their neſts, and ſome of them almoſt fledged. It may, however, be remarked, that this curious inſtinctive mode, of finding a ſubſtitute for water, is not peculiar, to the birds of this iſland; as nature has provided them with a ſimilar reſource in the fountain tree, that flouriſhes on the Iſle Ferro, one of the Canaries; and ſeveral other trees and canes, which, Churchill tells us in his voyages, are to be found, on the mountains of the Phillipine Iſlands.
There is no tree in this iſland, which meaſures more than twelve inches in circumference, except the prickly pear, ſome of which were three feet in girth, and fifty feet in height. The torch thiſtle, which was the next in height, contains a liquid in its heart, which the birds drank, when it was cut down. They ſometimes, even extracted it from the young trees, by piercing the trunks with their bills.
We ſearched with great diligence for the mineral mountain, mentioned by Dampier, but were not ſo fortunate as to diſcover it; unleſs it be that from which the heavy ſand or ſmall topazes were collected, and of which, I ordered a barrel to be filled, and brought it away.
This great rock, bearing from our anchoring place, South 43° Weſt, makes the Eaſt point of a large bay, in which, I