12 



VOYAGE FROM EXGLAXD 



but the only fish we caught was the grey gurnard (Trigla Gurnar- 

 diis), a good eatable fish. Shoals of porpoises (Delphinus Phocoena, 

 Linn.) frequently accompanied our vessel, especially when the sea 

 was rather rough; we fired at them, but had not the good fortune 

 •to kill one. Among the frequent attendants of the ship was also the 

 little stormy petrel ( Procellaria pelagica ) , which is called by the 

 VoYtngnese Alma de Mestre. The sailors consider it as a sign of an 

 approaching storm when these birds appear in considerable numbers 

 about the ship, and are therefore very sorry to see them. A king's 

 cutter gave us the information that England had declared war against 

 France; and our sailors were called upon deck, but not one of 

 them was taken for His Majesty's service. The news we had re- 

 ceived threw us into considerable alarm, on perceiving a ship from 

 the Spanish coast, making directly towards us. Our apprehensions 

 were, however, of short duration, as we soon recognised her to be an 

 English vessel. She took charge of our letters for Europe. 



On the 1st of June, about noon, we descried towards the south a 

 high land, and lofty mountains, indistinctly in the distance ; it was 

 the large and beautiful island of Madeira. At six in the evening we 

 were off its western point, Pont a Pargo^ and doubled it with a brisk 

 gale. Great numbers of petrels, gulls, and other water-fowl, gave 

 animation to the surface of the ocean. The view of Madeira is beau- 

 tiful: the island appeared to us as a simple rock, the summit of which 

 was on this day hid in the clouds. On all sides the ascent is steep, 

 of a blackish colour, with deep ravines and clefts ; but the vine every 

 where spreads its verdant branches, and between them glitter the 

 white dwellings and country houses of the inhabitants. On the ridges 

 of the eminences which were not veiled in clouds, appeared green pas- 

 tures, as on the Alps; and lofty dark groupes of trees overshadowed 

 the little habitations. This fine island enjoys a remarkably happy 

 climate, in which the productions both of the torrid and the temperate 



