ld be interested in any of the
varied beauties which the changing ocean presented.

Frequently the ship was surrounded by bonitoes, moving through the
waters much like porpoises; and the seamen got their harpoons ready, to
strike any which might come near.

As the ship one day was gliding smoothly on, the boatswain descended to
the end of the dolphin-striker, a spar which reaches from the bowsprit
down almost to the water. Here he stood, ready to dart his harpoon at
any unwary fish which might approach. Walter and Alice were on the
forecastle watching him. They had not long to wait before a bonito came
gambolling by. Quick as lightning the harpoon flew from his hand, and
was buried deeply in the body of the fish. A noose was then dexterously
slipped over its head and another over its tail, and it was quickly
hauled up on deck by the crew. It was a beautiful creature, rather more
than three feet long, with a sharp head, a small mouth, large gills,
silvery eyes, and a crescent-shaped tail. Its back and sides were
greenish, but below it was of a silvery white. The body was destitute
of scales, except on the middle of the sides, where a line of gold ran
from the head to the tail.

Alice was inclined to bemoan its death; but Walter assured her
afterwards that she need not expend her pity on it, as three flying-fish
had been found in its inside. Several other bonitoes were caught which
had swallowed even a greater number. Indeed, they are the chief foes of
the flying-fish, which, had not the latter the power of rising out of
the water to escape them, would quickly be exterminated.

Some of the officers got out lines and hooks baited with pieces of pork;
not to attract fish, however, but to catch some of the numerous birds
flying astern and round the ship. Several flights of stormy petrels had
long been following in the wake of the ship, with other birds,--such as
albatrosses, cape-pigeons, and whale-birds. No sooner did a pigeon see
the bait than it pounced down and seized it in its mouth, when a sharp
tug secured the hook in its bill, and it was rapidly drawn on board.
Several stormy petrels, which the sailors call "Mother Carey's
chickens," were also captured. They are among the smallest of the
web-footed birds, being only about six inches in length. Most of the
body is black, glossed with bluish reflections; their tails are of a
sooty-brown intermingled with white. In their mode of flight, Walter
remarke