29 



CHAPTER II. 



AZORES, MADEIRA, CAPE VEEDES. 



Fayal Island, Azores. Porpoises on the Feed. Town of Horta. Peculiar 

 Dress of the Women. Island of Pico. St. Michael's Island. Native 

 Ferns and Australian-introduced Trees. The Threshing floor and 

 Women at the Mill. Vegetation of the Azores. Hot Springs at 

 Furnas. Plants Growing in the Hot Water. Caldeira des Sette 

 Cidades. Madeira. Grand Coral. Curious Caps worn by the Men. 

 The Island at Sunset. St. Vincent Island, Cape Verdes. Vegetation 

 of the Island. Ascent of Green Mountain. Different Causes of 

 Variation of Vegetation with Altitude. Structure of Basaltic Dykes. 

 Calcareous Seaweeds on Bird Island. Habits of Crabs. Miniature 

 Oasis. Flying Gurnet Hooked. Mode of Catching Bonito. Island 

 of Fogo. Porto Praya, St. Jago Island. Use of Foot in Feeding by 

 Kites. Kingfisher and Galinis. Hauling the Sein. A Large Shark. 

 San Domingo Valley. Monkeys. Kemarkable Freshwater Crus- 

 tacean. Limestone Band in the Cliff of the Harbour. 



Azores, Joiy 1st to 10th, 1813. — After a voyage of 19 days 

 from Bermuda on July 1st, the " Challenger" steamed in towards 

 the island of Fayal, which was soon sighted as a blue haze in the 

 far distance which mingled with the clouds and showed a faint 

 outline only here and there. The haze became darker and 

 darker as the island was approached and the outline more 

 distinct, and at last we began to make out the shape of the 

 island clearly with our glasses, and to see the great belt of 

 cultivation on the lower region, with its thickly set rectangular 

 patches of ripe corn. The highest point of the island is only a 

 little over 3,000 feet above sea level ; this part of the structure 

 was not sighted at all by us, for it remained always covered 

 with clouds. 



The whole of the Azores are volcanic, only on Sta. Maria 

 Island is there a small deposit of limestone containing marine 

 shells, of miocene date. The islands are composed of beds of lava, 

 basaltic and trachytic, and cones of scoriae and pumice. As we 



