CHAPTER II 



On the fourteenth day after leaving Pernam- 

 bueo, the brig cast anchor off the island of Cay- 

 enne. The entrance is beautiful. To windward, 

 not far off, there are two bold wooded islands, 

 called the Father and Mother; and near them 

 are others, their children, smaller, though as 

 beautiful as their parents. Another is seen a 

 long way to leeward of the family, and seems as 

 if it had strayed from home, and cannot find its 

 way back. The French call it ''1 'enfant perdu." 

 As you pass the islands, the stately liills on the 

 main, ornamented with ever- verdant foliage, 

 show you that this is by far the sublimest scenery 

 on the sea-coast, from the Amazons to the Oroo- 

 noque. On casting your eye towards Dutch Guiana, 

 you will see that the mountains become uncon- 

 nected and few in number, and long before you 

 reach Surinam the Atlantic wave washes a flat 

 and muddy shore. 



Considerably to windward of Cayenne, and 

 about twelve leagues from land, stands a stately 

 and towering rock, called the Constable. As noth- 

 ing grows on it to tempt greedy and aspiring man 

 to claim it as his own, the sea-fowl rest and raise 

 their offspring there. The bird called the Frigate 

 is ever soaring round its rugged summit. Hither 

 the Phaeton bends his rapid flight, and flocks of 

 rosy Flamingos here defy the fowler's cunning. 



133 



