4 ST. JAGO CAPE DE VERD ISLANDS. 



laughter. Before leaving the town we visited the 

 cathedral. It does not appear so rich as the small- 

 er church, but boasts of a little organ, which sent 

 forth singularly inharmonious cries. We present- 

 ed the black priest with a few shillings, and the 

 Spaniard, patting him on the head, said, with much 

 candour, he thought his colour made no great dif- 

 ference. We then returned, as fast as the ponies 

 would go, to Porto Praya. 



Another day we rode to the village of St. Do- 

 mingo, situated near the centre of the island. On 

 a small plain which we crossed, a few stunted aca- 

 cias were growing; their tops had been bent by the 

 steady trade-wind, in a singular manner — some of 

 them even at right angles to their trunks. The di- 

 rection of the branches was exactly N.E. by N., 

 and S.W. by S., and these natural vanes must in- 

 dicate the prevailing direction of the force of the 

 trade-wind. The travelling had made so little im- 

 pression on the barren soil, that we here missed our 

 track, and took that to Fuentes. This we did not 

 find out till we an'ived there ; and we were after- 

 wards glad of our mistake. Fuentes is a pretty 

 village, with a small stream ; and everything ap- 

 peared to prosper well, excepting, indeed, that 

 which ought to do so most — its inhabitants. The 

 black children, completely naked, and looking very 

 wretched, were carrying bundles of firewood half 

 as big as their own bodies. 



Near Fuentes we saw a large flock of guinea- 

 fowl — probably fifty or sixty in number. They 

 were extremely wary, and could not be approach- 

 ed. They avoided us, like partridges on a rainy 

 day in September, running with their heads cock- 

 ed up ; and if pursued, they readily took to the 

 wing. 



The scenery of St. Doiningo possesses a beauty 



