Thursday 18 August 1836

A curious creature was drawn up with a pail of water. It was called a glaucus, and was of a dark purple. When the sun shone on it a variety of colours was reflected. It had four appendages about an inch long, with shorter ones again branching from each in different directions. Its length was about three inches, and it had a tail like a scorpion. The shape and general appearance were compared by some to the representation commonly given to His Satanic Majesty. The sailors agreed with this view, and declared that they would have nothing to do with it. Therefore they threw it again into the sea, notwithstanding that some of the passengers wished to preserve it as a curiosity.