boldened by sin, and in the promise of the Holy Spirit to apply it in converting and sanctifying the soul, to your confidence in the frequent fulfilment of this promise in the case of children, to your value for immortal souls, and to your sense that the danger of their being lost is enhanced by a want of seasonable knowledge, by progress in unbelief and iniquity, and by constant ap

proaches, in this state, to the grave? What now is your faith in the efficacy of the ministry you have received, you who "have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit," you who have been born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God." "The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man." H. R.

NOTES OF A TRAVELLER.

(Continued from p. 211.)

The white appearance of the water which we have just mentioned, and which was undoubtedly owing to minute fish, is not to be confounded with those large tracts of white coloured sea, which frequently appear in southern latitudes. This white water, as Valentyn calls it, is occasioned by small phosphorescent molluscous animals; in some instances, these are so numerous as to render the water almost gelatinous, while in others they could not be discovered with a glass of the greatest magnifying power used. This white water has sometimes a considerable degree of brilliancy, so that the whole sea, for miles, appears as if covered with a vast sheet of sparkling snow. Inexperienced seamen often change their course in order to escape from these apparent shoals or sand banks; and we have even heard that this white water has been laid down upon some charts as places to be avoided.

I amused myself to-day in taking, with a small net, the velella, which floated in vast numbers past the ship. The velella is a small, flat, gelatino-cartilaginous animal,about the size and thickness of a dollar, having a little sail or crest passing transversely over the top or upper surface; this little sail is fringed

with blue, and the whole portion of the animal out of the water shines with all the colours of the rainbow. Sometimes the sudden rippling of the waves, or a puff of the wind, would overturn them; but they soon regained their upright position. On placing these animals in a tumbler of sea-water, they exhibited one of the most beautiful objects I have seen. The fringe of the little sail which crosses its back, and the curved and radiating lines on the body of the animal, all presented a fine play of pavonine colours. Attached to the lower surface of the velella I noticed, in almost every instance, a little blue shell, like a garden snail, called ianthina, and which I first believed to be the parent or rightful owner of the floating apparatus. It is probable, however, that it makes use of the velella, not only to support itself near the surface of the ocean, but that it also derives from it its principal nourishment, by absorbing its juices. From some observation, I am rather of the opinion that the animal economy of these two molluscæ is singularly adapted to their mutual benefit; the velella supplying nourishment and a floating apparatus to the ianthina, and the ianthina, by its attachment below so balancing and ballasting the velella, as to preserve it in an upright position, which is necessary to its motions through the water. How

ever this may be, there appeared, upon closely examining a great number, but little injury sustained by the velella from its parasite. Some of the adhering shells were quite young, and others full grown specimens. As far as my knowledge in natural history extends, the ianthina was never before ascertained to be parasitick to the velella, or made use of its buoyancy on the surface of the waves to supply the place of its own beautiful apparatus of air cells. This fact confirms the acuteness of Cuvier, that accurate observer of nature, who justly concluded that the ordinary floating apparatus of the ianthina was sometimes naturally absent; as, in some specimens of the animal which he examined, not a vestige of that organ could be perceived, and no scar or cicatrix on the foot, by which it is secreted, could, on the most minute examination, be discovered.

Both the ianthina and velella seem to throw out a violet coloured liquid, when first captured. The purple fluid discharged by these animals will stain a white handkerchief a fine rich colour. As the ianthina is often found in the Mediterranean sea, it has been suggested, with some plausibility, that this purple fluid may be the basis of the Tyrian dye, or ancient royal purple, accidentally discovered by the dog of Hercules. I regret very much that I could not try the effect of acids and alkalies on this colour. According to Pliny, alkalies gave it a green tint; if so, it is analogous to a vegetable blue or purple. We are informed by Stavorinus, that when the liquid obtained from the ianthina is evaporated to dryness, a powder is obtained which, on being mixed with gum-water, forms a beautiful purple paint.

