28 JOURNAL OF THE 
posite, a shrubby Urtica, a flowerless Sempervivum, and a 
few Graminee and Cyperacee, formed in this region à 
pleasant spectacle ; such as one would hardly have expected 
on an apparently desert island. "The general aspect of vege- 
tation was very European, enhanced by Samolus Valerandi, 
Nasturtium officinale, and Plantago minor ? To these situations 
were some cultivated plants; but they looked, at least just 
now, very poorly: Beans (especially Lablab) Maize, Cucum- 
bers, a few Bananas, Cotton, Ricinus, and Batatas, seemed 
to be the chief, but hardly in sufficient quantity for 
the six or seven hundred inhabitants. The Bananas, fur- 
nished to us, were said to come from St. Antonio. "There 
were also a few Sycamore figs, and Jatropha Curcas ; there are 
said to be some Guavas and Papayas. A creeping Convol- 
vulus is much grown, and in reply to my repeated inquiries, 
I was always assured that it was used as thatch. 
In Cryptogamia this island is proportionally still poorer. 
Four Ferns, all at above 400 feet, a few Conferve, perhaps 
three or four Mosses, on the top of Monte Verte, all without 
fructification, and Alge on the sea coast very sparingly. 
Of insects, I found chiefly flies and grasshoppers; few 
beetles. On the whole I have collected here about eighty | | 
or ninety Phanerogamia in flower. 
Wednesday, June 6.—Towards the evening we quitted this, 
certainly most sterile island, after a stay of thirteen days. 
I had been most anxious to visit the adjacent island, which 
from all accounts appeared more interesting; but this wish 
could not be indulged, the uncertainty of our departure 
rendering such an excursion hazardous. However, the 
Wilberforce had now to go there, (to Terrafal Bay) for water. 4 
the same evening, without 
We anchored off St. Antonio on 
exactly recognising the spot where we were. In the morning 
we descried the green shore, proving to be the valley which 
was to furnish the water. 
near the coast, for the purpose of irrigating the grounds; and 
as the distance is considerable, the ground very dry, and the F 
There is a plantation intersected : 
by a clear brook, full in the upper part, but caught in ponds — 
