138 BOTANY OF THE 
and they are so singular, whether as regards habit, habitat, 
or botanical characters, that the opportunity of seeing them - 
in a wild state, even from the sea, must be deemed a privi- 
lege by the Botanist. 
CAPE DE VERD ÍSLANDS. 
The voyage, from the Canaries to the Cape de Verd 
Islands, generally presents a hiatus in the journals of those 
sea-faring Naturalists who have followed this route. Before 
arriving at the Canaries, landsmen have scarcely recovered from 
the novelty of ship-board and its effects; nor has there been 
time, since leaving these islands, to become thoroughly inured 
to the monotony of a sailing life. At first sight, the Cape 
de Verd Islands are very disappointing. It is true that we 
had passed from an extra-tropical latitude to far within the 
tropics; but the change in position was not accompanied 
with a corresponding difference, still less with luxuriance, 
in the vegetation and scenery. Yet these apparently barren 
islands have associations of great interest; and their exami- 
nation yields both pleasure and profit. They afforded us 
the first glimpses of the fever-smitten coast of Africa, and of 
slavery. Even the black man here, deprived of freedom, ; 
and an alien to the land in which, though guiltless, he is- 
a prisoner for life, is apt to be regarded as a mere object 
of Natural History by his Caucasian fellow-creature; who, 
before he has time for reflection, may perhaps be excused í for. 
— pan ing t to consider, whether a being so different in features 
. and social position, be really of the same origin as himself; 
: whether, in short, the poor African i is a race of the same 
stock, or a species apart. E: 
There are many other circumstances, Ro with these 
islands, calculated to keep the mind busy while in their 
neighbourhood. They form the western extreme of the € 
World, of what was the whole world to civilized man, 
|. within the last very few hundred years; and hence the: 
|. North Cape and Cep; of Good. d Hope. constitute the 1 
