I did not at the time pay
sufficient attention to the account; but, as far as I understood,
the hill was covered by sand, and the noise was produced only when
people, by ascending it, put the sand in motion. The same
circumstances are described in detail on the authority of Seetzen
and Ehrenberg, as the cause of the sounds which have been heard by
many travellers on Mount Sinai near the Red Sea. (16/4. "Edinburgh
Philosophical Journal" January 1830 page 74 and April 1830 page
258. Also Daubeny on Volcanoes page 438 and "Bengal Journal" volume
7 page 324.) One person with whom I conversed had himself heard the
noise: he described it as very surprising; and he distinctly stated
that, although he could not understand how it was caused, yet it
was necessary to set the sand rolling down the acclivity. A horse
walking over dry and coarse sand causes a peculiar chirping noise
from the friction of the particles; a circumstance which I several
times noticed on the coast of Brazil.
Three days afterwards I heard of the "Beagle's" arrival at the
Port, distant eighteen leagues from the town. There is very little
land cultivated down the valley; its wide expanse supports a
wretched wiry grass, which even the donkeys can hardly eat.
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