Since writing the above, I find, in a late foreign journal, that Mr. Lesson has satisfactorily proved that the Tyrian purple, noticed by Pliny, was undoubtedly derived from the ianthina. He states, from

some imperfect trials, that the colour of the ianthina will form a valuable re-agent, for it passes very readily to red, under the action of acids, and returns to blue under that of alkalies. With the oxalate of ammonia it gives a precipitate of a dark blue colour, and with the nitrate of silver a very pleasant greyish blue, both of which are good colours for drawing.

I saw some other marine animals, the examination of which amused me, but I have not energy to write any thing more on the subject.

May 15th. After calms and head-winds for so many days, a slight breeze has sprung up in our favour. About noon, the colour of the sea-water was noticed to be green, and not of the deep blue which characterizes the fathomless parts of the ocean. We therefore knew that we were in soundings, and upon heaving the lead we reached the bottom at 90 fathoms. The lower part of this deep sea-lead is hollowed out and filled with tallow, so that when it touches the bottom, gravel, shells, or any loose matters, adhere to the tallow, and discover its nature. Toward evening a land bird, something like a dove, alighted on one of the spars of the ship, apparently very weary, and, no doubt, remained with us all night, notwithstanding the vain attempts of some of the passengers to capture it. May this bird be "a dove of peace and promise" to our voy

age.

The water was splendidly phos. phorescent this evening, seeming, as the bow of the vessel dashed it on either side, like liquid phosphorus. We all felt very anxious about the situation of the land, as a thick fog enveloped the ship; we therefore stood off and on from the cape all night. The long days and the shortnights are exceedingly favourable to our voyage; it is not dark till some time after 8 o'clock, and day dawns about 8 in the morning.

May 16th. This morning Mizen Head was distinctly seen off our

lee bow, and at 8 o'clock we were hailed by an Irish fishing-boat, called a barkee (barque ?). We entered into a trade with these rude and cunning sons of Erin; for fresh cod and other fish, and some fine pratees, (potatoes) we gave them in exchange rum, pork, and bread. One of the Irishmen in the boat called out, "Your honours won't forget the backey" (tobacco). We therefore gave them two or three pieces from our stores. These Irish fishermen keep cruising here in the mouth of St. George's channel, to barter and beg from the ships which are continually passing. While we were at dinner, which we commonly take about 3 P. M., the packet ship Montezuma, of Philadelphia, hove in sight, and we were all soon busily employed in writing and sending off our letters to our friends. In the afternoon we fell in with another Irish fishing-boat, and had some amusement in conversing with the untutored crew. Our sailors were cautious in trusting these people, and hence I observed they were closely watched to prevent the rope being cut which was given them to hold while the vessel was lying to. The ironbound coast of Erin lies full in view off our lee bow; and as the wind rose at night, and the weather became hazy, the captain paced the deck nearly all night, apparently in some anxiety. We were also approaching Kinsale, and I could not help thinking of the wreck of the Albion, and the loss of my friend Professor Fisher. My thoughts sought expression in the following lines.*

17th and 18th.-Calms and head winds alternately prevailed, so that we made little or no progress. The phosphorescence of the sea to-night was most splendid, and fully equalled any idea I had previously conceived of it. Both the kinds of phosphorescence which I have men

*These lines appeared in the Christian Advocate for the month of August, 1828.

tioned, seemed to vie with each other in brilliancy. One of the best ways to notice this luminous appearance, is to coil up a long rope, and then throw it out into the sea; scintillations, large sparks, and bright coruscations of light, start out of the water wherever the rope touches it.

