80 



The current drew us toward the coast more 

 rapidly than we wished. As we advanced, we 

 discovered at first the island of Fortaventure 

 ( Forteventura) famous for the great number of 

 camels =* which it feeds ; and a short time after 

 we saw the small island of Lobos in the chan- 

 nel which separates Fortaventura from Lance- 

 rote. We spent part of the night on the deck. 

 The moon illumined the volcanic summits of 

 Lancerote. the flanks of which, covered with 

 ashes, reflected a silver light. Antares threw 

 out it's resplendent rays near the lunar disk, 

 which was but a few degrees above the horizon. 

 The night was beautifully serene and cool. 

 Though we were but a little distance from the 

 west of Africa, and on the limit of the torrid 

 zone, the centigrade thermometer rose no high- 

 er than 18°. The phosphorescence of the ocean 

 seemed to augment the mass of light diffused 

 through the air. I was able to read for the first 

 time the nonius of a sextant, by Troughton, of 

 two inches, the division of which was very mi- 



* These carpels, which serve for labor, and sometimes for 

 food when salted, did not exist till the B&hencourts made the 

 conquest of the Canaries. In the sixteenth century, asses 

 were so abundant in the Isle of Fortaventura, that they be- 

 came wild and were hunted. Several thousands were killed 

 to save the harvest. The horses of Fortaventura are of sin- 

 gular beauty, and of the Bar bary race. Noticias de la his- 

 toria general de las islas Canarias, par Don Jose de Viera, 

 t. ii, p. 436. 



