48 CAPE VERDE. 



smoke issuing from it as we passed. The peaks showed out 

 against the sky far above the horizon. 



I was constantly astonished at the great height above the 

 horizon to which high mountainous islands seem to rise when 

 viewed from a long distance at sea. This appearance was 

 especially marked in the case of the Peak ofTenerife. One is 

 apt to scan the region of the horizon, when the Peak is just in 

 sight, far too low down, being accustomed to search for much 

 less elevated objects which become visible directly they rise 

 above the horizon. The line of sight traversing in that direc- 

 tion, clearer air allows the summit of the high distant mountain 

 to be visible long before the base. 



When we were approaching the Azores, we sighted the 

 island of Corvo at a distance of sixty miles. The island 

 appeared remarkably near, being thrown up high above the 

 horizon probably by atmospheric refraction. The distance of 

 the island was guessed from its appearance at from seven to 

 twenty-five miles. The island disappeared from view before 

 mid-day by a change in the condition of the atmosphere, 

 which nevertheless appeared clear. 



St. Jago Island, August 7th, 8th, and 9th, 1873.— The ship 

 anchored at Porto Praya, the port town of San Jago, Cape 

 Verde Islands, on August yth. The harbour is exposed to the 

 south-west, and, during the rainy season, from August to 

 October, when south-west gales are frequent, is unsafe. The 

 harbour is bounded by black basaltic clifls, in which, in several 

 places, a fossiliferous limestone bed, which is described by 

 Darwin, shows out as a conspicuous white streak. 



The town is placed on an isolated mass of a flat, elevated 

 plain, which terminates abruptly seawards in the cliffs above 

 described. A deep valley, with a flourishing grove of cocoanut 

 trees at its bottom, separates this mass from the main table- 

 land on the east side. On the west side, at the base of the 

 mass, lies a sandy plain which extends far back into the country, 

 and terminates seawards in a sandy bay, admirably adapted for 

 the use of the seine net. On this plain, behind the town, is a 

 large plantation of date-palms, with artificially irrigated gardens 

 beneath their shade. The dates were hanging thick upon the 

 trees, but were as yet yellow and unripe ; in ripening they turn 

 first red and then deep purple or black. 



There is a large Baobab tree near the town, which has been 

 mentioned by travellers : its stem is irregular in transverse sec- 

 tion and short ; it measured 42 feet in circumference at the 

 time of our visit. The tree was then in full flower, with no fruit 

 as yet of any size. 



The country rises inland in a succession of terrace-like steps 



