A description of the island of St. Helena; containing observations on its singular structure and formation, and an account of its climate, natural history, and inhabitants

Front matter

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^roTctispiece. '

A

Dedication

to obtrude himself personally on your notice, conceives that in this address, he may, without the imputation of battery, be permitted to express the feelings of truth and respect. To the attention and liberality of your Honourable Court, the island which is here described, already owes many important benefits. To you, its inhabitants, who are separated from the rest of the world by a vast ocean, and confined to a naked and unproductive rock, are, in a great measure, indebted for their comforts and for their subsistence ; and it deserves the grateful remembrance of the friends of humanity, that the blacks, who are employed here in cultivating the country, have been released by your orders, from a state of slavery. St. Helena is indeed so much indebted

to

DEDICATION.

Preface

T

AS LANDS are generally situated near coni tinents, or in the neighbourhood of each other; and discover, in the similarity of their structure, soil, and productions, the affinity and relations of a common origin. But besides these, there are some other islands, of a distinct and peculiar fabric, and probably of a more recent formation, eithei situated on the borders of other Ends, or found cjuite unconnected and solitaiy, in the most remote and unfrequented spaces of the ocean. Perhaps, one of the most singular and extraordinary of this last description, is the island of St. Helena, whether we regard the peculiarity of its form, or the circumstances of its situation. A wild and solitary mass of a structure so strange and unusual, and so curiously raised up in the midst of the waves, has never been viewed b}' any person, without wonder and astonishment; and yet very little is known of it, and no adequate account of it has ever been given, though it is now three hundred years since a Portuguese navigator' first discovered it.

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on li is return from India. It may therefore be expected, that an attempt to convey an accurate description of this extraordinary island, and of the peculiarities of its climate and productions, will be favourably received by a candid and discerning public.

Some readers, perhaps, may think the description here given of the rocks and strata, rather too minute ; while others may Consider this delineation as incomplete, without some chemical and mineralogical details. To the first class of readers, the writer has only to observe, that he found it impossible to convey a just and accurate description with less minuteness, or in fewer words than he has used ; and it such readers me fatigued with the aspect of rocks, they may pass on to what lollows, which, he hopes, will be found less uninteresting. The other class of readers, who are seldom numerous, he would gladly have gratified, if time and opportunity had allowed him t» do so. But, besides that he was unprovided with the means for carrying on such investigations (even supposing him to have been otherwise qualified), he is afraid, as

his time was only short, that in minute details

EREFACE.

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tails of this kind, lie might have lost sight of those grander objects and general views, which were to him peculiarly delightful and interesting. Of what delighted and interested him so much, he has endeavoured to convey a faint impression to others; and he shall think his labour well bestow ed, if he succeed in imparting to his readers a clear and just conception of those objects which excited in himself so much curiosity and attention.

Perhaps some persons, who shall in future visit St. Helena, may not be able at once to discover in its structure all that order and regularity which are here described. For, at first sight, and to those who only take a superficial view of some parts of it, there appears much confusion and irregularity. Yet the writer has no fear, that lus descriptions will be found incorrect, by those who examine this island with care and at leisure; for such persons only are qualified to estimate the accuracy and fidelity of the account here given, which, whatever its defects may be, has not been executed without close and patient attention to the subject,

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xii

In endeavouring to account for the appearances which are described, some conclusions have been adopted which may seem bold and hazardous, though they were not unwarily admitted, nor without mature reflection. The idea of torrents of melted and burning matter, forcibly propelled through the chasms of an island, and congealing into perpendicular cones and extended beds of rock, may shock the prejudices of our belief, as such an operation is not within that ordinary course of natural events, which has fallen under our notice: In like manner, it might appear to us amazing and incredible, that vast frozen or ignified masses should traverse our solar svstem, in directions contrary to the planetary movements, if experience had not taught us that there are such bodies as comets. If the deductions of reason, concerning what lias been, or may be, beyond the narrow circle of our experience, are not to be admitted, it is to be feared, that no part, of the constitution of the terraqueous globe can ever be explained ; as every foot of the ground on which we tread, has undergone changes and rev lut REFACE.

