Ch. XXIV.] ASCENSION. 421 



The settlement of George Town is entirely naval in its cha- 

 racter, being formed of a number of departmental officers, 

 and of marines, who are all borne on the books of H.M.S. 

 " Flora," 40 guns, which lies off this place, and whose cap- 

 tain is styled the " Captain of the Island." Everything is 

 conducted with the strictest reference to naval discipline, 

 and the island is nothing more nor less than a ship ashore. 

 The landing-place is very indifferent, mere steps cut in the 

 rock, and therefore entirely inaccessible in bad weather. It 

 is well known that the great waves of the Atlantic often set 

 in upon the rock in the form of rollers, even in fine weather, 

 and it can never be predicted when they may make their ap- 

 pearance ; but whenever they do so all communication be- 

 tween the ships and the shore is cut off, except by signal. 

 It is one of the duties of the master of the " Flora " to di- 

 rect a flag to be hoisted on the signal-hill when this state of 

 things occurs, and that is pretty frequently. 



As our stay was to be limited to one day I was thankful 

 that the weather was calm and the sea permitted us to land ; 

 and having done so, I bent my steps in the direction of 

 South- West Bay, with the intention of visiting " Wide-awake 

 Fair," and at the same time exploring some of the geological 

 features of this remarkable island. The whole of Ascension 

 is an erupted mass, the antiquity of which can only be judged 

 of by the worn condition of its surface ; but it is entirely the 

 product of a once active, but long since extinct, volcano. 

 Green Mountain, the culminating point, is probably the 

 parent cone, around which a great number of secondary 

 cones and craters are clustered, the rough trachytic lavas of 

 which run sloping to the beach round the greater part of the 

 island. 



One or two tolerable roads have been formed, which greatly 



