Of hidden beauty have I chanced to espy Voyage to St. Michael's.- Ponta Delgada.- Villa Franca. Asses.-The Valley of the Furnas. SAILED from Fayal for St. Michael's on Monday afternoon, May 27. It was the first excur sion of the vessel, a fine schooner of ninety tons; and as she had been built on the island she was a source of much interest to the people of Horta. She had been launched about three weeks since, and nearly all the inhabitants of the town and neighbourhood were present. Long rows of women, shrouded in their blue cloaks, squatted upon the sands of the bay, waiting patiently for many hours until the tide rose to its due height. We stood out to sea with a large party, and after cruising about for some time we took leave, with much regret, of friends whose courteous and hospitable attentions had added so much to the pleasure of our visit to their island, and steered for St. Michael's. The night was calm, and the next morning Pico and Fayal, as well as St. George's and Terceira, were still within sight. The day was a delicious one for those who, like ourselves, were in no haste; a gentle favourable breeze, a smooth sea, and capital accommodations, for we were the guests of Mr. Dabney, who had fitted up his vessel with all conveniences. Few sea pleasures can exceed those we have enjoyed in our excursions between these islands during this spring and early summer weather. Voyages of two or three days at a time, with light winds BEAUTY OF THE ISLANDS. 137 or gentle breezes, a quiet sea- so mild a temperature as to admit of spending the whole day in the open air,-no cabin imprisonment,bright starry or moonlight nights; - islands of great external beauty, rising abruptly out of the water to the height of several thousand feet, and clothed with green to their topmost acclivities;what spot on the earth with such circumstances of enjoyment could be found in so large a measure, and with so few drawbacks? The full moon rose at night like a vast red-hot globe issuing out of the ocean, but soon looked smaller, and showered down her silvery light. In this climate the moon seems actually suspended, not merely inlaid in the heavens: the eye reaches far into the infinite space beyond; and the shadows she casts are sharp and black, like silhouettes. At daybreak we were off the south-western coast of St. Michael's, which appeared low, after the other islands, and differed from them in its long ranges of conical hills. Ponta Delgada was not seen to advantage after Horta. Horta fills up all but the horns of a semicircular bay; its churches, convents, college, villas, and houses stand with conspicuous compactness in ranges one above another, their brilliant whiteness made more striking by the intermixture of the deep green foliage of the orange-gardens, whilst lofty cultivated hills and green mountains rise at the back of all; but Ponta Delgada, although a much larger town, looks inconsiderable, as it is built on a smaller space, comparatively, and on more level ground: the hills behind it are low, and it is lost in the extent of country seen on each side. The roadstead was almost deserted; instead of thirty or forty orange vessels, which we had left, there were now only two Portuguese schooners. Boats came off,-health boats, tobacco boats, and custom-house boats, full of sallow, tarnished officials. Beggars," said our abrupt South of England captain, looking down upon them over the side. 66 Thursday, May 30, Ponta Delgada. - Visited some gardens in the immediate neighbourhood of the town, which showed that, among the more wealthy Azoreans, there is a considerable taste for horticulture. We were particularly struck with a magnificent evergreen, as large as the fullgrown beech trees of the New Forest or Windsor Great Park. It looked like a species of laurel, and is here called a camphor tree. As it was a saint's day, there was a religious procession: the troops (for this town is now the head-quarters of the Portuguese military establishment in these islands) marched in front, with their hats off, and, instead of the short-cropped head of hair which we are accustomed to, they exhibited black locks, long, ragged, and curly. The prior, who is the highest church dignitary in the island, walked beneath a canopy, and bore the Host. He was a man of a commanding exterior, certainly physically fit for his office; the only dignified ecclesiastic (except Father Lopes, of Corvo,) whom I have seen in these parts. The streets were crowded, and the principal inhabitants had suspended from their balconies embroidered silks of various brilliant colours, "pendentia vela domûs." The next day we left for Villa Franca, on our way to the Furnas. The poplars, which are planted in most of the hedge-rows, and which hitherto had shown us nothing but their pale smooth stems, were now covered with quivering leaves; the bearded wheat was in full ear; the roads, after those in the other islands, were most respectable; our jacks were in equally good trim, as the day before was a saint's day, and one of |