times Ned Land got very impatient; he wanted to go up to the surface and harpoon some of the monsters; and some, whose mouths were studded with teeth, disposed like a mosaic, and enormous tiger-sharks, five yards long at least, provoked him incessantly. But the Nautilus increased her speed, and soon left the most rapid of the sharks astern.
On the 27th January, opening up the Bay of Bengal, we repeatedly encountered a horrible sight—viz., dead bodies, which were floating at the surface. These were the dead from the Indian towns on the Ganges, and which the vultures, the only scavengers of the country, had not been able to devour. But the sharks had no need of assistance in their horrid banquet.
About 7 p.m. the Nautilus, half emerged, was ploughing through a sea of milk. As far as one could see the ocean appeared to be covered with milk. Was this the effect of the lunar rays? No, for the moon was scarcely two days old, and was still below the horizon. The whole sky, although illuminated by the sheen of the stars, appeared dark in contrast with the whiteness of the sea.
Conseil could not believe his eyes, and inquired the cause of this singular phenomenon. Fortunately I was able to answer.
“It is what is called a ‘milk sea,’” I replied, “a vast expanse of white waves, which is frequently observed upon the coasts of Amboyna and in these latitudes.”
“But,” said Conseil, “Monsieur will perhaps inform me what is the cause of this, for I do not imagine that the sea is changed to milk.”
“No, my lad, this whiteness which astonishes you is due to the presence of myriads of infusoria, a kind of luminous worm, gelatinous and colourless, about as thick as a hair,
