed us at breakfast to day, that twilight in the north-west was visible the whole of last night. In the course of our passage we have experienced every variety of weather, except the severe gale, and have therefore enjoyed an opportunity of viewing the ocean under all aspects. In three days after leaving the Hook, we reached the Gulf Stream, and nearly crossed it, our ship being at one time as far south as the 38th degree of latitude. There is some advantage in taking this current in an eastward passage, as it runs at the rate of two or three knots an hour; but this seems to be in a great measure counterbalanced by the bad weather and heavy swell to be encountered. It is indeed a region of tempests, occasioned probably by the different temperature of the air, and its effects in producing a conflict of the elements. On Monday the 13th, we experienced a severe thunder storm, accompanied by heavy gusts, which continued from 4 o'clock in the afternoon till midnight. It was truly a terrific scene, especially after night came on. The flashes of lightning were frequent and vivid, and the peals of thunder, mingling with the roaring of the sea, were tremendous. The bolts fell thick around us, but the lightning did not appear to strike near the ship. A more sublime and awful spectacle than the ocean presented during this storm, can hardly be imagined. The sea, as well as the skies, seemed to be in a blaze, the phosphoric flashes of the former being scarcely less vivid than those of the latter. The grandeur of the scene was heightened by the active bustle and cry of the hardy mariner, as he went aloft amidst the storm, to reef the sails. To a landsman it is really surprising to witness with what alertness the sailor will climb to the dizziest heights, and leap from one part of the rigging to another. There is a sprightly and interesting little boy on board, only thirteen years old, who is sometimes seen poised like the lark at the top of the mast, handing the royal. His name, as well as his activity in climbing or descending, has often reminded me of Gay's beautiful simile, in "Black-eyed Su san." At 10 o'clock on the night of this thunder-gust, Captain Davis called me to the deck, (for the rain was so severe as to drive the passengers to the cabin,) for the purpose of witnessing what mariners term a corpo santo, or sacred bodya phenomenon I was very anxious to see. A ball of fire was visible at the top of the mainmast, emitting a light not unlike that of a lamp. Indeed, so striking was the resemblance, that I at first suspected some one had been playing off a quiz, or that one of the crew was aloft with a light. But the reality of the phenomenon was soon ascertained. As it never appears except in storms, it has generally been supposed to be electrical; but the mate of the ship assured me, that he had often examined the substance emitting the light, and found it to be a mass of jelly, apparently composed of marine animalcules, exactly resembling those to which the phosphorescence of the ocean has by some been ascribed. This testimony seems to corroborate the theory broached by Charles Baldwin, Esq. in the year 1822, who has made many ingenious experiments on the subject. When we had escaped the Gulf Stream, and arrived at the Grand Bank, a sudden and very sensible change took place in the temperature of the atmosphere, indicated by our feelings not less than by the thermometer and sea-glass. All the cloaks on board were put in requisition, and even these were scarcely sufficient to keep us warm. We were all upon the look-out for mountains of ice, amidst the fogs which June and July are constantly envelop this extensive shoal. the months, when these masses of ice from the arctic regions arrive at this part of the ocean, and are frequently seen in the most fantastic forms, resembling enchanted islands, mountains, churches, and castles. The passengers were desirous of witnessing so great a curiosity, although they did not care to come very near such dangerous and formidable obstructions to navigation. The melting of the ice creates a thick vapour around it, and vessels frequently run close upon the floating masses, before they are discovered, as was the case with the Packet Liverpool, which was lost a year or two since. Our eyes were strained in vain, and a few days bore us beyond the region of these mountains from the pole. From the 20th to the 22d of June inclusive, the ship lay in a dead calm. On the last mentioned day, so perfectly tranquil was the ocean, that the captain ordered the jolly-boat to be launched, and four of us with a man at the helm rowed to the distance of a mile from the ship, the little skiff climbing over the smooth swells with an easy and delightful motion. We brought back with us a large nautilus, or Portuguese man-of-war, as this animal is generally called by the sailors. He is a curious creature, peculiarly fitted for the element on the surface of which he moves, being furnished with a keel, anchor, sails, and ballast, for the purposes of navigation. Possessing the power of loco-motion, he can shift his position so as to catch the breeze, and glide over the highest waves with ease and safety. Some times when the sea is calm and the sun warm, he will turn himself upon his side, wet his sail, and then right his little bark and resume his passage. These animals frequently navigate the ocean in fleets, perhaps under the command of an admiral. Their sails, which are transparent and beautifully bordered with a bright pink colour, vie in richness and elegance, particularly when seen in the direction of the sun, with the silken sails of Cleopatra. We have seen thousands of them bounding over the billows, reminding us of Pope's couplet: "Learn of the little Nautilus to sail, Spread the thin oar, and catch the rising gale." In the course of our voyage, we had a glance at nearly all the various inhabitants of the deep. Soon after our de |