leg & knee, however, give him much more pain than his thigh, so as to require fomentations & frequently it is essential to slacken the bandage to give him some relief.
Great quantities of Velella are to be seen in every direction around us. They resemble a good deal those of the Atlantic; but are not so large. The tentaculæ are of an azure colour. The concave part of the animal is red & the crest is rather lighter than in the Atlantic ones.
25th.—We have now been 73 days from the Galapagos & great part of that time we have experienced very severe weather, so that we have seldom been 24 hours at a time free from close reefed topsails. The effect of this weather on the boatswain has been such as to spoil the sanguine hopes I had entertained of a perfect cure. The pain has been so great at times to oblige me to get up during the night to relax the dressings for some time & to give opium.
28th.—For the last three days the weather has been more moderate & has produced a beneficial effect on my patient's comfort & spirits.
We procured a very large mass of sea weed that was floating past us; it measured about 40 feet. The stipes was round, tapering & fistulary; it swelled into ampullæ in many parts, which were hollow, & some of them measured 14 inches in circumference. From these ampullæ proceeded the frondose part, which was long & ensate; but I could detect no appearance of fructification. Among the roots of the plant several curious animals were found; probably more interesting than the plant they inhabited. I found a species of Asterias, two species of Cancer & several other articulate & several Sertularia, the most beautifull & delicate of all the coralline animals.
April 3d.—This morning we saw Cape Dissapointment, a circumstance we had long & anxiously wished for; & there was not an individual of our little society who did [not] feel pleased at the prospect of speadily reaching the
