CAPE VERD ISLANDS. ps 
of agriculture, and remarkably pure morality 
of these ancient inhabitants, who nevertheless 
were entirely exterminated by the tyranny and 
cruelty of their conquerors. 
The trade-wind and continued fine weather 
brought us rapidly on our way towards Brazil. 
Dolphins, flying-fish, and the large and beau- 
tiful gold-fish, called by the Spaniards bonito, 
constantly surrounded the ship, and formed by 
day a relief from the tedium of gazing on the 
unvarying billows, as did during the dark- 
ness of the night the innumerable phospho- 
rescent animals of the muscle kind, which, stud- 
ding the black ocean with sparks of fire, pro- 
duced a dazzling and living illumination. Our 
naturalist, Professor Eschscholz, has already 
communicated to the world his microscopical 
observations upon these marine curiosities. 
On the first of October we doubled the Cape 
Verd Islands, without however seeing the land, 
which is almost, always lost in mist, and steered 
direct for the Equator. Our progress was now 
impeded by calms, and the heat began to be 
oppressive; but care and precaution preserved 
