Noronha

Noronha, Fernando, a group of islands in the Atlantic Ocean, 210 miles E.N.E. of Cape San Roque. The main island is about seven miles in length and two in breadth. They consist of a mass of volcanic rocks, with a soil of rich ferruginous clay, which affords an abundant growth of maize, cotton, sugar, melons, wild grasses, and various kinds of trees. The islands belong to Brazil; there is a penal settlement on the largest.