xiii

tions, which we have never seen in the act of taking place, whatever reasonings and conjectures we may form about the manner in which they have been effected. When we consider the fabric and appearance of the island, which is here described, and the singular disposition of its rocky and volcanic parts, it seems impossible not to conclude, that subterranean operations, of a kind more extraordinary than any of which we have ever witnessed the actual and immediate agency, must, at some very remote era, have shaken and convulsed the centre of the iEthiopic : that this island must have been formed by some such unusual effotts of convulsed and labounuor

. >3

ISatuie 5 and that it can only be considered as a wreck leit among the waves, by the fuiy and conflict of the most irresistible of her elements. 1 hough the force and potency of those subterranean agents that produced it, have long since spent themselves and passed away, they have left on it, traces of its igneous origin, so deep and lasting, that we are’ in some measure enabled to mark the order and succession of the operations, by which tins extraordinary

mass

Xl'? PUrtTAfiE.

mass has been raised from the bed of the waters.

The volcanic origin of basaltes has been .questioned by some authors. Perhaps some light may be thrown on this subject, by considering!; the situation in which this stone is found at St. Helena, where it is placed in alternate beds with lava, cinders, and vitrified stones, and with layers of bright red volcanic earths and clays. W hatever there may be curious and peculiar in tli is, or different from what is found in other countries, the indelible vestiges of a fiery and subterranean origin, which the hand of Nature has so strongly impressed on the aspect of this island, are rendered piore striking and remarkable, by the numerous horizontal beds of basaltes, and the huge vertical strata of broken and fissured rock which traverse the whole, from the base to the summit; and which themselves bear such evident marks of fire, that it is difficult to consider them as being ot a distinct and separate origin from the volcanic matters with which they are so closelv blended and united.

But whatever shall be determined, as to

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■the probability of any conclusions drawn from the appearances of this spot, it is to be hoped, that most readers will be gratified with an account of a climate, so peculiarly circumstanced as that of St. Helena; lying in the sixteenth degree of south latitude, and in the seventh ot west longi— tude, and near the centre of a vast ocean, where there are no other lands to influence or modify the course of its seasons. There are indeed, probably, very few islands in the world, so extraordinary in themselves, or so singularly situated as this; and its climate is not the least remarkable of its peculiarities. The writer is aware, that in order to have made this part of his subject more compleat and perfect, a longer opportunity of observation than that which he enjoyed, would have been necessary : Several things of importance have probably escaped his notice; or he may possibly have been misinformed in some instances where he was obliged to trust to the testimony of others. But when it shall be found, that there are here many omissions, or some few oversights, let it' be remem- • r*d that these observations, which a longer

XVI

PREFACE.

ger residence among the scenes which are described, might have made more complete and worthy of public attention, are only such as could be gathered in a diligent search of five weeks ; and, that though they may have been somewhat improved and methodized by reflection, they could not easily have been amplified from books; in which, where the subject of them is treated at all, iL is only touched upon very slenderly. Yet several men of science, well qualified to illustrate this subject, have visited St. Helena; and from the opportunities which it affords for astronomical observation, some have resided here a considerable time. One of the highest hills still bears the name of the celebrated Halley, who fixed his telescope on this spot, for the purpose of observing tbe stars ot the southern hemisphere : Other astronomers have resided here; and it would be a matter worthy of curiosity in men employed on scientific missions, whether their immediate object be astronomy, botany, or mineralogy, to give a litte of their time and attention to the circumstances ot this very peculiar climate, and to record appearances

as

PJlEFACE.

