Miscellaneous, 



527 



report at St. Helena : — "The brig Memnon, belonging to Nantz, 

 when off the Cape of Good Hope, caught an Albatros, having a rib- 

 bon round its neck, with a quill sealed at both ends, containing a slip 

 of paper with the following words, viz. * Ship Leonidas of Salem, 

 bound to New .Zealand, 74 days out, latitude 40° south, longitude 

 26° east.' The Leonidas, Eagleston master, sailed from this port 

 (Salem, Massachusetts) on the 9th of August, 1839, and this is 

 the first intelligence from her." — Essex (Massachusetts) Register, 

 Feb. 1840.— J. M. 



Locusts at Sea. — The Essex (Massachusetts) Register publishes 

 the following account, on authority of a letter from the mate of the 

 brig Levant, of Boston, to his friend in Beverly, dated Montevideo, 

 Jan. 17, last port. The mate writes, that after having encountered a 

 severe gale on the 13th September, when in latitude of 18° north, and 

 the nearest land being over 450 miles, they were surrounded for two 

 days by large swarms of Locusts of a large size ; and in the after- 

 noon of the second day, in a squall from the north-west, the sky was 

 completely black with them. They covered every part of the brig 

 immediately, sails, rigging, cabin, &c. It is a little singular how they 

 could have supported themselves in the air so long, as there was no 

 land to the north-west for several thousand miles. Two days after- 

 wards, the weather being moderate, the brig sailed through swarms 

 of them floating dead upon the waters. — J. M., March 1840. 



Santa Cruz. — " The travelling in Santa Cruz is rapid and easy, 

 and the evening drives through the picturesque valleys in the neigh- 

 bourhood of West End, afford a luxurious enjoyment, even for 

 invalids. 



" On the top of the spiral rod of the cabbnge-palm I have fre- 

 quently observed a handsome gray bird, somewhat less than a thrush, 

 called the Chincherry, Like the king-bird of North America, it is 

 said to mock even the hawk, and to assert its dominion over all the 

 fowls of the air. Humming-birds and bright little barbets are seen 

 contending for the blossomed sweets of the yellow cedar ; a sly- 

 looking black bird, in shape like a jay, and generally called the 

 black witch, abounds in the hedges ; quails and minute doves are 

 numerous, and a small species of bittern is often seen floating along 

 over the lower grounds of the island. Lastly, the brown pelicans, 

 on the sea-coast, flopping lazily over the waters, and ever and anon 

 diving for their prey, are as numerous as gulls on the coast of Great 

 Britain. It may be well to observe that the southern part of Santa 

 Cruz is an extensive plain, I believe of shell-limestone formation. 

 The highlands, composed of an indurated clay, conspicuously strati- 

 fied, and tossed into various angles by some vast impulse from below, 

 form the northern barrier ; and very beautiful is their undulation. 

 The loftiest of these hills is Mount Eagle, which rises 1200 feet 

 above the level of the sea. An hour's ride from West End brings 

 you to the top of Prospect or Bodkin Hill, from which there is a 

 magnificent bird's-eye view both of the hills and plains, all, with 



