as far as I
had the power, to stand his friend, and to protect him from the cruelty
of his messmates--with what result was to be seen. When on deck, if I
observed a seaman about to bestow the end of a rope or a kick on him, I
sharply hailed either one or the other, and gave some order, which for
the time prevented the punishment, but I fear Tommy seldom failed to
receive it when my back was turned.

There are numberless objects to be observed at sea, if people do but
know how to appreciate them. Dr Cuff pointed out many to me; and one
of the passengers, a clergyman, when he found that I took a deep
interest in such matters, showed me many others. Just before entering
the trade-wind region we observed several whales sporting round the
ship. Directly afterwards we found ourselves in a shoal of medusas or
jellyfish. The least diameter the scientific men on board assigned to
the shoal was from thirty to forty miles; and, supposing that there was
only one jelly-fish in every ten square feet of surface, there must have
been 225,000,000 of them, without calculating those below the surface.
They moved by sucking in the water at one end of the lobe, and expelling
it at the other. When I watched them I said they put me in mind of a
white silk parasol opening and shutting. Dr Cuff had a powerful
microscope, through which he examined one of the stomachs of the
medusae. It was found to be full of diatoms, which are flinty-shelled
microscopic animals of every variety of shape, such as stars, crosses,
semicircles, and spirals--yet soft as are the jelly-fish, they can
consume them. This one medusa had in its stomach no less than seven
hundred thousand diatoms, so that it would be rather difficult to
compute how many the whole shoal consumed for their dinner--they in
their turn having to be eaten by the huge whales.

CHAPTER FOUR.

NATURAL PHENOMENA OF THE OCEAN--SERVICE AT SEA--MR. VERNON--A DEAD
CALM--FEVER BREAKS OUT--DISPUTE BETWEEN CAPTAIN AND FIRST MATE--ITS
CONSEQUENCES--MORTALITY AMONG PASSENGERS--SIGHT THE LAND--TENERIFFE--
NOTICE OF HISTORY--SANTA CRUZ--ATTACK ON IT UNDER LORD NELSON--AN
EXCURSION UP THE PEAK.

I had during my voyages and travels ample proof of the truth of the
remark, that different people see the same object in very different
lights. Frequently I had heard persons declare that nothing is more
dull and stupid than a long sea voyage--that there is nothing on the
ocean to afford interest--not