24 OCEAN ISLANDS. [chap. 



beneath the dung ; and lastly, numerous spiders, whi( 

 I suppose prey on these small attendants and scavenge! 

 of the waterfowl. The often-repeated description of th 

 stately palm and other noble tropical plants, then bird^ 

 and lastly man, taking possession of the coral islets 

 soon as formed, in the Pacific, is probably not quite correct 

 I fear it destroys the poetry of this story, that feather ai 

 dirt-feeding and parasitic insects and spiders should be t\ 

 first inhabitants of newly-formed oceanic land. 



The smallest rock in the tropical seas, by giving a founda- 

 tion for the growth of innumerable kinds of seaweed and 

 compound 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 cir- 

 cumstance offish having been observed in the neighbourhood. 



Fernando Noronha, Feb. 20th. — 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 constitu- 

 tion, 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, Feb. 2^th. — The day 

 has passed 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. 



