HMS “Challenger"
Sierra Leone
August 16, 1873

Dear Tom,
It will be at least a month before this letter leaves the ship, but must write it by instalments as the information comes to hand. We left S. Vincent on the 5th for another of the Cape Verde islands, called S. Jago, 200 miles further south. No more information concerning the fate of the missing schoolmaster turned up, and everyone on board considers that he was murdered, and buried long before our arrival.

Between St. Vincent & S. Jago we sighted 2 or 3 islands belonging to the same group, one of them Fuego is a volcano 9,200 feet high. We were 2 days on the passage and found S. Jago quite a paradise compared with S. Vincent; we remained there 2 days, and quite enjoyed it. The island is the largest of the whole group, and the chief town is the seat of government, it was quite an extensive and well built place, and we found more Portuguese than at S. Vincent.... The island abounds with cocoa nut & date palms which grow quite to the waters edge. Bananas and plantain were the finest we have yet seen, and pine apples, mangoes & c. were very plentiful.

There were Monkeys & Parrots on the island, one of the boys bought  a Moneky for 9/6, & let him run up the rigging, when he was made to chase it for three hours until he caught it, and then had to throw it overboard, so it was not a good speculation for him. Monkeys &c, are not allowed in the ship until we are homeward bound. The Governor of the Cape Verdes came on board before we sailed, and looked over the ship. We took in 2 Bullocks, 300 Cocoa Nuts, and 5000 Limes for the ship's company, and sailed on the 9th for S. Paul's Rocks.