19 



FARMERS' REGISTER—VOLCANIC SOIL. 



the permanent teeth, which are larger tlian the 

 others, though not yet so high, and the mark is 

 long, narrow, deep, and black. At lorn' jcars the 

 second pair of permanent nijjpers will be up, the 

 marlf of which will be deep, while that of the first 

 pair will be somewhat fainter, and that of the corner 

 pair nearly effaced. At this age, too, the tushes Be- 

 gin to ajipear. Bet^veen the Iburth and fifth year, 

 the corner nijipers h;ive been shed, and the new 

 teeth come quite up, showing the long deep irreg- 

 ular mark; the other nippers bearing evident tokens 

 of increasing wearing. At six years the mark 

 on the centre nij^ipers is ^tvorn out, but there is still 

 a brown hue in the centre of the tooth. At seven 

 years the mark will be worn ii'om the four centre 

 nippers, and will have completely disapi)eared at 

 eight years from them all. It may be added, that 

 it is the lower jaw of the horse that is usually ex- 

 amined, and which is here described. The changes 

 of the teeth taking place in both jaws about the 

 same time, but the cavity of the teeth in the upper 

 jaw being somewhat deeper, the mark lasts longer, 

 though the exact pei'iod is a matter of controversj-. 

 According to what may be considered good au- 

 thority, however, it may be stated that at nine 

 years the mark will be worn from the middle nip- 

 pers, from the next pair at ten, and from all the uijper 

 nippers at eleven. During all tliis time the tushes 

 (the extremities of which are at first sharp-point- 

 ed and curved) become gradually blunter, shorter, 

 and rounder. 



THE3 CHANGE OF VOLCAKIO PRODUCTS TO 

 FERTILE SOILi. 



[The slow but certain change of lava and other pro- 

 ducts of volcanoes to feiiile soil, has long been 

 known as a remarkable and general operation of na- 

 ture. The length of time required for this process is as 

 various as are the proportions of the materials acted 

 on; and even the shortest periods have generally been 

 too long to be recorded by authentic history. The 

 neighborhood of Siena, in Italy, still remains as bar- 

 ren and desolate as if the volcanic covering of the 

 €arth was of recent formation: yet it is'knownthat the 

 eruption that produced it took place more than three 

 thousand years ago. To this, a remarkable contrast 

 is presented in the following account of the island of 

 Ascension, on which, the fertilizing effects of natural 

 causes liave rapidly worked to convert a naked and 

 desolate rock, to a fertile habitation for man.] 



From MorrcH's Vo3ases. 



The island of Ascension was formerly described 

 as " a barren uninhabited island in the South At- 

 lantic Ocean, without soil or vegetation," and as 

 "an impracticable heap of volcanic ashes." This 

 descri^jtion was once correct; but industry, skiU, 

 and jjei'severance have now rendered a more fa- 

 vorable one appro]>riate. The island is in fact a 

 shattered volcano, the pulverized materials of 

 which, are rapidly becoming converted into a rich 

 and fertile soil, it formerly'belonged to the Por- 

 tuguese, who discovered it in 1501; but in 1816, 

 eome English families from the island of St. He- 

 lena settled here, and it was taken ])ossession oi 

 by the British government as a military station; 

 and sixty transport ships provided the g-umson ol 

 two hundred men Avith supplies from the Cape of 



Good Hope. A fort was erected, roads construct- 

 ed, gardens planted, houses built, &c. 



This island is of triangidar shape, about twenty 

 miles in circumference; being eight miles from 

 north to south, and five miles and a half li'om east 

 to west. It may be seen from the mast-head in 

 clear weather at the distance of ten leagues, its 

 appearance is imeven and rugged, being an as- 

 semblage of hills, with a mountain overlooking 

 them from the south. This is called Green Moun- 

 tain, and is about eight hundred yards in height. 

 The best anchorage at this island is in Turtle 

 Cove, in eight or ten fathoms of water, Avith the 

 flag-staff on Cross-Hill bearing south-east-half- 

 east; Rat Corner, south-south-west. Distance 

 from the nearest shore about one mile. A heavy 

 surf of^en interrujjfs the landing for several daya 

 together. 



The whole island is of volcanic origin, and the 

 surface is now partly covered Avith a reddish soil, 

 while in some places there is a yelloAv earth re- 

 sembling ochre-. A fine black earth covers the 

 bottom of the valleys, Avhich are now in a fine state 

 of cultivation by the little military colony before 

 alluded to. Tlie island is composed of several co- 

 nic hiUs, from two hundred and filly to three hun- 

 dred and fitly yards in lieight. Green Moimtain 

 has a double top, rising in tAvo peaks, like the 

 Grecian Parnassus. In almost every part of the 

 island, as Mr. Purdy justly observes, are found 

 prodigious quantities of rocks full of holes like a 

 honey-comb; together with calcined stones, very 

 light, and pumice-stones. " '^riie rocks, lying 

 upon each other in a very irregular Avay, and 

 mostly on the declivity of hUls, leave great chasms 

 betAveen them; and as they have very little solidi- 

 ty, an observer runs some risk who ventures with- 

 out caution upon them." About the middle of 

 the island, and betAveen the hills, there are seA'eral 

 little plaijis, which are divided into small spaces, 

 so remarkably distributed that you would take 

 them for so many pieces of land cleared of stones, 

 and separated from each other by long Avails. 



According to the statement of the officers of 

 the English brig Slaney, Avho visited this island 

 in February, 1827, Ascension was then (under 

 the goAernmcnt of Lieutenant Colonel Nicholls) 

 in a most flourishing state of progressive improve- 

 ment as to its resources, both natural and :u"tificial. 

 Roads are constructing from the several springs 

 (sixteen in number) to convey water to the gar- 

 rison; and hopes Avere entertained of being able 

 to supply a squadron AA'ith that essential article 

 in the course of a year, by means of iron pipes 

 from the princij^al spring to a reservoir near the 

 beach. Pastura<Te for cattle is making its appear- 

 ance. Sheep, tureeys, guinea-loAAds, .and live-stock 

 of every description thriA^e Avell. Fruit, such as 

 pines, Indian gooseberries and plantains haA'e been 

 successfldly cultivated. Potatoes, onions, carrots, 

 pease, French beans, and almost every esculent 

 vegetable liaA'e been produced upon the island; 

 and thus from a desert cinder, nature has been 

 courted successfufly to yield most of her useful 

 A'egetable productions. Only tAvo deaths from 

 sickness haA^e occurred at Ascension during the 

 last two years (4825 and 1826;) and when we 

 consider that gales of AA'ind are unknoAvn to have 

 visited the anchorage there, the value of the island 

 as a rendezA'ous and a de])ot for stores and provi- 

 sions, for a .?quadrou of observation, destined to 