19th. A heavy gale of head wind sprung up about one o'clock this morning, and drove us with great violence before it. It was so dark as to render it impossible to distinguish objects at more than the ship's length; we were near shore; and as ships are constantly passing, we have what the sailors call "dirty weather." When daylight appeared, we were near Tuscar light-house, situated six miles off Carnsore Point. Had the wind continued from the same quarter but a few minutes longer, we might have weathered this important point, and then sailed pleasantly along the Welsh coast; but just as we came within a few miles of it, the wind changed, and we were obliged to "bout ship." A calm then succeeded, and kept us all day, near where we had been for two or three days before.

20th. A slight favourable wind springing up during the night, carried us beyond St. David's Head, which is opposite nearly to Carnsore, and this morning the high hills which bound the coast of Wales, and Holyhead were in sight, so that now we begin to think of landing. On one of the lofty knolls on the Island of Anglesea, we saw distinctly the granite monument built over the leg, which the Marquis of Anglesea lost at the battle of Waterloo. To what extremes of folly will not the pride and wealth of man carry him? We took a pilot on board this afternoon, but a strong head wind springing up, drove us off the shore immediately afterwards. The wind blew with great violence all night, so that we were obliged to sail under close-reefed topsails. I remained"

the end of Prince's Dock, and found ourselves instantly surrounded with the bustle and noise of a busy commercial town. I shall not attempt to describe at large this or any other place I may visit; but merely notice what seems to me remarkable. The first thing I observed on shore was the forest of masts, shooting up from behind the high walls which surround the docks or basins, in which most of the foreign ships lie secure from the influence of the winds and waves, and from the depredations of thieves. These docks are stupendous works: they are immense basins of water, surrounded on all sides with high walls, capable of holding safely several hundred of the largest vessels: Queen's Dock is 280 yards long, and 120 broad.

As we passed along the streets to the Star and Garter hotel, where the most of our passengers determined to stay, we saw nothing very remarkable; indeed I could not help thinking that Liverpool had very much the aspect of New York. No liveried servants, no splendid palaces, were any where to be seen. Some of the shops and publick buildings are, however, striking to an American. The Exchange and Town Hall are ranked among the finest buildings of the kind in Europe. In the middle of Exchange Square there is a costly monument to Lord Nelson, surrounded by many figures large as life, chained to the pedestal: this structure, however, is by no means agreeable to my taste. The Town Hall is certainly an elegant and costly building: it contains a suite of rooms, which for magnificence and extent is said not to be surpassed by any in Europe. At the top of the dome which crowns the building, there is a circular gallery, which affords a fine panoramic prospect of the city and the surrounding country. We were conducted over the edifice by a gentleman dressed in a rich suit of black; and if we had not been pre

viously informed of the usage, we should have been ashamed to have given, at parting, each a half crown, which he readily and thankfully received.

In the evening I went to the annual meeting of the Liverpool Bible Society, which was held at Music Hall, a place admirably adapted for such an occasion. This large room was crowded. The business was conducted in the same form as similar meetings are with us. The first speaker I heard was Mr. Brandon, à delegate from the British and Foreign Bible Society of London. For fluency of speech, rapidity of utterance, and general easy flow of elocution, I never heard or saw his superior. After him there rose a young man, who appeared to be a lawyer. At first he hesitated, but his embarrassment soon left him, and he gave us the best piece of declamation, mixed up with sound sense, classical allusion, and pious feeling, that I have listened to. His speech had a great effect on the audience, if I should judge from the clapping, and to me shocking applause, with which he was cheered-the English cry from the gallery of hear! hear! interrupted the current of his feelings and my own. This gentleman was succeeded by some man who rudely and unexpectedly rose from the midst of the audience. Considerable noise and confusion was produced in the attempts which were made to stop him, but he bawled louder than all, and carried his point, which was a motion, "that when the next edition of the Bible should be printed, the fourth commandment should be in large capital letters,”—but as the motion was not seconded, it failed. After this the Rev. Mr. Newton, a Methodist preacher, in high repute as an orator here, gave us a good address. As it was near 10 o'clock, and as I was somewhat fatigued, my head still swimming with the motion of the ship, I left the meet