188 THE VOYAGE OF H.M.S. CHALLENGER. 



" The dredge brought up a Calappa, which does not seem to differ much from the Medi- 

 terranean species, together with a Galathea, Cancer, Squilla, &c. A large Cidaris seems 

 to cover the whole bottom, along with a fine red Oreaster and a small white Ophiurid. 



" It may be of interest to anthropologists to learn that I visited a yellowish-black 

 family, consisting of a healthy grandmother, and a mother and father, with several children, 

 of whom two were interesting, as one, a girl twenty years of age, was an almost complete 

 albino, and the other presented a case of hypospadias with cryptorchy, simulating her- 

 maphroditism; he was seventeen years of age and ill-developed, being only about 4 feet high." 



Two land shells (Helix advena, "Webb and Berth. , Helix bollei, Albers) were obtained. 1 



The rocks collected at St. Vincent belong to recent types, the basalts being especially 

 prominent in them. These felspathic basalts present three types of structure, — (l) fine 

 grained, (2) doleritic, (3) porphyritic. One rock obtained from a dike in the southwest 

 of the island is an amphibolic andesite. Two specimens from Bird Island must be 

 r3ferred to the variety of basaltic rock known as pyroxenite, on account of the important 

 part which augite plays in their formation. 



A naval schoolmaster, who had come to St. Vincent to join the Challenger, was lost 

 on one of the mountains just before the arrival of the ship, and died of exposure ; his 

 body was found only after the lapse of several months. 



San Iago (Santiago). — On the 5th August, at 10 a.m., the ship left Porto Grande, 

 and a course was shaped for Porto Praya, in the island of St. Iago, as it was desirable to 

 obtain some fresh meat and vegetables for the ship's company, and also to investigate 

 the nature of the bottom off that island, red coral being found there. In proceeding 

 through the channel between the islands of St. Vincent and San Antonio, a line of 

 soundings was carried to 1200 fathoms (see Sheet 11). Porto Praya was reached on the 

 7 th August at 8 A.M., light winds and foggy weather having been experienced on the 

 passage. The mean annual temperature at Porto Praya is 76°'l, the mean of the coldest 

 month being 72°, and the warmest 80°. 



Viewed from the sea, the island of St. Iago is almost as desolate looking as that of 

 St. Vincent, but at an easy distance from the port there is a welhcultivated valley, in 

 which are cocoanuts, abundance of vegetables, and a large variety of crops. Cocoanut 

 trees also grow in small ravines on each side of the town, and artificially irrigated gardens 

 are cultivated beneath their shade. Twelve miles N.E. of Porto Praya is the valley of 

 San Domingo, where the scenery is green and delightful, and presents a striking contrast 

 to the arid gravelly plains near the sea. Good beef and vegetables were procured at Porto 

 Praya, and shooting parties brought back a few quails, pigeons, and guinea fowl. The 

 seine was hauled in the evening with "great success, notwithstanding the considerable 

 swell breaking all along the beach. A small mole has been built to facilitate landing, 



1 E. A. Smith, ProcZool. Soe. Lond., p. 276, 1884. 



