OB ROXAIi 6ABDEKB. 
1S3 
A part of tliese so-styled gardens is indeed beautiful ; 
tlie voyager sees the scene change evei’y moment, and tho 
verdure of some of the islands appears the more lovely 
from its contrast livith chains ot rocks, displaying only 
white and barren sands. The surface of those sands, 
heated by the rays of the sun, seems to be undulatin" like the 
surface of a liquid. The contact of layers of air ot unequal 
temperature, produces the most varied phenomena ol sus- 
pension and mirage, from ten in the morning till four iji 
the afternoon. Even in those desert places the sun ani- 
mates the landscape, and gives mobility to the sandy plain, 
to the trunks of trees, and to the rocks that project into 
the sea like promontories. When the sun appears, these 
inert masses seem suspended in air ; and on the neighboui - 
ing beach, the sands present the appearance ot a sheet ot 
water gently agitated by the winds. A train of clouds 
suffices to scat the trunks of trees and the suspended rocks 
again on the soil; to render the luidiilating surface ot the 
plains motionless ; and to dissipate the charm which the 
Arabian, Persian, aud Hindoo poets have celebrated as tlic 
sweet illusions of the solitary desert.” 
AVe doubled Cape iSIatahaiiibro very slowly. The chro- 
nometer of Louis Berthoud having kept time accurately at 
the llavaiiiiah, I availed myself of this occasion to deter- 
mine, on this and the following days, the positions ot Layo 
de Don Cristoval, Cayo Flamenco, Cayo de Diego Pere/,, 
and Cavo de Piedras. I also employed myself in examining 
the influence which the changes at the bottom ot the sea 
produce on its temperature at the surface, blielterec by 
so many islands, the surface is calm as a lake ot tresli water, 
and the layers of different depths being distinct and sepa- 
rate, the smallest change indieated by the lead, acts on the 
thermometer. I was surprised to see that on the east ot 
(he little Cavo de Don Cristoval, the high hanks are only 
distinguished by the milky colour of the water, like the 
bank of Vibora, south of .lamaica, and many other batiks, 
the existence of which I ascertained by means ot the tlicr- 
inoiiieter. The bottom of llie rock of Batabano is a sand 
composed of coral detritus ; it nourishes sea-w eeds w Inch 
Scarcely ever appear on the surface; the water, as 1 have 
already observed, is greenish ; ftiid tlie absence ol tlie milky 
