It is a barren, colossal rock; and had I not learned, from one of the newest works on geography, that it was peopled by about 2,500 souls, I should have supposed the whole island to have been uninhabited.

On three sides, the cliffs rise so precipitously from the waves, that all access is impossible.
We sailed by the place at a considerable distance, and saw only the towers of the church and lighthouse, in addition to the so-called "Monk," a solitary, perpendicular rock, that is separated from the main body, between which and it there sparkles a small strip of sea.
The inhabitants are very poor.

The only sources of their livelihood are fishing and bathing visitors.

A great number of the latter come every year, as the bathing, on account of the extraordinary swell, is reckoned extremely efficacious.

Unfortunately, great fears are entertained that this watering-place cannot exist much longer, as every year the island decreases in size, from the continual falling away of large masses of rock, so that some day the whole place may disappear into the sea.
From the 5th to the 10th of July, we had continued stormy and cold weather, with a heavy sea, and great rolling of the ship.