"The bulky and irregular appendage (the protectors) at the lower part of the ship's bottom caused a great noise in the sea, in consequence of the dead water which it occasioned, and doubtless lessened the speed of the vessel. But that which contributed most to this unfortunate result, was the exceedingly unclean state of the copper, arising from the excess of the iron employed: this, carried to so great an extent, having the effect of extracting matter from the water, which, forming a concretion on the sheets, enabled the marine animals the more easily to attach themselves. The sheathing was covered with a multitude of _lepas anatifera_, shells with five valves, suspended by a pedicle of three or four centimetres long, collected into groups; of _lepas tintinnabulum_, a shell with six valves; of oysters with _opercula_; of _polypi_, &c. No part of the bottom was free from them. "Below, the copper was certainly preserved from oxidation; and up to within a few sheets of the water line, it did not appear to be worn. But to save expense, it was obliged to be cleansed without removal, by rubbing it hard with bricks and wet sand, which has succeeded very well in restoring its copper colour." The following is the description of shells above enumerated:-- Genus _Anatifa_, Encyclopedia.--(_Lepas_, Linnæus.) [Illustration: Fig. 1.] FIG. 1. Smooth _Anatifa_ (_Lepas anatifera_, Linn.)--Shell consisting of five valves, of which two larger and two smaller ones are opposite to each other; and a fifth, which is narrow, is arched and rests upon the ends of the first four: these valves are not connected by any hinge; they are held together by the skin of the animal, which lines their interior and opens in front by a longitudinal separation. Their colour is orange during the life of the animal. The base of the shell is united to a fleshy tube, tendinous, cylindrical, susceptible of contraction, saffron-coloured, becoming brown and black in drying. [Illustration: Fig. 2.] FIG. 2. Smooth _Anatifa_, as seen from the other side, the pedicle dry and contracted. [Illustration: Fig. 3.] FIG. 3. Smooth _Anatifa_, as seen in front, showing the longitudinal separation. Genus _Anomia_. [Illustration] Shell with valves, unequal, irregular, having an operculum; adhering by its operculum; valve usually pierced, flattened, having a cavity in the upper part; the other valve a little larger, concave, entire; operculum small, elliptical, bony, fixed on some foreign body, and to which the interior muscle of the animal is attached. [Illustration] Species, Onion-peel _Anomia_.--(_Ephippium_, Linn.) Shell common, whitish and yellowish, found in the Mediterranean and the ocean. Besides the abovementioned species, which were found in large quantities, there were also some muscles and oysters.--(_Mytilus afer. Baccina._--Linn. Gmel. 3358.) Genus "_Balane de Blainville_." (_Balanite_, Encyclopedia.--_Lepas_, Linn.) [Illustration: Fig. 1.]