almost
invariably seen it involuntarily eject it,when hurt or frightened.

THE ALBATROSS.

November 9.

I caught four albatrosses with a fishing-line; one of them was a female,
the first I had seen. I observed no marked difference between her and
males of the same species, for I have found them vary much in the dark
shades upon their feathers.

I have yet found no bird of this family whose foot was not longer than
its beak.

DIOMEDEA EXULANS--Female.

Length from tip of wing to tip of wing,10 feet 10 inches.
Length from tip of wing, 4 feet 10 inches.
From tip of beak to tip of tail, 4 feet 9 inches.
Length of beak, 7.2 inches.
Length of tail, 9 inches.
Length of foot, 7.5 inches.

The black and brown marks on this bird were darker than the corresponding
ones on the males.

I am inclined to think that the chief characteristic that distinguishes
the females from the males in the family Longipennes is their greater
size: my opinion is grounded upon the following tables, drawn up from
careful measurements, made by myself.

(@@@TABLE OF FAMILY LONGIPENNES)

In each of these three instances the female is larger than the males;
they are the only ones I am able to adduce which bear upon this point.

November 11. South latitude 30 degrees 47 minutes; east longitude 100
degrees 21 minutes 15 seconds.

Being a calm, I gave the men leave to bathe this afternoon, and was one
of the first overboard myself. Within an hour and a half after we had
done bathing, a cry of a shark was raised, and in truth there was the
monster (the first we had seen). I mention this fact as tending to
support what I have often heard stated, namely, that a shark's sense of
smell is so keen that, if men ever bathe in seas where they are found, a
shark is almost sure to appear directly afterwards. This really occurred
in the present instance.

We repeatedly caught many little animals which I believe are the VELELLA
of Lamarck. They consist of a flat oval cartilage, on which they float;
there is a mouth in the inferior surface of this surrounded with many
tentacula; on its superior surface is a crest which remains above water,
and the wind blowing against it turns the animal round; they thus swim
with a rotatory motion; the crest is placed obliquely to the length of
the oval cartilage, and this position of it perhaps assists in producing
the motion; the crest is perfectly transparent, but marked with little
striae; the oval cartilage is ma