considerably; and the breeze springing up favourable from the S.E., we were enabled to heave to within one mile distance, at ten o’clock, a.m. On our approach to the island we observed immense shoals of porpoises, and multitudes of sea-fowl, chiefly gulls, attracted, no doubt, by the fish which may have been destroyed by the late volcanic eruptions. It was very remarkable what a regular distance these voracious tribes kept from the land, about four or five miles, not one being observed near the shore on our visit to the volcano.
“The island appeared about 160 feet high, presenting a various aspect, as the bearing by compass altered; but in general, that of two longitudinal hills connected by intermediate low land, sending up smoke or vapour in abundance. On the western and highest part we observed the union flag of England waving majestically over this new and appalling scene of danger and desolation. At ten a.m., the boats were lowered down and manned; and in pursuance of previously concerted arrangements with the commander-in-chief, all officers impelled by curiosity or science, desirous of witnessing the phenomenon, took their places in them accordingly.
“We pushed off from the ship, made sail, and landed in a little bay on the N.E. side of this sombre lonely isle. A boat from the St. Vincent preceded us a few yards, and the bowman, an officer, pepared to be first ashore, touched the ground with the boat-hook, laid his weight upon it, pushed it down the second time firmly, with a kind of apparent misgiving of terrestrial stability, and jumped upon the beach. We were all on shore in an instant, scampering up the hill to the flag-staff, through a dense, oppressive vapour of carburetted hydrogen gas. The flag-staff is on the highest point of the island, bearing the name of Lieut. Coleman, of the cutter Hind, and from it we had a bird’s-eye view of the wonderful scene.
“In the centre of the island, to the eastward of us, was a circular basin, of about ninety feet diameter, of boiling salt water, of a dingy red colour, from the peroxide of iron in solution. The active ebullition from the centre, and emission of steam from the whole surface were evident to every one. From the summit where we stood, this basin appeared like a funnel a quarter full, the bank shelving down in the same imaginary proportion. The vapour here was oppressive to most of us, affecting the digestive more than the respiratory organs, producing nausea and faintness, without any sense or feeling of suffocation. The pulse was not affected in the least; mine was 86, accelerated by the exertion of quickly ascending the hill, breathing a highly rarefied atmosphere, not a little augmented by the internal caloric emitted copiously in vapour from the earth, as well as the heat of a scorching sirocco sun, which was extremely fervent this day.
“On the S.W. side of the island, adjoining the principal crater, was a terrific ebullition and agitation of the sea, evidently the commencement