Narrative of the surveying voyages of his majesty's ships Adventure and Beagle (vol.3)

July, 1836. ST. HELENA. 585 and the square black mass of the Barn. On the whole the view is rather bleak and uninteresting. The scrupulous degree to which the coast must formerly have been guarded, is quite extraordinary : there are alarm houses, alarm guns, and alarm stations on every peak. I was much struck with the number of forts and picket houses, on the line leading down to Prosperous Bay. One would have supposed that this at least was an easy descent: I found it however a mere goat-path, and in one spot the use of ropes, which were fixed into rings in the cliff, were almost indispensable. At the present day two artillery-men are kept there; for what use it is not easy to conjecture. Pro- sperous Bay, although wath so flourishing a name, has nothing more attractive than a wild sea-beach, and black utterly barren rocks. The only inconvenience I suffered in my walks, was from the impetuous winds. One day I noticed a curious circumstance : standing on the edge of a plain, terminated by a great cliff of about a thousand feet in depth, I saw at the distance of a few yards right to wind- Avard, some tern, struggling against a very strong breeze, whilst, where I stood, the air was quite calm. Approaching close to the brink, I stretched out my arm, w^hich immedi- ately felt the full force of the wind : an invisible barrier of two yards wide, separated a strongly agitated from a per- fectly calm air. The current meeting the bold face of the chff, must have been reflected upwards at a certain angle, within which plane there necessarily would be either an eddy or a calm. I so much enjoyed my rambles among the rocks and mountains of St. Helena, that I felt almost sorry on the morning of the 14th to descend to the town. Before noon I was on board, and the Beagle made sail for Ascension. We reached the anchorage of the latter place on the even- ing of the 19th (July). Those who have beheld a volcanic island, situated within an arid climate, will be able at once to picture to themselves the aspect of Ascension. They will imagine smooth conical hills of a bright red colour, with