10 



ST. Paul's rocks. 



Feb. 1832. 



with sea-weed. By the side of many of these nests a small 

 flying-fish was placed ; which^ I suppose^ had been brought 

 by the male bird for its partner. It was amusing to watch 

 how quickly a large and active crab [Graspus], which inhabits 

 the crevices of the rock, stole the fish from the side of the 

 nest, as soon as we had disturbed the birds. Not a single 

 plant, not even a lichen, grows on this island ; yet it is in- 

 habited by several insects and spiders. The following list 

 completes, I believe, the terrestrial fauna : a species of 

 Feronia and an acarus, which must have come here as para- 

 sites on the birds ; a small brown moth, belonging to a 

 genus that feeds on feathers ; a staphylinus (Quedius) and 

 a woodlouse from beneath the dung ; and lastly, numerous 

 spiders, which I suppose prey on these small attendants 

 on, and scavengers of the waterfowl. The often-repeated 

 description of the first colonists of the coral islets in the 

 South Sea, is not, probably, quite correct : I fear it destroys 

 the poetry of the story to find, that these little vile insects 

 should thus take possession before the cocoa-nut tree and 

 other noble plants have appeared. 



The smallest rock in the tropical seas, by giving a founda- 

 tion, for the growth of innumerable kinds of sea-weed and 

 compound animals, supports likewise a large number of fish. 

 The sharks and the seamen in the boats maintained a con- 

 stant struggle, who should secure the greater share of the 

 prey caught by the lines. I have heard, that a rock near the 

 Bermudas, lying many miles out at sea, and covered by a 

 considerable depth of water, was first discovered by the cir- 

 cumstance of fish having been observed in the neighbour- 

 hood. 



Fernando Noronha, Feb. 20th. — As far as I was 

 enabled to observe, during the few hours we staid at this 

 place, the constitution of the island is volcanic, but pro- 

 bably not of a recent date. The most remarkable feature is 

 a conical hill, about one thousand feet high, the upper part 

 of which is exceedingly steep, and on one side overhangs its 

 base. The rock is phonolite, and is divided into irregular 