XVll as they present themselves. Of all that the writer had an opportunity of observing himself, and of whatever lie could collect from others, he has carefully digested the result, which he has still further endeavoured to explain and illustrate, by a comparison with the climate of India. Nor is it in this part of his tract only, that the reader will find several references and allusions to the circumstances of that remote and interesting region. These incidental references, it is hoped, will not be deemed impertinent, or extraneous. If they are valuable in themselves, they will the more readily find with most readers that excuse which it would be unnecessary to offer, if what is natural were always proper. To a person coming immediately from the ffast Indies, and struck with the objects presented by this island, many things here will awaken recollections of the scenes he has just left; and these last will naturally intermix themselves with his views and conceptions of the appearances around him. If our notions ot things were stripped of the adventitious aids and lights which they derive from comparison, how slender and

naked

A xvni

PREFACE.

naked would be the fabric of human knowledge ?

The reader, who shall give himself the trouble of inspecting the following pages, may, perhaps, discover some casual lapses in the style and expression ; and it is not meant here to plead, either haste or negligence, in extenuation of any unheeded errors. Yet what has unavoidably happened, may surely be told without blame or affectation,— that this little Tract, which] was written in retirement, is sent to the press under the disadvantage of not having been seen by any friend before it is printed. The writer, who is far from professing himself indifferent to the praise of clearness and simplicity, if he should happily attain it, will not affect to offer excuses for what has cost him trouble, and what probably no pains on his part could have made better than it is. Tor the descriptions themselves, and for the inferences drawn from them, as the former are as accurate as he has been able to make them, and the latter more probable than any thing else that has occurred to his reflection, the writer offers no apology.

XIX

Contents

^IIAP. I. — The situation and general appearance of the island — Its extent, height, and direction of the hills ; singular disposition of the green and barren parts — First discovery by the Portuguese, and settlement of the English— Reflections on discovery and colonization— Origin of the island from subterranean fire — Structure and general appearance of the hills, with their layers — Description of the beds of basaltic rock, the irregularly columnar shape, and various appearances — -Description of the volcanic masses — Of the volcanic earths and clays — Corresponding fabric of the clays and rocks — Remarkable difference between the exterior and interior parts of the island — the singular and striking scenery of the latter — Of the perpendicular and oblique strata of broken and fissured rock — Insulated and conical masses of the same — 'Some additional remarks qn the strata, rocks, hills, &c. Page 1 to 45

CriAp. II. — Reflections on the origin and formation of the island ; such reflections naturally suggested by its singular and interesting appearance— Difficulty of reaching any satisfactoiv conclusion on such subjects — Some uses ami advantages of theory — Limited and particua 2 lar

NX

Chap. III. — Advantages of this climate with respect to its purity, moderate heat, and almost

unruffled

CONTENTS.

XXI unruffled serenity — Power of the sun modified by the circumstances of the island, and a variety of temperature found at different heights — Mean heat — Effects of the Trade wind — Why there are no sea and land breezes here — Of the general state of the weather and seasons in the /Ethiopic, .as affecting St. Helena — Excessive dryness, and the scantiness and uncertainty of the rains, the greatest and almost the only inconvenience of this climate — Its dryness the -more extraordinary, from the circumstances of its situation — Four causes assigned for this extraordinary dryness and deficiency of rain : — 1. The uniform temperature and constancy of the Trade-wind. 2. The want of land and sea breezes, and of periodic and variable winds. 3. The remoteness of other lands, and the inconsiderable size of the island itself. 4. The nakedness ot its surface — These causes separately considered, with an attempt to explain and illustrate the peculiarities of the climate of. St. Helena, by some of the most remarkable circumstances in the climate of the peninsula of India — Great salubrity of St. Helena — Favourable to longevity, and to such convalescents its arrive here — Its peculiar advantage as a station for fleets whose crews are sickly — Proofs of its hcalthfulncss, from the confined situations where, the inhabitants live — Few diseases — The smallpox never known here, nor the - hydrophobia among dogs — Some general observations on the temperature of different climates, and an important error in the writer of Anson’s Voyage corrected. Page 87 to 132.

Chap.

xx ii

CONTEXTS.

