7° . ST. J A G O .
ping. The mountains abounded with small bullocks and
goats; the peasantry brought down poultry and Guinea
fowls, pigeons and turtle doves without number; and the
gardens near the hamlet afforded an overflow of fruits and
vegetables. A species of mullet is the only tolerable fish that
is usually caught in the b a y ; but a vast quantity of land crabs
are found in the valhes, which are an excellent article of
food. The fresh water is thick and full of animalcules; and
there is but one well at the loot of the elevated plain, on
which the town is situated, furnishing barely a supply of this
indispensable article for the use of the inhabitants.
The Governor General of all the islands formerly resided at
the town of St. Jago, which is about six miles from Port
Praya, where he came occasionally whenever, a fleet resorted
to the bay for refreshments, out of the purchase money of
which he reserved to himself a certain proportion. Each of
the other islands has its black governor, who is solely dependent
on the Governor General. The power and situation
of the latter are little to be envied. Disease and want surround
his habitation, and misery is for ever before his eyes;
and he must either submit to pass the remainder of his days
in a destructive climate, debarred from all society, and supporting
a kind of penurious pomp by mean and unbecoming
practices, or return to his own country as poor as when he
left it. A traveller, among the vast variety of objects that
pass in succession before his eyes, must not expect to find
them all of an agreeable nature. Human life, in every soc
ie ty , is made up of a mixture of good and evil, and the
ST. J A G O . 7 l
latter will probably in most societies be found to predominate :
but here evil seems to reign alone. In short, the whole place
is so miserable that I shall forbear any further description,
and hasten to another region to which nature, in the distribution
of her favours, has been more liberal than to the Cape
de Verde Islands.