Miscellaneous. 527 
report at St. Helena :—‘‘ The brig Memnon, belonging to Nantz, 
when off the Cape of Good Hope, caught an Albatros, having a rib- 
bon round its neck, with a quill sealed at both ends, containing a slip 
of paper with the following words, viz. ‘Ship Leonidas of Salem, 
bound to New Zealand, 74 days out, latitude 40° south, longitude 
- 26° east.’ The Leonidas, Eagleston master, sailed from this port 
(Salem, Massachusetts) on the 9th of August, 1839, and this is 
the first intelligence from her.”—LEssex (Massachusetts) Register, 
Feb. 1840.—J. M. 
Locusts at Sea.—The Essex (Massachusetts) Register publishes 
the following account, on authority of a letter from the mate of the 
brig Levant, of Boston, to his friend in Beverly, dated Montevideo, 
Jan. 17, last port. The mate writes, that after having encountered a 
severe gale on the 13th September, when in latitude of 18° north, and 
the nearest land being over 450 miles, they were surrounded for two 
days by large swarms of Locusts. of a large size; and in the after- 
noon of the second day, in a squall from the north-west, the sky was 
completely black with.them. They covered every part of the brig 
immediately, sails, rigging, cabin, &c. It is alittle singular how they 
could have supported themselves in the air so long, as there was no 
land to the north-west for several thousand miles. Two days after- 
wards, the weather being moderate, the brig sailed through swarms 
of them floating dead upon the waters.—J. M., March 1840. 
Santa Cruz.— The travelling in Santa Cruz is rapid and easy, 
and the evening drives through the picturesque valleys in the neigh- 
bourhood of West End, afford a luxurious enjoyment, even for 
invalids. 
**On the top of the spiral rod of the cabbage-palm I have fre- 
quently observed a handsome gray bird, somewhat less than a thrush, 
ealled the Chincherry, Like the king-bird of North America, it is 
said to mock even the hawk, and to assert its dominion over all the 
fowls of the air. Humming-birds and bright little barbets are seen 
contending for the blossomed sweets of the yellow cedar; a sly- 
looking black bird, in shape like a jay, and generally called the 
black witch, abounds in the hedges; quails and minute doves are 
numerous, and a small species of bittern is often seen floating along 
over the lower grounds of the island. Lastly, the brown pelicans, 
on the sea-coast, flopping lazily over the waters, and ever and anon 
diving for their prey, are as numerous as gulls on the coast of Great 
Britain. It may be well to observe that the southern part of Santa 
Cruz is an extensive plain, I believe of shell-limestone formation. 
The highlands, composed of an indurated clay, conspicuously strati- 
fied, and tossed into various angles by some vast impulse from below, 
form the northern barrier; and very beautiful is their undulation. 
The loftiest of these hills is Mount Eagle, which rises 1200 feet 
above the level of the sea. An hour’s ride from West End brings 
you to the top of Prospect or Bodkin Hill, from which there is a 
magnificent bird’s-eye view both of the hills and plains, all, with 
