23 WHITE'S JOURNAL OF A 
1787. wind, except a foutherly one; and when that prevails, ^ 
^'^^^•^ very high fea tvimbles into it. On an eminence, in the cen- 
ter of the bay, ftands a fort, where the Portugueze colours 
were difplayed. Many people appeared on the batteries, look- 
ing at the fhips ; which were probably more in number thaa 
had been feen there fince the memorable i6th of ApriL. 
The appearance of the town and the ifland, from the diftant 
view we had, gave us no very favourable opinion of them. 
The face of the country feemed to be fterile in the extreme. 
The lifelefs brown of the Ifle of Mayo, defcribed by Cap- 
tain Cook, may very well be applied to this ifland ; for as 
far as my eye or glafs could reach, not the fmalleft trace of 
vegetation or verdure was to be perceived, except at the weft, 
end of the fort, on the left fide of the bay, where a few 
trees of the cocoa nut or palm kind appeared. But not- 
withftanding the fterile pidure it exhibits when viewed from 
the fea, geographers, and thofe who have been on fhore^ 
defcribe it to be, in many places, well cultivated and very 
fertile ; producing fugar canes, a little wine, fome cotton, 
Indian corn, cocoa nuts, and oranges, with all the other tropi- 
cal fruits in great plenty; and point it out as a place where 
£hipSy bound on long voyages^ may be conveniently fupplied 
witK 
