805 



and the Channel of Bahama, as well as near the 

 coast of Buenos Ayres. Some naturalists think 

 they are the vestiges of the eggs of mollusca : 

 they appear to me to be rather the fragments 

 of fuei. The phosphorescence of sea- water 

 seems to be augmented, however, by their pre- 

 sence, above all, between the 28° and 30° of 

 north-latitude, which indicates an origin of an 

 animal nature. 



November 27th, — We approached slowly the 

 island of Orchila ; like all the small islands in 

 the vicinity of the fertile coast of the conti- 

 nent, it has remained uninhabited. I found 

 the latitude of the north cape, 11° 51' 44", and 

 the longitude * of the eastern cape, 68° 26' 5" 

 (supposing Nueva Barcelona 67° 4' 48"). Op- 

 posite the western cape is a small rock against 

 which the waves beat turbulently. Some angles 

 taken with the sextant, gave, for the length of 

 the island from east to west, 8.4 miles (950 

 toises) ; for the breadth scarcely three miles. 

 The island of Orchila, which, on account of its 

 name, I figured to myself as a bare rock co- 

 vered with lichens, displayed at that period a 

 beautiful verdure. The hills of gneiss were co- 

 vered with gramina. It appears that the geo- 



* Astr. Obs., Vol. ii. p. 3. Nearly the longitude of Pur- 

 dy's map (1823), and the latitude of the map of the Dep. de 

 Madrid (1809) . 



