From the 18th we experienced a very light trade wind, so that we did not make the island of St. Helena until the 23d at noon, when it was seen bearing north-west-by-west by compass, and distant about thirty miles. We drifted a short distance to leeward during the night; we however soon beat up, passed high, rugged, volcanic rocks, towering and gloomy, descending in abrupt precipices to the water’s edge; and passed _Buttermilk Point_, about which every ledge either was fortified by small batteries, or by a solitary gun, on the sides of mountains of a towering height. After opening this point, the anchorage and town appears to the view; and by 8 A.M. we had anchored off James’s Town (February 24.) The first approach to this island is far from being attractive to the visitor, consisting of lofty, sterile precipices, without a speck of verdure to relieve the eye. The summits of the highest around the island are occupied by signal stations, and are almost in constant requisition, from the number of vessels continually arriving at this “Rock.” Small batteries, mounting several guns, occupy every ledge of rock where defence seems to be required; and in some places a solitary gun is perched; so that the island is rendered perfectly impregnable both by nature and art. On advancing toward the anchorage, the barren cliffs, which before alone met the eye, are both varied and contrasted by mountains covered with verdure, rising from the inland part of the island, about which a few white houses are also seen scattered. The castellated building, called High Knowle, has a pretty and picturesque effect, perched on the summit of a very high eminence, and reminding one of the castles in similar situations seen on the picturesque banks of the Rhine. James’s Town is a small, neat town, built in a vale, or glen, which gradually recedes as it proceeds inland; and the town is confined on each side by volcanic cliffs of a great elevation, and of the most barren aspect. The neat church is readily distinguished by its tower; and the green foliage of vegetation in the gardens adjoining the houses charms the eye by the agreeable contrast. We landed, without inconvenience, at the steps near the watering-place, on the left of the anchorage; but it often happens that the surf and eddy renders a landing extremely inconvenient, and even dangerous. A broad causeway led to James’s battery, heavily mounted with cannon, and situated in front of the town. Here I observed a grove of trees, the _Ficus religiosa_, whose presence afforded an agreeable shade: it is a tree usually seen planted in India about the Hindoo temples, and held in veneration by the natives. Passing through a gate, we entered the esplanade, in which the government-house and garden and the church are situated. The principal streets and shops of the town, and some very neat houses in the English style, attract the attention of the visitor.