Chap. IV.— -Indigenous and exotic plants, with considerations on the means of improving the island — Great difficulty in conceiving how vegetation first arose on a volcanic island, so remote from other lands — Some conjectures on this subject — The native plants very few — Some of them not found in other countries — The tree fern and cabbage free the most curious • — The other indigenous plants enumerated — More abundant formerly than at present — Cause of this — More attention paid of late to the preservation of the native plants — Various exotics cultivated here with success — Hurtful effects of the Trade-wind — The climate very favourable to the apple and the peach — Of the insect that attacks the peach, and the fruitless attempts to destroy it— Supposed cause of the unfruitfulness of the valleys not consistent with facts and present appearances — Many plants of cold and hot climates brought from the most distant parts of the world, flourish here — Probability that many others would grow — Small progress made in plantation— Picturesque effects arising from a few scattered spots of verdure — Rich verdure and luxuriance of the interior summits — Causes of this spontaneous fertility — Indigenous plants originally found here — Greater humidity here, and why— Native shrubs not likely to spread and increase further without care — Nakedness of the surface not without remedy, proved from the successful issue of several trials, made with exotics — Short account of a society established for improving the island — Result of some of theii* earliest experiments — Of the value of this island, and the public advantage that would

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CONTENTS.

XXIlf

arise from improving and planting it — -The

grounds not adapted to the culture of corn

'I he advantage of introducing such plants as would best supply the want of bread-corn in any exigency, from the failure of foreign supplier 1 he culture of the palm particularly recommended— The cocoa-nut, and other palms, likely to thrive here — Some notices respecting the palm — Best adapted to the valleys on the shore- The Palmyra or Borassus flabelliformis

I he jack tree Its uses — The mahwah tree

Deplorable scarcity of wood here, the greatest disadvantage to shipping — Peculiarities of the

soil and climate with respect to some plants

The jungle shrubs of India likely to grow on the rocky summits— Forest and timber trees, amoncr the interior hills and declivities — Natural order and distribution of some of the most remarkable productions in the peninsula of India recommended here— Of the teak— Advance of introducing the banyan— Some notices of this tree— (Brasses and many of the smaller vegetables, not likely to succeed without the shelter ol wood— Indian jungle, its effects on the pastures—Necessity of obtaining a command of water, in order to ensure success to improvements here— Tanks recommended — The example of the Carnatic— Consideration of the question, how far the climate of St. Helena is likely to undergo a change from the effects of

fecTif '0,^N0 P1'0bability tbat tllis would affect its salubrity. Page 133 tQ ]g6'

C here' ^ 1 "hab‘ ‘^-Manner of life

’ and the mode of entertaining strangers

— The

CONTEXTS.

xxiv

— The conversation of the natives — Their courteous deportment to strangers — Some of their ideas very local — Women handsome — Number of inhabitants and of country houses — James Town — Romantic situation of the garden houses — Greater number of females born here than males —Probably the case in other tropical countries • — Interior produce of the island in roots, pot-herbs, fruits, &c.~ Destruction from rats and caterpillars— Live stock — Birds introduced — Great abundance and variety of fi^h — Country cultivated by slaves — Lately emancipated — Former state of slavery here — Reflections on this subject— Reports of former travellers and of some old inhabitants, respecting the more frequent appearance of lightning here than formerly — Probability of the climate having undergone some little change — St. Helena compared with the Cape of Good Hope — Its advantages and inconveniences as a station for fleets, and as a military post — Conclusion Page 1*)7 to

the end.

ciiap.

CHAP, I.

