NOTES ON BRAZIL. 



263 



On the neck of land, which separates tliis recess from the Sacco of St. 

 Xavier, is situated the small pleasant village of St. Domingos ; and on 

 the point West of the village stands the unimportant battery of St. 

 Joan. Passing across the water, we approach the island of Villegagnon, 

 the scene of so many contests as to be highly interesting to a traveller 

 in any measure versed in the history of the country. Its surface has 

 undergone great alterations; the natural defences employed by its ancient 

 occupiers have been destroyed, or rendered subservient to modern forti- 

 fications, which now almost cover the island. Even the rocks, which 

 three centuries ago surrounded it like so many sentinels, are nearly buried 

 beneath the waves. Exposed to the whole weight of the ocean, and 

 unable to resist the constant attrition of the tempestuous surges, they 

 become undermined and slide from their place. A large mass dis- 

 appeared during a gale, in the winter of 1817, and on the beach to 

 lee^vard of them, particularly on the Praia do Flamingo, is often found 

 a substance thrown up by the surf, which may be pertinently described 

 as the rotten stone Gneise. That substance has by some means 

 become black and friable, and indicates that great changes must have 

 taken place in the rocks near the entrance to the bay. 



