P. H. GOSSE, _del._ LEIGHTON, BROS.
PORTUGUESE MAN-OF-WAR. TONGUED SARSIA.
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Not unfrequently does one of the tiny vessels come so close alongside
that, by means of the ship’s bucket, with a little assistance from
a smart fellow, who has jumped into the “chains” with a boat-hook,
it is captured, and brought on deck to be subjected to scientific
examination. A dozen voices are however lifted, warning you by no
means to touch it, for well the experienced seaman knows its terrific
powers of defence. It does not now appear so like a ship as when it
was at a distance. It is an oblong bladder of tough membrane, varying
considerably in shape (and hence no two original figures agree in
this respect), and also in size, from less than an inch in length to
the size of a man’s hat. Once in a voyage to Mobile, when rounding
the Florida Reef, I was nearly a whole day passing through a fleet
of these little Portuguese men-of-war, which studded the smooth sea
as far as the eye could reach, and must have extended for many miles.
These were of all sizes within the limits I have mentioned. Generally,
there is a conspicuous difference between the two extremities of the
bladder, one end being rounded, while the other is more pointed, or is
terminated by a small knob-like swelling, or beak-shaped excrescence,
where there is a minute orifice. Sometimes, however, no such
excrescence is visible, and the orifice cannot be detected.
The bladder is filled with air, and therefore floats almost wholly on
the surface. Along the upper side, nearly from end to end, runs a thin
ridge of membrane, which is capable of being erected at the will of the
animal to a considerable height, fully equal at times to the entire
width of the bladder, when it represents an arched fore-and-aft sail,
the bladder being the hull. From the bottom of the bladder, near the
thickest extremity, where there is a denser portion of the membrane,
depends a crowded mass of organs, most of which take the form of very
slender, highly contractile, and moveable threads, which hang down into
the deep to a depth of many feet, or even occasionally, of several
yards.