The Challenger left Santa Cruz, Tenerife, on the evening of the 14th February. The weather was bright and pleasant, with a light breeze from the northeast. A southwesterly course was pursued for a few days, until well within the northern limit of the trade wind, after which the route followed was, as nearly as practicable, in a straight line to Sombrero Island, the outlying sentinel at the northeast extremity of the Lesser Antilles. [NOT CONTROLLED OCR]