the island; but it is said others will be sent for.
May 9th.--We sailed from Port Louis, and, calling at the Cape of Good
Hope, on the 8th of July, we arrived off St. Helena. This island, the
forbidding aspect of which has been so often described, rises abruptly
like a huge black castle from the ocean. Near the town, as if to
complete nature's defence, small forts and guns fill up every gap in
the rugged rocks. The town runs up a flat and narrow valley; the
houses look respectable, and are interspersed with a very few green
trees. When approaching the anchorage there was one striking view: an
irregular castle perched on the summit of a lofty hill, and surrounded
by a few scattered fir-trees, boldly projected against the sky.
The next day I obtained lodgings within a stone's throw of Napoleon's
tomb; [1] it was a capital central situation, whence I could make
excursions in every direction. During the four days I stayed here, I
wandered over the island from morning to night, and examined its
geological history. My lodgings were situated at a height of about
2000 feet; here the weather was cold and boisterous, with constant
showers of rain; and every now and then the whole scene was veiled in
thick clouds.
Near the coast the rough lava is quite bare: in the central and higher
parts, feldspathic rocks by their decomposition have produced a clayey
soil, which, where not covered by vegetation, is stained in broad bands
of many bright colours. At this season, the land moistened by constant
showers, produces a singularly bright green pasture, which lower and
lower down, gradually fades away and at last disappears. In latitude
16 degs., and at the trifling elevation of 1500 feet, it is surprising
to behold a vegetation possessing a character decidedly British. The
hills are crowned with irregular plantations of Scotch firs; and the
sloping banks are thickly scattered over with thickets of gorse,
covered with its bright yellow flowers. Weeping-willows are common on
the banks of the rivulets, and the hedges are made of the blackberry,
producing its well-known fruit. When we consider that the number of
plants now found on the island is 746, and that out of these fifty-two
alone are indigenous species, the rest having been imported, and most
of them from England, we see the reason of the British character of the
vegetation. Many of these English plants appear to flourish better than
456