with the horizon. Farther to the ſouth I obſerved horizontal layers of the ſame kind of ſtone, from whence a ſmall rivulet diſcharged itſelf, in a caſcade, into the ſea. The rocks facing the ſea were ſhaped into a variety of thoſe groteſque figures, commonly termed luſus naturæ. We obſerved a light ſmoke aſcending in puffs from a ſmall ſubterraneous cavern at a little diſtance from the ſhore; though we could not learn whether the foreſts had caught fire from ſome conflagration in the bowels of the earth, or had been kindled intentionally by the inhabitants. I was informed at Iſle de France, upon my return from the South Seas, that an American veſſel had left ſome men at the iſlands of Amſterdam and St. Paul, for the purpoſe of collecting oil from the fat of ſeals, which are very numerous on thoſe coaſts. But though we watched very attentively to ſee if any ſignal was made for our aſſiſtance, we obſerved no ſigns of the iſland's being inhabited. At any rate it would have been impoſſible to put in there, as we could not have found an anchoring-place except to leeward of the iſland, where we ran the riſk of being ſuffocated by the ſmoke. The ſmell of the ſmoke ſeemed to ſhow that it proceeded entirely from the combuſtion of vegetables.
The mountains gradually diminiſh in height
towards
