FERNANDO NORONHA 



tion for the growth of innumerable kinds of seaweed and com- 

 pound animals, supports likewise a large number of fish. The 

 sharks and the seamen in the boats maintained a constant 

 struggle which should secure the greater share of the prey 

 caught by the fishing-lines. I have heard that a rock near the 

 Bermudas, lying many miles out at sea, and at a considerable 

 depth, was first discovered by the circumstance of fish having 

 been observed in the neighbourhood. 



Fernando Noronha, Feb. 2ot/i.—As far as I was enabled 

 to observe, during the few hours we stayed at this place, the 

 constitution of the island is volcanic, but probably not of a recent 

 date. The most remarkable feature is a conical hill, about one 

 thousand feet high, the upper part of which is exceedingly 

 steep, and on one side overhangs its base. The rock is 

 phonolite, and is divided into irregular columns. On viewing 

 one of these isolated masses, at first one is inclined to believe 

 that it has been suddenly pushed up in a semi-fluid state. At St. 

 Helena, however, I ascertained that some pinnacles, of a nearly 

 similar figure and constitution, had been formed by the injection 

 of melted rock into yielding strata, which thus had formed the 

 moulds for these gigantic obelisks. The whole island is covered 

 with wood ; but from the dryness of the climate there is no 

 appearance of luxuriance. Half-way up the mountain some 

 great masses of the columnar rock, shaded by laurel-like trees, 

 and ornamented by others covered with fine pink flowers but 

 without a single leaf, gave a pleasing effect to the nearer parts 

 of the scenery. 



Bahia, or San Salvador. Brazil, /V-^^. 29///. — The day 

 has past delightfully. Delight itself, however, is a weak term 

 to express the feelings of a naturalist who, for the first time, has 

 wandered by himself in a Brazilian forest. The elegance of the 

 grasses, the novelty of the parasitical plants, the beauty of the 

 flowers, the glossy green of the foliage, but above all the 

 general luxuriance of the vegetation, filled me with admiration. 

 A most paradoxical mixture of sound and silence pervades the 

 shady parts of the wood. The noise from the insects is so loud, 

 that it may be heard even in a vessel anchored several hundred 

 yards from the shore ; yet within the recesses of the forest a 

 universal silence appears to reign. To a person fond of natural 



