I 
FERNANDO NORONHA 
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tion for the growth of innumerable kinds of seaweed and com¬ 
pound animals, supports likewise a large number of fish. The 
sharks and the seamen in the boats maintained a constant 
struggle which should secure the greater share of the prey 
caught by the fishing-lines. I have heard that a rock near the 
Bermudas, lying many miles out at sea, and at a considerable 
depth, was first discovered by the circumstance of fish having 
been observed in the neighbourhood. 
Fernando Noronha, Feb. 20 th .—As far as I was enabled 
to observe, during the few hours we stayed at this place, the 
constitution of the island is volcanic, but probably not of a recent 
date. The most remarkable feature is a conical hill, about one 
thousand feet high, the upper part of which is exceedingly 
steep, and on one side overhangs its base. The rock is 
phonolite, and is divided into irregular columns. On viewing 
one of these isolated masses, at first one is inclined to believe 
that it has been suddenly pushed up in a semi-fluid state. At St. 
Helena, however, I ascertained that some pinnacles, of a nearly 
similar figure and constitution, had been formed by the injection 
of melted rock into yielding strata, which thus had formed the 
moulds for these gigantic obelisks. The whole island is covered 
with wood ; but from the dryness of the climate there is no 
appearance of luxuriance. Half-way up the mountain some 
great masses of the columnar rock, shaded by laurel-like trees, 
and ornamented by others covered with fine pink flowers but 
without a single leaf, gave a pleasing effect to the nearer parts 
of the scenery. 
Bahia, or San Salvador. Brazil, Feb. 29th .—The day 
has past delightfully. Delight itself, however, is a weak term 
to express the feelings of a naturalist who, for the first time, has 
wandered by himself in a Brazilian forest. The elegance of the 
grasses, the novelty of the parasitical plants, the beauty of the 
flowers, the glossy green of the foliage, but above all the 
general luxuriance of the vegetation, filled me with admiration. 
A most paradoxical mixture of sound and silence pervades the 
shady parts of the wood. The noise from the insects is so loud, 
that it may be heard even in a vessel anchored several hundred 
yards from the shore ; yet within the recesses of the forest a 
universal silence appears to reign. To a person fond of natural 
