Selenite—Sulphate of lime or gypsum, foliated, fibrous, crystalline,
and stalactitic; Bankses, Buperts, in veins on rocky
outskirts.
Augite crystals j Manatee Bay, Lot, Turk’s Cap, &c.—s . g . 3'08.
Olivine.—Crystals.
Ditto, having undergone change to iron chrysolite.
Calcite or calcspar in masses, fibrous and compact.—s . g . 2'78.
Turk’s Cap Yalley.
Yellow jasper, changes by the application of heat to a reddish-
brown colour ; Yalley near Turk’s Cap.
Quartz.—Various varieties of chalcedony and agate.
Zeolite from cavities in basalt, in radiating acicular crystals,
probably natrolite or skolecite.
Boitroidal nodules of inferior brown haematite (iron ore) varying
in size from balf an inch to four inches in diameter, s . g .
311.—Large quantities on the plains at Horse Pasture,
Bock Cottage, Flagstaff and Deadwood.
Silicate of iron (very impure iron ore) near Ship ways.—s . g . 2‘92.
Pyrolusite.—A very hard binoxide of manganese, containing
66’47 per cent, of manganese, occurs in veins in beds of
claystone at Holdfast Tom, Fisher’s Yalley, Turk’s Cap,
&c. The ore protrudes through the clay in scraggy scattered
boitroidal forms.-—-s . g . 3’62, 4T8, 4'40.
Carbonate of lime, zeolitic, in radiating boitroidal masses, measuring
about eighteen inches across, containing embedded
nodules of trachyte and carbonate of lime; Prosperous Bay.
Ditto, pure crystals; s . g . 2’77.—Prosperous Bay.
Ditto, crystals and almond-shaped nodules from cavities in basalt |
s . g . 2’96, 3'02.—James’ Yalley.
Ditto, stalactitic and stalagmitic.
Ditto, limestone.
Ditto, dog-tooth spar; face of Sandy Bay Barn.
Serpentine.—Hear The Barn.
Asbestos.—Fibrous white silicate of magnesia from Horse Point,
near Turk’s Cap and Holdfast Tom.
Bock salt.
Argillaceous clay.—Many varieties.
Bich vegetable soil, produced by disintegration of felspathic lavas.
PART III.—ZOOLOGY.
I. VEETEBEATA.
C LA S S I .— M A M M A L IA .
H omo, Linn.
H . s a p i e n s , Linn.— As is elsewhere stated, there were no human
beings on the Island when it was discovered | yet in the present day
the term “natives” has, it appears, its significant application there.
The “natives” of St. Helena are rather tall, slight built, good featured
specimens of the human race, with straight hair, good evenly-set
white teeth not prone to decay easily, and pleasing countenances; their
general colour is a very light brown or copper, sometimes deepening
into nearly black, and in other cases becoming almost white. They
speak very fair English as their only language, and are not a little
proud of their local designation of “ Yam stalks.” Their ancestors
came from various parts of the world, though chiefly from Europe
and Asia, and there is now some difficulty in tracing the prevailing element
in their composition, or in saying which predominates, whether
it is Portuguese, Dutch, English, Malay, East Indian, or Chinese.
Their early history was that of slavery through a couple of
centuries, indeed until the year 1832, when they were emancipated
by the East India Company purchasing their freedom for a large
sum; but, as might be expected, they possessed none of those
qualifications which are absolutely necessary to command success
in settlers. The habits of dependence and indolence, as well as
ignorance, which so long a period of slavery had engrafted, remain
to this day evident, not only in individuals, but pervading the whole
character of the place. The “ Yam stalks” must not be confounded
with the Africans or negroes, as the greatest insult they can hurl at
one another is the epithet of “ nigger;” they respect and look up to
the Europeans and white population, but consider themselves as occupying
a much higher step on the ladder of social position than the
Africans, who certainly had the disadvantage of arriving at the Island