Narrative of the surveying voyages of his majesty's ships Adventure and Beagle (vol.2): between the years 1826 and 1836 : describing their examination of the southern shores of South America, and the Beagles's circumnavigation of the globe

1832. FEENANDO NORONHA. 59 Next morning I landed with difficulty for observations, the surf being so high that any common boat would have been swamped. By taking great care, our broad and well-built whale- boats landed the instruments and a small party, and re-em- barked them afterwards, without accident. We landed in a small bay under the (so called) citadel, but there is a safer and in every way preferable landing-place about a mile to the northward. My object being chiefly to take sights of the sun, for time, and compare the clu'onometers used on shore as soon as possible with those on board, I preferred landing as near as I could to the place where the lamented Captain Foster observed : — but it was difficult to ascertain the house in which his pendulum observations were made. Not even the governor could tell me, for he had arrived since Cap- tain Foster's departure ; and most of the inhabitants of the island had changed their dwellings frequently, being all exiles from Brazil. The governor was a major in the Brazilian service, born at Pernambuco, and under his command were two hundred black troops, and about eight hundred human beings, only tliirty of whom were women, and a very few children. We obtained some fire- wood from one of the islets north- wai-d of the principal island ; but it was full of centipedes and other noxious insects, from which it was not easy to free it even by charring and washing. Water we did not try to get, because of the heavy surf, but there is no scarcity of it on the island. Neither live-stock nor vegetables could be pro- cured from the apathetic inhabitants. This place is rather picturesque ; and the lofty barren peak, already mentioned, is conspicuous from every point of view. Near the summit is a station from which a look-out is kept, not only over all the island, but over many leagues of the sur- rounding sea ; so that neither ship nor boat can approach or depart, during daylight, without being noticed. No boats are allowed to be kept on the island, and no intercourse is held with shipping without permission and the btrictest inspection. We sailed from Fernando Noronha the same evening, passed