NOTES ON BRAZIL. 285 



each wave. Here this cone is from six to nine inches high. Off Flam- 

 borough Head, many years ago, I beheld what I suppose to be a similaj 

 production, of astonishing magnitude, which moved with great rapidity, 

 passed a-head of our vessel, obliquely to her course, and attracted the 

 wondering attention of every person on deck ; all were sensible that, il 

 it had struck, it must have overwhelmed us. From descriptions which 

 I have read of some instances of damage done to shipping, at Halifax 

 in Nova Scotia, at the Cape of Good Hope, and on the coast of Brazil, 

 I strongly suspect that it has arisen from something of this kind. 



Of the different roads, which branch off from the Western end of 

 the beach of Bota Foga, — not one of which is barren of amusement to a 

 lover of nature, — the most Southerly leads to the rear of the outermost 

 of those lines which guard the entrance into the harbour. To this 

 defence the government seems to attach little importance, for, though 

 the wall is sixteen feet high, well built and strong, no guns are mounted 

 upon it, and it is commanded by the heights, which are themselves 

 without protection. In this neighbourhood is the house where the 

 British Society has, for many years, held its monthly meetings, availing 

 itself, like many similar associations at home, of the aid of a full moon, 

 and borrowing from them the appellation of Lunatics, 



A branch of the same road proceeds over a small plain, abounding 

 with " the seats of retirement and ease," for days of leisure. In its 

 progress it passes the foot of the Telegraph-hill, between pinnacles of 

 great sublimity ; where the objects immediately at hand are not the only 

 impressive and delightful ones, but there are also presented, at a distance, 

 the common noble prospects of the bay and the Northern mountains, 

 of the ocean and various islands. A man not averse to labour, and fond 

 of diversified scenery, will find himself well repaid for climbing up to 

 the Telegraph. In the pass just mentioned, on a projecting rock, stands 

 a small fort, strong in its position, but wretchedly out of repair, and 

 without a single useful gun, though mounting a corporal's guard. This 

 neglect may, indeed, be forgiven, as it is too far off to command the 

 beach, where the heavy surf rolling upon it is a defence of the siirest 



