42 
FROM BERMUDAS TO CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. 
yielding strata, which thus had formed the moulds for these gigantic obelisks, left bare 
through the subsequent removal of these strata by denudation. The island is a dependency 
of Brazil, and is used by the authorities as a penal settlement for the worst criminals. The 
latter are allowed to live in separate huts, to cultivate the ground, and even to marry. They 
CATAMARANS. 
also go out fishing upon frail craft called “ catamarans,” consisting of two wooden logs 
fastened together and pointed at one end. As these are almost level with the water, we were 
at first puzzled by the distant appearance of men who looked as if they were walking upon the 
surface of the sea. The criminals, with the soldiers and officials appointed to watch over them, 
are the sole population of the island. A fort is perched upon the top of a steep rock to the 
left of the great boulder. The Governor, on being applied to on the day of our arrival for 
permission to explore the island, first granted it, but withdrew it the next morning—a great 
disappointment to us all, weary as we were of pacing the smooth decks day after *day. But 
His Excellency may be excused if he hesitated to allow a swarm of lively sailors and’ 
FERNANDO NORONHA. 
