1832.] FERNANDO NORONHA. 11 



feeding and parasitic insects and spiders should be the first in- 

 habitants of newly formed oceanic land. 



The smallest rock in the tropical seas, by giving a foundation 

 for the growth of innumerable kinds of seaweed and compound 

 animals, supports likewise a large number of fish. The sharks 

 and the seamen in the boats maintained a constant struggle 

 which should secure the greater share of the prey caught by the 

 fishino*-lines. I have heard that a rock near the Bermudas, 

 lying many miles out at sea, and at a considerable depth, was 

 first discovered by the circumstance of fish having been observed 

 in the neighbourhood. 



Fernando Noronha, Feb. 20th. — As far as I was enabled 

 to observe, during the few hours we stayed at this place, the con- 

 stitution of the island is volcanic, but probably not of a recent 

 date. The most remarkable feature is a conical hill, about one 

 thousand feet high, the upper part of which is exceedingly steep, 

 and on one side overhangs its base. The rock is phonolite, and 

 is divided into irregular columns. On viewing one of these iso- 

 lated masses, at first one is inclined to believe that it has been 

 suddenly pushed up in a semi-fluid state. At St. Helena, how- 

 ever, I ascertained that some pinnacles, of a nearly similar 

 figure and constitution, had been formed by the injection of 

 melted rock into yielding strata, which thus had formed the 

 moulds for these gigantic obelisks. The whole island is co- 

 vered with wood ; but from the dryness of the climate there 

 is no appearance of luxuriance. Half-way up the mountain, 

 some great masses of the columnar rock, shaded by laurel-like 

 trees, and ornamented by others covered with fine pink flowers 

 but without a single leaf, gave a pleasing effect to the nearer 

 parts of the scenery. 



Bahia, or San Salvador. Brazil, Feb. 29th. — The day 

 has past delightfully. Delight itself, however, is a weak term 

 to express the feelings of a naturalist who, for the first time, has 

 wandered by himself in a Brazilian forest. The elegance of the 

 grasses, the novelty of the parasitical plants, the beauty of the 

 flowers, the glossy green of the foliage, but above all the ge- 

 neral luxuriance of the vegetation, filled me with admiration. 

 A most paradoxical mixture of sound and silence pervades the 



