have had since we left Rio. At 7.30 p.m. we saw the Wicklow Hills against the crimson sky.

August 20.—Woke about five. We were waiting outside the bar of the Mersey; in the course of half an hour, a dozen steamers and other vessels were round us, all waiting like ourselves. The Welsh coast looked charming in the early dawn. At length, by 7.30, we had passed New Brighton, and the tender came alongside. Above us the sky was clear; but there was a horrid smoky fog hanging over Liverpool and Birkenhead like a pall, which was depressing after returning from a land where, whatever disagreeables there may be, there is, at least, no sulphurous obscurity. We had yet to undergo something before putting our foot on English soil, i.e. the Custom House. Two long hours were spent in that shed on the landingstage, while every box and package was opened, and thoroughly ransacked for dynamite. My geological specimens were looked at somewhat, but a case of guava marmalade was pounced on. "It's jest the colour of dynamite," says one customs officer, who must needs taste it to convince himself it was not that dreaded compound.

We are once more at home. No more remains to be told. So I must wind up this part of my journal and proceed to the other portion, which, though perhaps not light reading, may be, or at least I consider it to be, more important, though I can hardly hope that all who have waded through my daily experiences will read on to the end of the book.

However, before I close I must express my grateful thanks-and I know that I should herein be joined by all our staff did they know what I am writing-to Captain Hayes of the Cotopaxi, Captain Friend of the Valparaiso, and all their officers, for their unvarying kindness and

sociability. It is not everywhere that such captains and such officers are to be met with; and I hope that, should these lines ever meet their eyes, they will accept our heartfelt thanks for the many pleasant hours they have allowed us to spend in their company-hours which for many a day it will be a delight to remember.

NOTE TO PAGE 244, LINE 33.

The Reef off Pernambuco.

Mr. Charles Darwin, in his book "The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs," has a special note (p. 266, 2nd edition) on the "Remarkable Bar of Sandstone off Pernambuco " (originally published in the Philosophical Magazine, October, 1841). He says it is a "smooth level-topped ridge, from thirty to sixty yards in width, with even sides, and extending in a perfectly straight line for several miles parallel to the shore." It is for the most part composed of sandstone and conglomerate, and is not a coral reef.

APPENDIX I.

NOTES ON THE PROVINCE OF MINAS GERAES.*

"OWING to its central position, the province of Minas Geraes continued for a long time unpeopled by others than natives.

"In the sixteenth century, Sebastian Tourinho and Antonio Dias Adorno arrived in the province by following up the riverbanks. Latter in the same century, Marcos de Azeredo Coutinho reached it, starting from Espirito Santo.

"It was not, however, till the end of the seventeenth and beginning of the last century that adventurers, principally from Bahia and São Paolo, some descending by the Parahyba, and others by the São Francisco, explored this immense territory, being first attracted by the ambition of enslaving Indians, and then by the abundant mineral riches which gave its name to the province.

"At first the territory formed part of São Paolo, Rio de Janeiro, or even of Bahia, according to the part in which each of the explorers lived.

"By the arrangement of the Conselho Ultramarino of September 23, 1709, it was united to São Paolo, and was with that province raised to the position of a chief state. By another provision of December 2, 1720, it was separated from São Paolo, and raised to be an independant chief state. Its first governor was Dom Lourenço de Almeida, who took possession August 28,

1721.

* Partly translated from " Apontamentos para a Geographia da Provincia de Minas Geraes." H. Laemmert e Ca., Rio de Janeiro, 1883.