4 
VOYAGE TO THE 
CHAP, of this gigantic cone. The sun set behind it ; and as his beams 
withdrew, the mountain was thrown forward, until it appeared not 
June, half its real distance. Then followed a succession of tints, from the 
glowing colours of a tropical sky, to the sombre purple of the deepest 
valleys; varying in intensity with every intermediate range, until a 
landscape was produced, which, for beauty of outline, and brilliancy 
of colour, is rarely surpassed ; and we acknowledged ourselves amply 
repaid for our days of suspense. Night soon closed upon the view ; 
and, directing our compass to a well-known headland, we took 
our last look at the island, which was the only one of the Canary 
groupewe had seen: not on account of our distance from them, but 
owing to that mass of clouds which “ navigators behold incessantly 
piled over this Archipelago.” The breeze was fair, and we rolled on, 
from day to day, with our awnings spread ; passing rapidly over the 
ground with a fresh trade-wind, and daily increasing the heat and 
humidity of our atmosphere : amused, occasionally by day, with shoals 
of flying-fish starting from our path, followed by their rapacious pur- 
suers ; and by night, with the phosphoric flashing of the sea, and the 
gradual rising of constellations not visible in our own latitude. 
Toward the termination of the trade, the wind veered gradually 
to the eastward, and became fresh, until noon of the 15th, when it 
suddenly ceased, and the sea, foaming like breakers, beneath a black 
thunder-cloud, warned us to take in our lighter sails. We were pre- 
sently taken aback with a violent gust of wind from the southward, 
and from that time lost the north-east trade. As we approached its 
limit, the atmosphere gradually became more charged with humidity, 
and the sky thickened with dark clouds, which, latterly, moved heavily 
in all directions, pouring down torrents of rain. 
On the I6th, the sun was eclipsed ; and we made many observations 
to determine the moment of conjunction. In doing this, my atten- 
tion was arrested by a very unusual appearance. It consisted of 
a luminous haze about the moon, as if the light had been transmitted 
through an intervening atmosphere. I made a sketch of it very soon 
afterwards*, of which I was very glad, as a similar phenomenon, I found, 
* See Appendix. 
