430 EAMBLteS OP A NATUEALIST. [Oh. XXIV. 



The streets of Horta were quiet and very hot, and the people 

 of all classes (Portuguese) extremely polite. Here we pur- 

 chased fresh beef at fourpence halfpenny per pound, and small 

 fowls at four shilliags the dozen. Priests and nuns, the latter 

 with enormous heavy black hoods, which gave them an extra- 

 ordinary appearance, abound ; and, if report spoke correctly, 

 the people stand in some awe of the former. The Free- 

 masons, particularly, were forced to hold their meetiugs by 

 stealth, owing to the anxiety shown by the priests to become 

 acquainted with the masonic mysteries. Outside the town the 

 walks are not so pleasant as appeared from the sea ; for the 

 roads are all sunk between lofty rough stone walls, and there 

 is no shelter whatever from the rays of the sun. The chief 

 crop seemed to be rye, which was ripening for the harvest. 



I was much struck in my walk in Fayal with the great re- 

 semblance which its natural productions bore to those of this 

 country. The road-side vegetation, which was all I could 

 observe, seemed quite familiar to me, and I gathered the 

 following common British flowers as I went along, viz.. 

 Geranium molle, Lapsana communis. Sisymbrium officiuale. 

 Verbena officinalis. Cotyledon umbilicus, Veronica officinalis, 

 Trifolium album, Malva rotundifolia, and Hordeum sylvati- 

 cum. The common white butterfly (Pontia) crossed my path 

 from time to time ; and I saw, and heard sing, the chaffinch 

 (Fringilla coelebs) for the first time since I left England. 



As we quitted Fayal the island of St. George had the 

 aspect of a long rugged rock, with steep sides, cut into 

 numerous ravines, all having an uniform neutral tint, dashed 

 here and there with green. Terceira lay ia the distance 

 among the clouds of the eastern horizon ; and Gloriosa we 



on the 27th, and a slight oscillation, on the 17th of August, since which it 

 appears that the volcanic forces have teen more or less at rest. 



