A council, consisting of such heterogenous materials, never did and never will amalgamate well together. It is like an attempt to combine vinegar with oil, which has never yet been effected, and so it was with these gentlemen; no two could ever agree upon any essential point, excepting always, to find “ways and means” to obtain their salaries. I omitted to state, that, in examining the magazines within the castle, they showed us a great number of flying-artillery, &c. Our curiosity was highly gratified by the sight of some ancient armour, consisting of helmets, cuirasses, and lances, which were deposited there in bygone days, soon after the fort was built, being brought by Juan de Castro from Portugal. There are two fortifications built at the other extremity of the island, to protect the southern and western passages. The officers in these forts are Canaveens, or natives of Goa and of East Africa, born of Portuguese parents, who, in the lapse of several generations, have become black, although they have no wool or negro features. A more deadly affront could not be offered them than to say they are not _white_. In the castle, they are from Portugal and Brazil. The island has a coral foundation, and is covered with white sand. It is about a mile and a half in length, and averages less than half a mile in width; it is almost wholly unproductive of vegetation: the inhabitants depending on Cabaceira and Mesuril, on the main, for their daily supplies of fruits, and vegetables, and meat. [Sidenote: PRODUCTS.]