Then at times they came into a sea of phosphorescent light. It was seen all around, but brighter where the vessel raised ripples along the quarter. It dropped like fire from her bows, ay, and even great fishes could be seen—sharks in all probability—sinking down, down, down into the sea’s dark depths, like fishes of fire, till at last they were visible only like little balls of light, speedily to be extinguished.
About this latitude flying gurnets leapt on board by the score on some nights, and a delightful addition indeed did they prove to the matutinal menu. Sometimes a huge octopus would be seen in the phosphorescent sea. It is the devil-fish of the tropics, and, with his awful head and arms, so abhorrent and nightmarish was the sight that it could not be beheld without a shudder.
The Pacific Ocean! Yes, truly, very often pacific enough; so much so that with ordinary luck one might sail across its waters in a dinghy boat. But there are times when some portions of it are swept by terrific circular storms. Ah! happy is the ship that, overtaken by one of these, can manage to keep well out and away from its vortex.
One evening the sun went down amidst a chaos of dark and threatening clouds, from which thunder was occasionally heard like the sound of distant artillery, but muttering, and more prolonged. The glass went tumbling down. Captain Dickson had never seen it so low. The wind too had failed, and before sunset the sea lay all around them, a greasy glitter on its surface like mercury, with here and there the fin of a basking shark appearing on the surface. Even the air was stifling, sickening almost, as if the foetus of the ocean’s slimy depths had been stirred up and risen to the surface.
All sail was speedily taken in, and by the aid of oil, the fires were quickly roaring hot beneath the boilers.
Higher and higher rose that bank of clouds, darkening the sky. Then—
“The upper air burst into life!
And a hundred fire flags sheen;
To and fro they were hurried about,
And to and fro, and in and out,
The wan stars danced between.”