26 ST. JACiO— CAPE DE VERDE ISLANDS. 



and beauty, but in general the island is barren and moun 

 tainous. The coast is high, especially at the southeast ex- 

 tremity. The hills, rocks, soil, and everything about the 

 surface, bear unmistakable marks of volcanic origin. 



The island is subject at intervals to droughts, and during 

 their continuance the inhabitants suffer greatly from want 

 of food and water. The exports are orchilla,* castor oil, 

 beans, salt, hides, and goat-skins ; the former article is a 

 government monopoly, and forty thousand dollars are paid 

 by the company for the yearly crop. The goat skins are 

 sent to the United States and sold at a very profitable rate. 



Porto Praya is the capital of the island ; it is built on a 

 piece of " table land," and looks much more inviting when 

 viewed from the anchorage than when more closely ex- 

 amined. The houses are constructed of a rough stone, 

 without any regard to symmetry, and very few are over 

 one story in height. The streets are wide, but are not 

 paved, nor kept clean. 



A church, a barracks and a jail, constitute all the prin- 

 cipal public buildings. The interior of the dwellings is in 

 perfect keeping with their external appearance; a few 

 chairs, a table, and a bedstead or two, are all the furniture 

 which any of them can boast of. 



The stores are very insignificant, for not only are the as- 

 sortments small, but they are composed of the most com- 

 mon articles. The population is estimated at 3,000, of 

 which number more than two-thirds are negroes. The 

 women are the ugliest we have ever seen. They are fond 

 oi gay colors, and their most fashionable head-dress con- 

 sists of a figured cotton handkerchief, tied round the head 

 like a Turkish turban. 



* A species of kelp, or Sea-weed, -which, when burned, produces alkaline ashes, used in 

 the manufacture of glass and soap. 



