seldom at a
greater distance than four or five miles from the land, till we
came opposite to a small town called Villa Franca. Here, as the
wind threatened to die away, several others and myself agreed to
go onshore: a boat was accordingly lowered, and we pushed off
from the ship; but the operation of landing did not prove to be
altogether so simple as we had expected. An immense reef of
rocks, some under water, others barely above it, but none
distinguishable till we had almost run against them, opposed our
progress; and it was not without considerable difficulty, and
the assistance of the country people, who made signals to us from
the beach, that we contrived to discover a narrow channel leading
up to the strand.

Having at length so far attained our wishes as to tread once more
upon firm ground, the next thing to be done was to find out some
inn, or house of public entertainment, where we might pass the
night, a measure which the increasing darkness rendered
necessary. In this, however, we were disappointed, the town of
Villa Franca boasting of no such convenience on any scale. But
we were not on that account obliged to bivouac; for the Alcalde,
or mayor of the place, politely insisted upon our accompanying
him home, and entertained us with great hospitality; nor, in
truth, had we any cause to regret the unsuccessful issue of our
inquiries, since, in addition to the good cheer with which we
were presented, our host, being an intelligent person, did not
fail to render himself an agreeable companion; and what
contributed in no slight degree to the facility of our
intercourse was, that though he assured us he had never quitted
St. Michael's in his life, he spoke English with the fluency of a
native. Among other pieces of information we learnt from him
that the reef which impeded our progress towards the land, had
formerly been an island. It appeared, he affirmed, one morning,
in the most sudden and extraordinary manner, as if it had been
thrown up by an earthquake during the night, and having continued
so long above water as to embolden a single family of fishers to
settle upon it, it disappeared again as suddenly as it had come,
leaving no trace of its existence except the rocks which we had
found so troublesome. Whether there be truth in this story, I
cannot pretend to determine; and yet I see no reason to doubt the
word of a man of respectability, who could have no motive
whatever for deceiving us. But t