43 



in sight the first three days, which gave encou- 

 ragement to the crew, who were no way pre- 

 pared for fighting. 



On the 7th we were in the latitude of Cape 

 Finisterre. The group of granitic rocks, which 

 forms part of this promontory, like that of To- 

 ri an es and Mont de Corcubion, bears the name 

 of the Sierra de Torinona. Cape Finisterre is 

 lower than the neighbouring lands : but the To- 

 rinona is visible at sea at 1 7 leagues distance, 

 which proves that the elevation of its highest 

 summit is not less than 300 toises (582 metres). 

 The Spanish navigators pretend, that on these 

 coasts the magnetic variation differs extremely 

 from that observed at sea. Mr. Bory*, it is 

 true, in the voyage of the sloop Amaranth, found, 

 in 1751, that the variation of the needle, deter- 

 mined at the Cape, was four degrees less than 

 could have been conjectured from the observa- 

 tions made at the same period, along the coasts. 

 In the same manner as the granite of Gallicia 

 contains tin disseminated in its mass, that of 

 Cape Finisterre probably contains micaceous 

 iron. In the mountains of the Upper Palatinate, 

 there are indeed granitic rocks, in which crys- 

 tals of micaceous iron take the place of common 

 mica. , 



The 8th at sunset, we descried from the mast- 



* M6moires de l'Acad6mie des Sciences, 1768, p. 280. 

 Fleurieu, Voyage del'Isis, t. i, p. 225. 



