CHAP. II.] MADEIRA TO THE COAST OF BBAZIL. 109 



passed some very beautiful bits of coast scenery ; a series of 

 little sandy bays with a steep cultivated slope above them, or a 

 dense tangle of trees absolutely imbedded in one sheet of mat- 

 ted climbers, separated by bold headlands of basalt or trap-tuff. 

 There was one particularly beautiful view when we opened 

 "Les Jumeaux," and had the peak directly behind them. 



Farther on, the cliffs became even more precipitous, with 

 nests of sea-birds on all the ledges ; tropic birds ; a beautiful 

 little tern, snowy white, which usually flew in pairs a foot or 

 two apart, one following all the motions of the other, like a 

 pair of paper butterflies obedient to the fan of a Japanese jug- 

 gler. We could see these terns flying over the land, and often 

 alighting upon the trees. The noddy was very common, and 

 the booby in considerable numbers. High upon the cliffs w^e 

 could see the nests of the frigate-bird {TachyiKtes aquila)^ and 

 from time to time one of these splendid birds moved in slow 

 and graceful circles over our heads. We lay for some time be- 

 low the cliffs, admiring the wonderful wealth of animal and 

 vegetable life, and returned slowly to the ship. 



In the mean time, some of our jiarty had been foraging in 

 the town, buying up what they could from the convicts ; and 

 we were glad to see a goodly pile of water and marsh melons, 

 very desirable in hot weather after a long spell at sea. 



On the morning of Wednesday, the 3d of September, we 

 weighed anchor and left Fernando Noronha, Some of us who 

 had set our hearts upon preparing a monograph of the natu- 

 ral history of the isolated little island, and had made all our 

 arrangements for the purpose, were, of course, greatly disap- 

 pointed ; but, underlying our disappointment, I am inclined to 

 think that there was a general feeling of relief on leaving a 

 place which, with all its natural richness and beauty, is simply 

 a prison, the melancholy habitation of irreclaimable criminals. 



To show the rate at which the floor of the sea sinks in the 

 neighborhood of these volcanic islands : at 11.40 a.m. on the 

 II.-8 



