THE STRAIT OF MAGELLAN. 501 



course. On the 13th we passed through a quantity of gulf- 

 weed (Sargasswm hacciferum), extending in long parallel belts 

 along the surface of the water, and on the portions obtained I 

 found specimens of two of its well-known denizens — the 

 Nudibranchiate Scyllcea ;pelagica, and a small crab (Planes 

 minutus) with a square flat carapace. 



On the morning of the 18th two of the Azores, Fayal, and 

 the adjacent island, Pico, were sighted, the remarkable peak 

 of the latter (between seven and eight thousand feet in 

 height) rising above a bank of white hazy cloud. As in the 

 course of the afternoon we approached Fayal, the aspect of 

 its southern coast appeared strikingly beautiful, contrasting 

 strongly with the desert-like appearance of St. Vincent. Im- 

 mediately above the water extended a very remarkable belt 

 of bare rugged volcanic cliffs, projecting here and there into 

 bold headlands, but beyond this, up to the level of a belt of 

 cloud, which concealed the highest portion of the land from 

 view, the entire surface of the country was richly cultivated, 

 being most minutely divided into rectilinear fields, diversified 

 with bright green and rich yellow tints— the former, as we 

 afterwards found, being produced by crops of immature maize, 

 and the latter by ripe barley. Nearly all the fields appeared 

 to be surrounded by hedges of a sort of bamboo, or some allied 

 plant, and there were no traces of roads to be seen, the result, 

 as we subsequently ascertained, of most of them lying at a 

 much lower level than the fields. After a time it became 

 cloudy, and we apprehended rain, but only a few drops fell, 

 the weather thereafter clearing up, and the evening becoming 

 fine and bright. On reaching the entrance of Horta Bay, 

 immediately after rounding a promontory excavated by a very 

 remarkable caldron-shaped hollow, with a narrow entrance to 



