42 TRAVELS IN BRAZIL. 



sea water was rather less here than in the Adriatic 

 sea. 



The formation of the whole island, as far as we 

 examined it, has no trace of lava, and consists of a 

 recent marl or tufa like limestone of late origin ; 

 in some parts very soft, in others firm, and the frac- 

 ture showing a fine grain, of a whitish or yellowish 

 colour, and mixed both with numerous particles of 

 mica, and with small, nay, microscopical shells, 

 (now and then a few some lines in length,) or 

 with sharks' teeth. The shells are chiefly of the 

 species of Mytilus and Cardium, and seem, if we 

 may be allowed to judge from the examination of 

 a few specimens, to be of kinds that are still to be 

 found alive. Beside these petrifications, which are 

 very common in the grotto of St. Paul for instance, 

 the island is said to abound in Terebratulites, Be- 

 lemnites, &c. The same stone furnishes the ad- 

 mirable materials for building used in the island. 

 The limestone rock is covered either with loose 

 stones, sand, and dust, here and there converted 

 by manure into garden ground, or by a good rich 

 red clay, and lastly, in part by mould imported 

 from Sicily. 



The contrary wind which had hitherto detained 

 us at Malta, changed, in the night of the 30th, to 

 a faint S.E., and the frigate lost no time in leaving 

 the harbour. On the 1st of May, at five in the 

 morning, we had the Capo di S. Dimitro to the 

 W.N.W., Lavaletta distant ten leagues j at seven 



