prospect of an utterly sterile land possesses a grandeur
which more yegetation might spoil. A single green leaf
can scarcely be discovered over wide tracts of the lava
plains ; yet flocks of goats, together with a few cows, contrive
to exist. It rains very seldom, but during a short
portion of the year heavy torrents fall, and immediately
afterwards a light vegetation springs out of every creiflce.
This soon withers ; and upon such naturally-formed hay the
animals live. At the present time it has not rained for an
entire year. The broad, flat-bottomed, valleys, many of
which seiwe during a few days only in the season as a watercourse,
are clothed with tliickets of leafless bushes. Few
living creatures inhabit these valleys. The commonest bird
is a kingfisher (Dacelo jagoetisis), which tamely sits on the
branches of the castor-oil plant, and thence darts on the
grasshoppers and lizards. It is brightly coloured, hut not so
beautiful as the European species: in its flight, manners,
and place of habitation, which is generally in the driest
valleys, there is also a wide difference.
One dai', two of the offlcers and myself rode to Ribeira
Grande, a village a few miles to the eastward of Porto Praya.
Until we reached the valley of St. Martin, the country presented
its usual dull brown appearance; but there, a very
small rill of water produces a most refreshing margin of
luxuriant vegetation. In the course of an hour we arrived
at Ribeira Grande, and were surprised at the sight of a large
ruined fort and cathedral. The little town, before its harbour
ivas filled up, was the principal place in the island: it now
presents a melancholy, but very picturesque appearance.
Having procured a black Padre for a guide, and a Spaniard,
who had served in the Peninsular war, as an interpreter, w'e
visited a collection of buildings, of which an ancient church
formed the principal part. It is here the governors and
captain-generals of the islands have been buried. Some of
the tombstones recorded dates of the sixteenth century.*
* T h e C a p e d e V e rd Isla n d s w e re d isco v e red in 1449.
The heraldic ornaments were the only things in this retired
place that reminded us of Europe. The church or chapel
formed one side of a quadrangle, in the middle of which a
large clump of bananas were growing. On another side was
a hospital, containing about a dozen miserable-looking inmates.
We returned to the "Vénda” to eat our dinners. A considerable
number of men, women, and children, all as black
as jet, were collected to watch us. Our companions were
extremely merry ; and every thing we said or did was followed
by their hearty laughter. Before leaving the town we
visited the cathedral. It does not appear so rich as the
smaller church, but boasts of a little organ, which sent forth
most singularly inharmonious cries. We presented the black
priest with a few shiUings, and the Spaniard, patting him on
the head, said, with much candour, he thought his colour
made no great difference. We then returned, as fast as the
ponies would go, to Porto Praya.
Another day we rode to the village of St. Domingo, situated
near the centre of the island. On a small plain which
we crossed, a few stunted acacias were growing ; their tops,
by the action of the steady trade-wind, were bent in a
singular manner—some of them even at a right angle to the
trunk. The direction of the branches was exactly N.E.
by N., and S.W. by S. These natural vanes must indicate
the prevailing direction of the force of the trade wind. The
travelling had made so little impression on the barren soil,
that we here missed our track, and took that to Fuentes.
This we did not find out tiU we arrived there; and we
were afterwards very glad of our mistake. Fuentes is a
pretty village, with a small stream ; and every thing appeared
to prosper well, excepting, indeed, that which ought
to do so most—its inhabitants. The black children, completely
naked, and looking very wretched, were carrying
bundles of firewood half as big as their own bodies.
Near Fuentes we saw a large flock of guinea-fowl—probably
fifty or sixty in number. They were extremely wary,
n 2