June.] 



ISLAND OF ASCENSION. 



331 



ducted. A pretty brisk commerce is also carried on there ; and in 

 1828 they exported seventy thousand dollars' worth of produce. The 

 climate is salubrious, and with a few exceptions, the colonists have uni- 

 formly enjoyed good health. 



June 8th. — Our water-casks having been replenished from mountain 

 streams, and safely stowed on board, and the schooner being now 

 amply supplied with fresh meat, vegetables, fruit, and refreshments of 

 every kind, besides a quantity of live-stock, we found ourselves in readi- 

 ness to set sail for home, "sweet home," many months sooner than 

 we had anticipated. But the voyage had been prosperous beyond our 

 expectations, and any further stay on the African coast would have been 

 a useless waste of time and money. We therefore got under way on 

 Monday, the 8th of June, and at 4, P. M., we left the anchorage at 

 Benguela, which is in lat. 12° 34' south, and long. 13 3 17' east ; varia- 

 tion per azimuth, 21° 30' westerly. We started with a fine breeze from 

 south-west, and fair weather. At 11, P.M., we took the wind from 

 south-by-west, and at 10 the next morning we had it from south-south- 

 east. We crossed the meridian of Greenwich on Friday, the 12th. 



June 15th. — We continued on our course to the west with south-east 

 winds until Monday, the 15th ; when, at 11, A. M., we were close in 

 with the island of Ascension, in lat. 7° 55' south, long. 14° 23' west ; 

 about six hundred miles north-west of the celebrated island of St. 

 Helena, and twice that distance east of Pernambuco, in Brazil. 



The island of Ascension was formerly described as " a barren un- 

 inhabited island in the South Atlantic Ocean, without soil or vegetation," 

 and as " an impracticable heap of volcanic ashes." This description 

 was once correct ; but industry, skill, and perseverance have now ren- 

 dered a more favourable one appropriate. The island is in fact a shat- 

 tered volcano, the pulverized materials of which are rapidly becoming 

 converted into a rich and fertile soil. It formerly belonged to the Por- 

 tuguese, who discovered it in 1501 ; but in 1816, some English fam- 

 ilies from the island of St. Helena settled here, and it was taken pos- 

 session of by the British government as a military station ; and sixty 

 transport ships provided the garrison of two hundred men with supplies 

 from the Cape of Good Hope. A fort was erected, roads constructed, 

 gardens planted, houses built, &c. 



This island is of triangular shape, about twenty miles in circumfer- 

 ence ; being eight miles from north to south, and five miles and a half 

 from east to west. It may be seen from the mast-head in clear weather 

 at the distance of ten leagues. On approaching it from the east, at 

 the distance of six or eight leagues, its appearance is uneven and rug- 

 ged, being an assemblage of hills, with a mountain overlooking them 

 from the south. This is called Green Mountain, and is about eight 

 hundred yards in height. The best anchorage at this island is in Tur- 

 tle Cove, in eight or ten fathoms of water, with the flag-staff on Cross- 

 Hill bearing south-east-half-east ; Rat Corner, south-south-west ; dis- 

 tance from the nearest shore about one mile. A heavy surf often in- 

 terrupts the landing for several days together. 



The whole island is of volcanic origin, and the surface is now partly 



covered with a reddish soil, while in some places there is a yellow earth 



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