aliglitiug upon the trees. The noddy was very common,
and the hoohy in considerable numbers. High
upon the cliffs we could see the nests of the frigate-
bird {Tachypetes aquila), and from time to time one
of these splendid birds moved in slow and graceful
circles over our heads. We lay for some time beloAv
the cliffs, admiring the Avonderful wealth of animal
and vegetable life, and returned slowly to the ship.
In the meantime, some of our party had been
foraging in the toAvn, buying up AA'hat they could
from the convicts ; and we AA'ere glad to see a goodly
pile of water- and marsh-melons, ■ very desirable in
hot Aveather after a long spell at sea.
On the morning of Wednesday, the 3rd of September,
AA'e Aveighed anchor and left Eernando
Noronha; some of us who had set onr hearts upon
preparing a monograph of the natural history of the
isolated little island, and had made all our arrangements
for the purpose, Avere of course greatly disappointed;
hnt, underlying our disappointment I am
inclined to think th a t there Avas a general feeling of
relief on leaving a place which, with all its natural
richness and beauty, is simply a prison, the melancholy
habitation of irreclaimable criminals.
To sliow the rate at which the floor of the sea
sinks in the neighbourhood of these volcanic islands :
at 11.40 A.M. on the 3rd we sounded in 400 fathoms,
and at 1.30 in 525 fathoms, at a distance of about
six miles and a half from the island ; at three o’clock
Ave sounded in 820 fathoms with a rocky bottom,
at a distance of tAvelve miles ; and at 4.40 p.m.
the depth Avas 2,275 fathoms with a bottom of
‘ globigerina-ooze.’
On the 4th we sounded in 2,150 fathoms, lat.
5° 1' S., long. 33° 50' W., about ninety miles from
Cape St. Roque, and again fonnd a comparatively
low bottom temperature, + 0°'7 C .; and on the three
following days we proceeded quietly under steam,
sounding from time to time in the direction of
Bahia, our course lying nearly parallel with the
American coast, which we could sometimes see—
usually a low, uninteresting range of sandy ‘ dunes ’
the dark line of the forest occasionally visible
in the background, or the horizon broken by a
delicate feathery fringe of palm-trees. On the 8th
of September Ave sounded in 2,050 fathoms AA'ith a
bottom temperature of 1°T 0. ; and in the evening
Ave sounded in 22 fathoms, and passed AA'ithin sight
of the lights of Pernambuco and Olinda.
On the morning of the 9th we were off Cape
Agostinho ; Ave sounded in 675 fathoms in a ‘ glohigerina
ooze ’ largely mixed with river mnd. The
haul, as usual in such moderate depths, produced
a large number of diverse invertebrates and a fcAv
very interesting fishes of deep-sea types.
Among tbe actinozoa, this haul yielded a very
heautiful ncAv coral (Eig. 30), Avhich has been described
by Mr. Moseley under the name of Cerato-
troehus diadema.
The corallum is Avliite, shalloAv, and saucer-shaped,
with a short rudimentary pedicle and a small scar of
adherence. The primary and secondary costae are
prominent and se rra te ; there are six systems of
septa and five cycles; the Avhole of the septa are
exsert, the primary and secondary extremely so,
projecting 10 mm. above the margin of the calicle.