TOYAOE TO THE HAVAKHAH. 
147 
CHAPTEE XXVIII. 
fassflge from tlie Coast of Venezuela to the Havanna’n. — General View of 
tile liopulation of the West India Islands, compared with the Popu- 
lation of the New Continent, with respect to diversity of races, personal 
liberty, language, and worship. 
V' E sailed from Xueva Eiircelona on the 24tli of Novein- 
’®i’> at nine o’clock in the evening; and \ye doubled the 
®ihall rocky island of Eorachita. The night was marked by 
'iht coolness which characterizes the nights of the tropics, 
ti'id the agreeable efi’ect of which can only be conceived by 
ti'omparing the nocturnal temperature, from 23° to 24“ 
^®'itigrade, with the mean temperature of the day, whicli iu 
those latitudes is generally, even on the coast, from 28“ to 
Next day, soon after the ohsen'ation of noon, we 
*^ached the meridian of the island of Tortugas. It is 
^lestitute of vegetation ; and like the little islands of Coehe 
^'iil Cabagua, is remarkable for its small elevation above the 
®Yel of the sea. 
. In the forenoon of the 2Gth we began to lose sight of the 
^4aud of Margiierita, and I endeavoured to verify the height 
1 the rocky group of Macanao. It appeared under an 
of 0“ IG' 35"; which in a distance estimated at 
miles, would give the mica-slate group of Macanao 
■10 elevation of about 6C0 toises, a result wliich, in a zone 
' here tile terrestrial refractions are so unchanging, leads me 
0 think that the island was less distant tlian we supposed, 
j ho dome of tho Silla of Caracas, lying G2° to the S.W., 
.‘’iig fixed our attention. At those times when the coast 
^,not loaded with vapours, the Silla must be visible at sea, 
^ 'the ut reckoning the effects of refraction, at thirty-three 
^jiiigues distance. During the 2Gth, and the three following 
s, the sea was covered with a bluish film, which, when 
xiiinmed by a compound microscope, appeared formed of an 
^ii'nerahle quantity of filaments. W^e frequently find 
jj'ese filaments in the Gulf-stream, and the Cliamiel of 
1 ). P nil "’till ns near tho coast of Buenos Ayres. Some 
^aturalists are of opinion that they are vestiges of the eggs 
fu : but they appear to be more like fragments of 
in- The phosphorescence of sea-water seems liowever to 
L 2 
