of this false alarm."--G.F.

[9] Mr G.F. concludes his description of this well-known appearance in
the following very just remark: "There was a singularity, and a
grandeur in the display of this phenomenon, which could not fail of
giving occupation to the mind, and striking it with a reverential awe,
due to Omnipotence. The ocean covered to a great extent, with myriads
of animalcules; these little beings, organized, alive, endowed with
locomotive power, a quality of shining whenever they please, and
illuminating every body with which they come in contact, and of laying
aside their luminous appearance at pleasure; all these ideas crowded
upon us, and bade us admire the Creator, even in his minutest works."
However florid the language of this gentleman on the subject, his
account and opinions are strongly enforced by the recent discoveries
of the French naturalists related by Mr Peron, to which we shall
probably call the reader's attention hereafter.--E.

[10] Mr G.F. speaks with much more enthusiasm, as one might have
expected, of Dr Sparrman, extolling his talents and activity in the
course of science, but lamenting, at the same time, that this voyage,
on which he now set out, yielded much less matter for observation than
his ardent mind had anticipated. That gentleman's labours at the Cape,
it seems, however, especially in botany, were very successful; he and
Dr Thunberg having, it is said, gathered above a thousand species
entirely unknown before.--E.

SECTION II.

_Departure from the Cape of Good Hope, in search of a Southern
Continent._

Having at length finished my business at the Cape, and taken leave of the
governor and some others of the chief officers, who, with very obliging
readiness, had given me all the assistance I could desire, on the 22d of
November we repaired on board; and at three o'clock in the afternoon
weighed, and came to sail with the wind at N. by W. As soon as the anchor
was up, we saluted the port with fifteen guns, which was immediately
returned; and after making a few trips, got out of the bay by seven
o'clock, at which time the town bore S.E. distant four miles. After this we
stood to the westward all night, in order to get clear of the land, having
the wind at N.N.W. and N.W., blowing in squalls attended with rain, which
obliged us to reef our topsails. The sea was again illuminated for some