h 



THE CAPE DE VEEDE ISLANDS 98 



to 



So enchanting is the scenery of these glens, and so sud- 

 denly do they start up beneath the feet, that one almost 

 feels persuaded that the author of ' Easselas ' was there 

 before him, or that the scenes of the Arabian Nights were 

 not all laid in the East. 



Evening fell cool and refreshing as they descended this 

 valley, and * one little bird sang so like a robin that we all 

 exclaimed at once we were in England.' 



To give his father a notion of the fantastic peaks and 

 pinnacles of the surrounding mountains, he employs his 

 frequent method of reference to their common knowledge of the 

 literature of travel. * They reminded me of the Organ Moun- 

 tains of Kio de Janeiro, only these were much sharper.' 



Hospitality was freely offered by a Portuguese of some 

 position in Porto Praya, but educated in France. In this 

 remote valley he lived with his wife and several little slaves ; 

 his property surrounding his house being cultivated with 

 tropical fruits and plants. 



During dinner our hostess arranged three little slaves 

 round the table ; they were very clean and neatly dressed, 

 quite young and jet black. After dinner they each received 

 an embrace from their mistress and came to us for the same 

 (which I assure you [he tells his sisters] was not withheld 

 because of the swarthiness of their complexions, and was 

 accompanied with a donation of fruit). Our host said he 

 treated them as his children, and would not part with one 

 for anything. On taking our departure we gave our kind 

 host all our shot and I my powder flask, as the only recom- 

 pense he would take. 



So delightful had the excursion been, that on the Monday 

 (17th) he repeated it, in company with Wilmot ^ and Lefroy. 

 This time they left early, and managed to ride across the 

 first six uninteresting miles, when * Mr. Wilmot was the first to 

 find out how to make a Porto Praya pony gallop (if it ever can). 



^ Lieutenant Eardley Wilmot was an engineer oflficer. A close friend of 

 Lefroy (see ii. ;i43) he had joined in his ejffort to improve the training of officers 

 at Woolwich. With Lefroy also he was selected for magnetic work on Ross's 

 expedition, his destination being the Cape Observatory. 



