CHAP. IV.] TEE VOYAGE HOME. 229 



habits and propensities are very similar, are rats and land- 

 crabs ; both doing a great deal of damage in the gardens by 

 destroying the roots of vegetables and fruit-trees. The rats 

 kept out of the way during the day, but we often saw the 

 crabs ; and we were told to knock them on the head (or what- 

 ever answers that purpose) whenever we fell in with. them. 



I am almost disappointed that we did not see the " rollers," 

 although, for many reasons, their occurring just at that time 

 would have been very inconvenient. It must be a wonderful 

 phenomenon, an enormously heavy swell arising in a perfectly 

 calm sea, wnthout any apparent cause, and breaking against the 

 leeward coast of the island with almost irresistible fury. There 

 was a slight threatening of something of the kind as we era- 

 barked with more than usual difficulty at Tartar Staii'S on the 

 2d of April, and bid farewell to Captain East and his model 

 colony, thinking how comparatively easy it was to make a lit- 

 tle corner of the world tidy and comfortable and in every way 

 respectable — if it were under discijjline, and were not expected 

 to be self-supporting. 



At day -break on the 3d we steamed out of Clarence Bay, 

 and swung ship for errors of the comjjasses. In the afternoon 

 we put over the dredge with fair result. The assemblage of 

 animal forms was very much like that off Tristan d'x\cunha, 

 with the addition of a few more tropical species, such as Stylas- 

 ter erubescens and a species of Hemi-euryale. In the evening 

 we set sail, and proceeded toward our next place of call, San 

 lago, in the Cape Verde group. 



On the 4th we sounded in 1260 fathoms, with a bottom of 

 globigerina ooze, and a bottom temperature of 2°-l C. ; and on 

 the 6th, in 2350 fathoms. The sounding -tube brought up a 

 few globigerina shells and grains of manganese ; the bottom 

 temperature was 0°-4 C. The dredge was put over, but, un- 

 fortunately, it came up with the tangles foul and over the 

 mouth. The number of animals was, consequently, small ; but 