THE SITUATION AND GENERAL APPEAR- ANCE OF THE ISLAND, WITH A DE- SCRIPTION OF ITS STRATA AND VOL- ' C A N I C PHENOMENA,

The ifland of St. Helena is situated in that part of the southern Atlantic, which has been otherwise denominated the AEthiopic Ocean, about a thousand miles to the southward of the equinoctial line, and nearly at the same distance from the western shore of Africa. Its remote appearance, when firft discovered by those who approach it, is that of a blue mountain, rao-o-ed and depressed at the extremities, and rising very high towards the middle paits, which are less distinctly discerned through the exhalations that rest B upon

DESCRIPTION Or TIIE upon them. From its great elevation, and the purity of the surrounding atmosphere, it .is seen at the distance of seventy or eighty miles; and the horizon, which in the benign and tempe- / -

rate region of the zEthiopic, is generally clear and bright, or only overspread with light filmy clouds, assumes a darker and thicker appearance over this mountainous land ; while a long train of haze and vapour is seen stretching to windward of the island. 1 his last circumstance is occasioned by the influence of its high land on the exhalations, brought by the south-east trade wind, which blows here nearly the whole year round. As we approach nearer, the land grows more ragged and uneven, and seems now only an irregular heap of broken rocks and hills, which rising abrupt and perpendicular from the water’s edge, spire up

to

ISLAND OF ST. HELENA.

to a great height, and form, in several places, stupendous overhanging cliffs : they are divided from each other by very narrow valleys, or rather by deep irregular chasms. Nothing in nature can be imagined more barren and dismal, than the aspect of these hills and their declivities, as viewed from the sea. They are black, ragged, and mouldering, without any tree, shrub, 01 trace of verdure ; and the wild inhospitable air of the whole island makes the remoteness and solitude of its situation appear still more forlorn and wretched.

The hills which border on the sea, generally project a little way beyond the stoney beaches of the intermediate valleys, so that the whole coast describes an irregular, indented line, which, from point to point, measures twenty- eight miles in circumference. The greatest B % . length length of the island is ten miles, and its greatest breadth between six and seven. The hills, nearest the sea, are from eight to twelve and fourteen hundred feet in height. Those inland rise much higher; and Diana’s Peak, the most elevated part of the ridge which runs from south-west to north-east, is two thousand six hundred and ninety-two feet, above the level of the ocean. From the base of this central ridge, which rises into several peaks and lofty summits with very steep and abrupt declivities, and resembles an elevated ground, intersecting the country, the surrounding hills slope and descend towards the sea. The narrow valleys too, which diverge all round, begin here ; and the small brooks that w'ater them, take their rise in these heights, which, when we approach them, we find altogether

unlike

ISLAND OF ST. HELENA.

S unlike the hills on the coaft, for they are covered with the finest verdure.

It is a ftriking and singular circumstance with respect to this island, that the ordinary course of things, which takes place in most other countries, is here inverted ; that fertility and verdure are only found in the loftiest situations, and that the lands, both hills and valleys, become barren and unfruitful, as they descend towards the sea. The highest summits and their steep declivities, with every little terrace that juts out from their sides, as well as the intermediate hollows, are all covered with the most luxuriant vegetation ; while the lower hills on the coast, and most of the valleys that lye between them, are not only naked and barren, but fiotn their mouldering composition and the decay which has taken place, they have an aspect of rudeness B ^ and and desolation,, which it would be difficult to describe, and not easy to conceive, without having seen them.

Such an appearance of nakedness and sterility presenting itself in the middle of the ocean, seems more likely to repel than to invite settlers. And yet the possession of this unpromising spot, which nature had removed so far from strife and contention, has been disputed by the nations of Europe, because it abounds with excellent water ; affords a convenient place of refreshment to fleets, and may, in time of. war, be converted into a military station of great strength and importance. It was first discovered by the Portuguese in Id OS, who falling in with it on the Cist of May, which is the feast of St. Helen, gave it the name which it still retains. The English made a settlement on it,

in 1 600 i and in 1 673 the Dutch took

it

Island or st. Helena.

it by surprize. It was retaken, the following year, together with the Dutch ships in the roads, by Captain Munden : and has remained ever since in the possession of the English East India Company.

