Meanwhile the other men of the watch having also observed the light, began to congratulate themselves thereupon, only expressing fears that it would descend to the deck, for which cause they watched it very anxiously. Determined, however, to examine the thing minutely, I climbed up into the rigging, and although the boatswain tried to dissuade me, I got upon the cross-trees, and gazed upon the meteor as closely as I would do at the flame of a candle. The meteor surrounded the end of the spar upon which it appeared, gleaming with a sort of pale glow, which was not flame, but rather like the light produced by flame, sometimes having a very ghastly blue colour, like the blaze of burning spirits, and anon turning of a greenish tint. Although the wind blew strong, the corpus sant did not waver or flicker like a flame, and I passed my hand through and through it, without feeling inconvenience. During the time I remained aloft, the meteor was becoming more and more dim, and soon after I had descended to the deck it disappeared. The remainder of the watch we passed discoursing upon this phenomenon. Some of the sailors said it was a sort of sea glow-worm, and others that it was a jelly which shone; but neither of these opinions is correct. Upon asking what the Spanish and Portuguese sailors said of it, one Thomas Lomax, who had been twice a prisoner in a ship of the former nation, told us that the tradition of the Spaniards was to this effect:— A Spanish bark once set sail from Cadiz, bound for Sicily. They had very calm weather, and they feared at last that their water would run short. All the crew, therefore, made vows to St. Antonio, and promised to place a silver candlestick upon his shrine if he would send them a prosperous breeze. The captain of the ship alone refused to join in their prayers, saying that St. Antonio could no more send them a wind than a pig could see it, and vowing that at all events if it were not so, the saint was a shabby fellow not to give poor sailors a breeze without their having to rob their wives and families to pay him for it. But day after day passed by, and the sails still hung in unwinking folds from the lateen yards, and the reflection of the ship could be seen in the sea as in a mirror. One evening, after a very hot day, the air felt even closer than usual, and the captain told the men that he must reduce still further their allowance of water. That night, therefore, they redoubled their supplications to the saint, and the captain who, by-the-by, was a Frenchman, redoubled his abuse of him, swearing that St. Antonio could not muster as much wind as would blow out a candle, far less urge on a ship. The words had hardly been spoken when a great light shone upon the vessel, and, running to the stern, they all saw St. Antonio, with a halo round his head, coming walking upon the water towards them. At this they all fell upon their knees, and even the French captain grew pale, and his legs almost failed him.