Beliind the canopy walked the civil governor Count
de Praya de Victoria, the military governor, and
some of the high state functionaries, and the procession
Avas closed by a column of monks. As the
image approached, the people knelt everyAvhere
Avitliin sight of it, and remained kneeling u n til it Avas
past. I t is, of course, difficult for us to realise the
convictions and feelings under Avhich the inhabitants
of San Aliguel unite in these singular pageants. No
one could doubt th a t the devotional feeling Avas
jaerfectly sin c ere ; and it Avas moderate, with no
appearance either of gloom or of excitement; the
manner of the large croAvd Avas throughout grave
and decorous.
We looked Avith great interest the next morning
to see AA hether our friends had got the coveted rain,
hut although the peaks and ridges fringing the
crater-A'alleys Avere shroAvded under a canopy of cloud
and mist, the sky looked as hard as ever, not a Avhit
nearer the point of jjrecipitation.
Our first haul after leaving Ponta Delgada Avas in
1,000 fathoms, midAvay between the islands of San
Aliguel and Santa Maria, and about fifteen miles
north-Avest of the Formigas. The bottom Avas Globi-
gerina ooze. The principal feature in this dredging
Avas the unusual abundance of stony corals of the
deep-sea group.
Three living specimens of a large species of Flabellum
(Fig. 12) Avere sifted out, the same as the one
Avhich Ave had dredged previously at Station 73, to
the Avest of Fayal. The corallum is wedge-shaped,
the calicle rising from an attenuated pedicle. The
extreme height, from the end of the pedicle to the