The history of discovery and colonization is too often the history of injustice and oppression ; of countries invaded, because they were rich and valuable] and of their inhabitants enslaved or exterminated, because they were weakc Happily, the settlement of this barren island has afforded no opportunity of increasing the catalogue of crimes, committed by the discoverers of new regions. It was found without any human inhabitants, without quadrupeds, and almost without birds. For excepting some species of sea fowls, which still hover about its coast, and the man of war and tropic birds which b F annually annually resort thither, to build their nests in the cliffs, no other kinds seem to have found their way through the vaft solitude of the ocean to this remote isle, which was only covered, in a few places, with some indigenous shrubs and plants, and these neither numerous in their kinds, nor very abundant. The sea tortoise, which now frequents the narrow strands and coves about the shore much seldomer than formerly, is perhaps the only creature whose ancient retreat has been disturbed by our possession. In appropriating and subduing the wastes of nature, only to extend and multiply her productions, in diffusing life, together with the means of supporting and rendering it comfortable, and in effecting these benevolent purposes without injury or injustice to others, man would exercise a noble prerogative, befitting the

rank rank which he holds in the creation t But it is to be lamented, that Europeans have seldom traversed the ocean, for the purpose of practising this rare beneficence. The progress of their discoveries, if we except those made in the present reign, instead of diffusing the benefits of nature, and communicating the advantages of culture to remote lands and their inhabitants, has too frequently been marked by rapine and injustice. From the painful recital of the wrongs committed by them on thq opposite shores of America and Africa, we may turn with a momentary satisfaction, to contemplate the appropriation and improvement of a desolate and barren spot ; the rise of an establishment, effected without injury to any one ; and a little colony speaking the language of England, in a remote island of the Asthiopic Ocean.

It

It may alfo gratify the curious to observe, in a minute description of this island, some very remarkable vestiges of those great subterrranean operations, which have successively changed the face of the globe ; and which working invisible in its bowels, and reaching through inscrutable depths and communications, can only be known to mankind by their more immediate and destructive violence on its surface ; or by those wrecks and monuments which they leave behind them, after they have spent their force and activity. The whole structure and composition of St. Helena seem to demonstrate, that it is the work of subterranean fire; though many appearances render it probable, that its formation has taken place at a very remote period of time, and that the causes to which it owes its peculiar structure and elevation above

the

ISLAND Or ST. HELENA. 11

the waves, have for many ages ceased to exert their agency. However violent these may have been in their im- •mediate operation, and however dreadful their effects on the surrounding elements, the circumstances which have finally exhausted their force, have left this little Island, and the circumambient ocean and atmosphere, in a settled temperament, which at present is never disturbed by any violent agitation. The season of rest and tranquillity seems here to have succeeded to a long period of convulsion ; and the ancient seat of volcanic fires and subterranean explosion, has become the stable and temperate abode of plants and animals. It still, however, retains much of the rudeness of its original form, and it has received many deep impressions from the hand of time, which, collectively, as has been observed, give it a singular

wildness wildness and irregularity of aspect. But it enjoys a most serene, salubrious, and unruffled climate ; and its high desolate coast conceals from the view of those who approach it, many spots of fine verdure, and delightful recesses, which derive a fresher colouring from the gloom and horror of the naked hills that surround them.

In viewing these hills, the first circumstance that strikes an observer, is the stratified appearance of their declivities, consisting of layers which rise one above another, from the bottom to the summit of the hill. All the matters of which the island is composed, are in this manner placed in beds or strata, very various in their depth, colour and texture; and though in many places they are very irregular in their direction, they seem in general, in penetrating

ISLAND OF ST. HELENA. IS

trating the hill, to ascend obliquely from the base to the summit. On the steeper declivities, the projecting ends of the strata resemble flights of steps j some of them quite regular, and others indented. In the gentler ascents, this appearance is less discernible, or entirely lost under a mass of loose fragments, which have been thrown down from the summit. But wherever the declivities are steep and naked, we observe the strata disposed, like flights of steps, rising one above another, and shewing at different heights, a great variety of tint and colour.