Ch. VI.] 1831—1836. 129 



harbour of Santa Cruz. I now first felt even moderately well, 

 and I was picturing to myself all the delights of fresh fruit 

 growing in beautiful valleys, and reading Humboldt's descrip- 

 tion of the island's glorious views, when perhaps you may 

 nearly guess at our disappointment, when a small pale man 

 informed us we must perform a strict quarantine of twelve 

 days. There was a death-like stillness in the ship till the 

 Captain cried " up jib," and we left this long wished-for place. 



Wo were becalmed for a day between Teneriife and tho 

 Grand Canary, and here I first experienced any enjoyment. 

 The view was glorious. The Peak of Teneriffe was seen 

 amongst the clouds like another world. Our only drawback 

 was the extreme wish of visiting this glorious island. From 

 Teneriffe to St. Jago the voyage was extremely pleasant. I had 

 a net astern the vessel which caught great numbers of curious 

 animals, and fully occupied my time in my cabin, and on deck 

 the weather was so delightful and clear, that the sky and water 

 together made a picture. On the 16th we arrived at Port 

 Praya, the capital of the Cape de Verds, and there we remained 

 twenty-three days, viz. till yesterday, the 7th of February. The 

 time has flown away most delightfully, indeed nothing can bo 

 pleasanter ; exceedingly busy, and that business both a duty 

 and a great delight. I do not believe I have spent one half- 

 hour idly since leaving Teneriffe. St. Jago has afforded me 

 an exceedingly rich harvest in several branches *of Natural 

 History. I find the descriptions scarcely worth anything of 

 many of the commoner animals that inhabit the Tropics. I 

 allude, of course, to those of the lower classes. 



Geologising in a volcanic country is most delightful ; 

 besides the interest attached to itself, it leads you into most 

 beautiful and retired spots. Nobody but a person fond of 

 Natural History can imagine the pleasure of strolling under 

 cocoa-nuts in a thicket of bananas and coffee-plants, and an 

 endless number of wild flowers. And this island, that has 

 given me so much instruction and delight, is reckoned the 

 most uninteresting place that we perhaps shall touch at during 

 our voyage. It certainly is generally very barren, but the 

 valleys are more exquisitely beautiful, from the very contrast. 

 It is utterly useless to say anything about the scenery ; it 

 would be as profitable to explain to a blind man colours, as 

 to a person who has not been out of Europe, the total dis- 

 similarity of a tropical view. Whenever I enjoy anything, I 

 always either look forward to writing it down, either in my 

 log-book (which increases in bulk), or in a letter ; so you must 

 excuse raptures, and those raptures badly expressed. I find 



