tance, as if covered with thick clouds, above which the tops of the mountains were viſible. In four hours time we were near enough to perceive that theſe clouds aroſe from the iſland itſelf, from whence a thick ſmoke aſcended, which almoſt entirely covered it, eſpecially towards the north. We obſerved flames in different places, and ſoon perceived that the foreſts were on fire: the courſe of the flames and ſmoke, which appeared ſucceſſively in different parts of the country, pointed out to us the progreſs of the conflagration. We ſteered our courſe ſo as to paſs as near as poſſible to windward of the iſland. The ſame ſpecies of birds that we had obſerved a few hours before we eſpied land were flying about the rocks where they had their neſts. A great number of ſeals ſwam amongſt large maſſes of fucus that had been detached from the iſland, along the ſouthern coaſt of which we ranged at the diſtance of about 250 toiſes from the ſhore. This coaſt is very ſteep and perfectly ſafe: the ſurges, which followed its direction, would have apprized us of our danger in approaching it if there had been any ſhoals. The mountains on the ſouth-eaſt ſide of the iſland deſcend with very ſteep declivities as far as the edges of the ſea, and appeared to me to conſiſt of layers of free-ſtone, inclined from north to ſouth ſo as to form an angle of fifty degrees
