From that high point, as far as the eye could see, there was only naked savannah; tufts of trees were scattered about in small ravines and, despite the apparent uniformity of the vegetation, we found a great number of extremely interesting plants. Here I shall limit myself to citing a magnificent lobelia with purple flowers (Lobelia speetabilis), the Brownea coccinea, which reaches almost 100 feet high, and above all the pejoa (Gaultheria odorata), famous in the country because when crushed between your fingers it gives off a delicious aroma. What enchanted us most about this solitary place was the beauty and silence of the nights. The owner stayed up with us; he seemed delighted that Europeans recently arrived in the Tropics never tired of admiring the fresh spring air enjoyed in these mountains when the sun sets.

At sunset on the 8th of June the look-out sighted from hiscrow's-nest a British convoy sailing along the coast towards thesouth-east. To avoid it we altered our course during the night. We werealso given orders not to put our lights on in the great cabin so that we would not be seen from afar. We constantly had to usedark-lanterns to make our observations of the sea's temperature, or readthe markings on our astronomical instruments. In the torrid zone, where twilight lasts a few minutes, we were condemned to inaction, insimilar circumstances, from six in the evening. For me this wasparticularly irritating as I have never suffered from seasickness and nosooner am I on board than I feel the urge towork more than ever.