Presently Edward looked up from his supper, which he was eating with a keen relish after their evenings ramble, and exclaimed, in a voice of astonishment and almost of alarm, “Mamma! Lewis! look! the sea is all on fire!”
Lewis’s wonder was as great as his brothers: “What could it be?”
Edward’s fear subsided when he had looked for a few moments on the beautiful scene; at last he said, “Dear mamma, can there be any animals in the sea that give light in the dark, as the glow-worm does on land?”
Mrs. Ashton was pleased that her little boy tried to find out for himself the reason of any thing which he did not quite understand; and she asked, whether either of the children recollected to have seen, when the sea was clear, animals of a jelly-like substance, many of them with long tentaculæ, or arms, which they kept waving in all directions.
“Yes,” said Lewis, “we have seen them. One of the boatmen told us they were called falling-stars.”
“True, many of them are marked with a cross or star, and they reflect the sun’s rays in a beautiful manner. These jelly-fish, or more properly Medusæ, are, with many other marine animals, luminous in the dark, and look, as you have seen, like so many thousands of sparkling gems. There is one little animal of this kind, of which I recollect reading a very interesting account. It is called, the purple-ocean or blue snail-shell; and is plentifully supplied with a juice which is very luminous in the dark.”
“Oh! mamma,” said Edward, “do you think if we go down to the beach to-morrow morning, there will be a chance of our finding any?”
“No, my dear, this little wanderer of the deep never approaches the shore unless it be accidentally. Unlike many other small shell-fish, which attach themselves to rocks, it is furnished with a house that is extremely thin and light, and I think it will amuse you to hear of the curious contrivance, by which it is enabled either to remain on the surface of the water or descend below it. It is endowed with the wonderful power of raising at will a tiny bag inflated with air, by means of which it floats; but, when to descend is the object, it is lowered or cast off, and the little animal disappears. They are often seen by voyagers floating together in great numbers, many hundred miles from land.”
“How surprising!” said Edward, “and how beautiful they must look, either by night or day! But I need not wish to go abroad for the sake of the purple-ocean snail-shell, when I can see so grand a sight at home.”
Mrs. Ashton told Edward it was wise to endeavour to be contented with our situation, whatever it may be, and not to spoil our enjoyment of the pleasures within our reach, by wishing for those which we cannot attain; but, she added, we must not forget the obligations we are under to those adventurous spirits, who delight to brave dangers in search of what is new and curious; while we, who remain quietly at home, reap the fruits of their labours and experience.