P.S. — The sailors say our accident is entirety owing to our having a parson on board.... Just one line to say that we go on board the Transit to-morrow morning, and sail again in the evening.... Tell Fanny that this Bellerophon is not Napoleon's ship, but a new one.... I had a very agreeable dinner last night at Sir George Seymour's, and dine again on shore for the last time to-night. Captain Chambers, I am glad to say, retains his command; at all events, he has not been superseded yet....
Portsmouth, Easter Day.
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CoRUNNA, April 19. — We have just this minute put in to Corunna, having had rather a heavy gale in the Bay which carried away our jib-boom; besides, our rigging is so slack that during the gale the foremast was perceptibly swaying backwards and forwards, threatening every now and then to go by the board. We had a very nasty time in the Bay, with a strong S.W. wind incessantly blowing in our teeth; all our cabins had water in them, about half a foot, and the capsizes at dinner were quite ludicrous. Four days' knocking about in the Bay in a large steamer is bad luck; however, we are now repaid by being in this port for a short time, but we shall be off again this evening.... We are very healthy on board, and get on capitally together. Our captain is the nicest fellow I ever met.... This is a beautiful coast, and the day is so calm and warm — with the sound of church bells from the shore — everything seems so quiet after our knocking about. I am just going on shore with the captain....
St. Vincent, Cape de Verde, H.M.S. Transit, April 29, 1857. —... We left Corunna with a favourable N.E. wind and a calm sea, which carried us famously for five days at an average rate of 10 knots an hour, when the wind fell to a dead calm, and we continued steaming at 9 knots an hour, enjoying the whole time the most delightful weather, till we sighted St. Antonio, one of the Cape de Verde Islands, at daybreak yesterday the 28th, eight days and a half from Corunna. You can't imagine anything more enjoyable than the last ten days have been. The sea most of the time without a ripple, but always with a current of air caused by the ship's speed. I don't know which part of the day has been most agreeable, before or after sunset; the thermometer in my cabin varying from 71° to y6°. The sunsets the last three days have been beautiful. They are chiefly pleasing from the exquisite softness of the colouring, and the imperceptible manner in which one colour blends itself with another; the water is
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of the same lovely blue as the Mediterranean. Tell Isabella ^ that the night before last we sighted the Southern Cross, consisting of five stars, but as yet of no particular beauty, though I believe it gets finer farther south. As to the monsters of the deep, we came across some whales the other day, and a shark, his dorsal fin being the only visible part of him as he glided along the surface of the water. The Cape de Verde Islands, which we sighted yesterday morning (Madeira we scarcely saw, and the Canaries were a long way out of sight), are a collection of volcanic rocks, mostly barren but of imposing appearance; their outlines are beautiful and the islands are of great height, St. Antonio being about 7000 feet. We passed this and anchored two hours after at St. Vincent, where we have a consul and a coal depot, and where there is an excellent harbour, but a more desolate, inhospitable-looking place can't exist. Beyond a few juniper bushes confined to a small spot, there is not a vestige of vegetation to be seen, though a very small quantity of maize and beans are grown on the tableland at the top of one of the mountains, all provisions coming from the adjacent islands, which are extremely beautiful in some parts and to a certain extent productive. There are about 1000 negroes and mulattoes and 40 Europeans on the island of St. Vincent. We are now coaling and expect to be off the day after to-morrow. We got a few provisions yesterday from St. Antonio, consisting of chickens, bananas, and oranges — the two latter are excellent. These islands export coffee, sugar, salt, and oil to the amount of about;^5 5,000 annually. We get on famously on board and the time passes very agreeably. One great luxury on board this ship is the amount of fresh water; she distils daily about 5 tons, which is used by all on board without limit, even for washing clothes, and, which is a great blessing, for one's morning tub. We breakfast at 8.30, lunch at 12, dine at 3.30 and have tea at 7.30, the intermediate time being passed in duty, reading, and walking about, the deck being very spacious; and the
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