ss of our
excellent paymaster, I was here transferred to a more roomy berth.

Cadiz soon sank beneath the sea, and we sighted in succession Cape
Trafalgar, Tarifa, and the revolving light of Ceuta. The water was
very calm, and the moon rose in a quiet heaven. She swung with her
convex surface downwards, the common boundary between light and shadow
being almost horizontal. A pillar of reflected light shimmered up to
us from the slightly rippled sea. I had previously noticed the
phosphorescence of the water, but tonight it was stronger than usual,
especially among the foam at the bows. A bucket let down into the sea
brought up a number of the little sparkling organisms which caused the
phosphorescence. I caught some of them in my hand. And here an
appearance was observed which was new to most of us, and strikingly
beautiful to all. Standing at the bow and looking forwards, at a
distance of forty or fifty yards from the ship, a number of luminous
streamers were seen rushing towards us. On nearing the vessel they
rapidly turned, like a comet round its perihelion, placed themselves
side by side, and, in parallel trails of light, kept up with the ship.
One of them placed itself right in front of the bow as a pioneer.
These comets of the sea were joined at intervals by others. Sometimes
as many as six at a time would rush at us, bend with extraordinary
rapidity round a sharp curve, and afterwards keep us company. I
leaned over the bow, and scanned the streamers closely. The frontal
portion of each of them revealed the outline of a porpoise. The rush
of the creatures through the water had started the phosphorescence,
every spark of which was converted by the motion of the retina into a
line of light. Each porpoise was thus wrapped in a luminous sheath.
The phosphorescence did not cease at the creature's tail, but was
carried many porpoise-lengths behind it.

To our right we had the African hills, illuminated by the moon.
Gibraltar Rock at length became visible, but the town remained long
hidden by a belt of haze, through which at length the brighter lamps
struggled. It was like the gradual resolution of a nebula into stars.
As the intervening depth became gradually less, the mist vanished more
and more, and finally all the lamps shone through it They formed a
bright foil to the sombre mass of rock above them. The sea was so
calm and the scene so lovely that Mr. Huggins and myself stayed on
deck till near midni