and ielted with clinihing gourds and heautifully
coloured I p o m e a s th a t it Avas no easy matter to make
one’s Avay through it unless hy the cleared tracks.
AVe AA'ent a little AA'ay up the flank of one of tlie hills
to the A'illage, and had a good vieAA^ of the valley,
Avliicli contrasted wonderfully in its extreme richness
and careful cultivation Avith the arid plains heloAV.
The swartliy inliahitants received us Avitli their usual
good-natured hospitality, and after a Avelcorne lu n cheon
of AAdiich hananas, oranges, pine apples, and
cocoa-nut milk formed the principal part, aa^c rode
hack to the ship highly pleased with our experience
of this unexpected oasis.
Next morning one or two of us Avent out in the
steain-pinnace to dredge for red coral. AVe had
learned th a t there Avas a regular coral fishery on the
coast of San lago, seven or eight boats heing constantly
employed, and nearly a hundred m e n ; and
th a t coral to the amount of upwards of 100 quintals
(10,000 kilos.) AAas exported annually. The fishery
is carried on at depths betAveen 60 and 100 fathoms
a mile or so from the shore. Large clumsy fishing-
hoats are used, AAdth a crcAV of from six to eisrht or
nine men. A frame of two crossed hars of iron,
Aveighted in the centre with a large stone, and hung
AAdth ahundant tangles, some of them of loose hemp
and others of net, is let down Avith a thick rope (one
and a half or two inch), and eased hack and forward
on the ground till it has fairly c a u g h t; the rope is
then led to a rude windlass in the middle of the boat,’
and it often takes the Avhole strength of the crcAV to
bring the frame up. The branches of coral stick in
the tangles and in the meshes of the net. I t Avas a
fearfully hot day, the hottest I th in k in its physiological
effect on the human hocly wliich I have ever
experienced. There Avas not a breath of air, and the
sea was as smooth as g la ss; and th e vertical sun and
the glare from the water Avere OA^erpowering. AA^e
crouched, h alf sick, under our aAvning, mufiied up
to prevent the skin heing peeled off; and even a
fcAV successful hauls in the afternoon, Avhich yielded
perhaps tAventy or th irty fair branches of coral,
scarcely restored our equanimity. A fcAv of our first
hauls AA'ere unsuccessful, so Ave steamed up close to
one of the nearest fishing-boats. The coral-fishers,
having no fear of competition, Avere very c iv il; in dicating
hy signs Avhen Ave Avere on the rig h t spot.
They were active, swarthy Spaniards, and had stripped
themselves for their Avork to a pair of very scanty
draAvers, and th eir lithe bronzed figures heaving round
the AAdndlass Avere most p ictu resq u e ; they got several
pieces of coral Avhile we were out. According to our
experience the coral groAvs at Porto l^raya in loosely
spreading branches, from two to perhaps eight inches
high, attached firmly to ledges of rock and large
stones. I t is had dredging-ground ; our dredge got
jammed more th an once, and Avas extricated with
difficulty. The Cape A^erde coral is not of fine
q u a lity ; it is dark and coarse in colour, and it
does not seem to he so compact in tex tu re as the
Mediterranean variety.
The next morning a large p a rty started on horse-
hack in the direction of San Domingo. W e rode
over some hot flat country covered Avitli a hriisli of
Acacia and Ricimis, and at length reached a ravine
Avitli a small stream running in the hottoni of it, the