"Land ho! land ho!" was shouted one forenoon from aloft, with the usual prolonged cry.  The Falkland Islands were in sight, and the land seen as we drew nearer, I found, was that about Cape Bougainville.  We stood on, and next we made out the rugged hills above Berkley Sound, and then got close to the dark brown cliffs of Macbride's Head, with hundreds of seals lying on the sands and rocks below them.  We could hear the roar of the beasts as they looked up at us, indignant, I thought, at being disturbed by our approach; but Mr Brand told me that, fierce as they looked, they are a very harmless race, and easily captured.  On the downs above were numerous cattle feeding, which gave us the idea that we were approaching some civilised part of the world.  Passing Berkley Sound with a stiff breeze, which rushed out of it, we stood on for Mount Low, and then beat up Port William, which has a line of sand hills on one side of it, and Stanley Harbour at the end.  Although the day was fine, the appearance of the country was not very attractive; for there are no trees--rocks, and sand hills, and tussac grass, and barren heights, being the chief features.  We dropped anchor opposite Stanley, the capital of the settlement.  Above a line of piers and quays appeared a double row of neat white cottages, inhabited by the pensioners who were sent out to assist in founding the colony.  Round and about them are other houses and cottages, extending along the shores of the bay, and sprinkled on the sides of a gentle slope.  They are generally of light tints, which contrast well with the dark background of the hill beyond, and give the place a pretty appearance.  Further up is the church, not a very ecclesiastical-looking building; and beyond again, the cemetery, which has a neat chapel attached to it.  The Government House is a long, low cottage edifice, which looks well from the harbour; and on the east of the town are some extensive stores, belonging to the Falkland Island Company, with their small fleet of vessels in front of it.  On the west of the town is the Government Dock-yard, with block-house, workshops, guard-house, and stores, all neatly railed in. The surrounding country consisting of slight elevations, either rocky or covered with tussac grass, is not attractive.  I could not help looking at the place with great interest, as the first infant British settlement I had seen; and I thought less of what it then was than of what it might become, under good management.  The last idea was suggested to me, I must own, by Mr Brand.