Island of St. Jago. 

 Town of Porto Praya. 



TO RIO JANEIRO. 



Situation of Porto Praya. 

 Population. 



ran over the locality without perceiving any thing 

 that indicated a shoal. 



The situation of the Bom Felix Shoal, laid down 

 about ten leagues to the south of the above, was 

 passed over in the same manner, sounding re- 

 peatedly for bottom with three hundred fathoms 

 of line, but no appearance of a shoal was observed. 



The reported position of the Bonetta Rocks 

 next claimed our attention, in latitude 16 32' N., 

 and longitude 20 57' W. After this locality had 

 been well examined, a course was steered over its 

 supposed bearing from Bonavista, one of the Cape 

 de Verde Islands. The vessels of the squadron 

 sounding every half hour during the night, which 

 was clear and bright moonlight *. 



On the night of the 6th of October, we hove to off 

 the island of St. Jago. Seldom have we seen the 

 sea exhibit so much phosphorescence. Its bril- 

 liancy was so great, that it might truly be said to 

 have the appearance of being on fire. We made 

 some experiments to ascertain the depth to which 

 these phosphorescent animalculse extended. After 

 many trials, they were not found below eighteen 

 fathoms. The temperature of the water at that 

 depth was 79, at the surface 80, and at one hun- 

 dred fathoms depth 58. The mean temperature 

 of the air from Madeira until our arrival off this 

 port, was found to have increased from 69 to 78, 

 while the difference in the water was from 71 

 to 81. 



On the morning of the ?th, we anchored in Porto 

 Praya bay. The island of St. Jago presents a very 

 different appearance from Madeira, particularly the 

 south-eastern portion of it, though its formation is 

 known to be similar. There are many high peaks 

 and mountains in its centre, which afford a fine 

 background for the barren and uninteresting coast 

 scenery. 



The time of our arrival was just after the rainy 

 season, the island consequently presented a more 

 verdant appearance than it does at other seasons of 

 the year. 



Our consul, F. Gardiner, esq., came on board, 

 and made us welcome to all the island afforded. 

 An officer was despatched to call upon his excel- 

 lency the governor, to report our arrival, who 

 proved to be a black man. Knowing that the re- 

 gulations required permission for vessels to depart, 

 the request was made during the interview, which 

 he readily granted at any hour we chose. 



The town of Porto Praya is prettily situated on 

 an elevated piece of table land, and looked well 

 from the anchorage. 



The bay is an open one, but is not exposed to the 

 prevailing winds. There is generally a swell 

 setting in, which makes the landing unpleasant 

 and difficult. The only landing-place is a small 

 rock, some distance from the town, and under a 

 high bank, on which there is, or rather was, a forti- 

 fication, for it is now entirely gone to decay. It 



* Since our examination, I have seen a letter from the 

 American consul at Porto Praya, F. Gardiner, esq., detailing 

 the wreck of the British ship Charlotte in 1841, and placing 

 this shoal in latitude 16 17' N., longitude 22 21' W., 84' 

 in longitude and 15' in latitude from the position I searched 

 for it in ; whence it appears that it is the same reef on which 

 the Magdelaine was lost. I have no kind of doubt but that 

 they ought all to be referred to the Hartwell Reef. The 

 same gentleman was confident at the time I saw him that 

 the Magdelaine had been lost on the reef of that name. 



commands the bay, and is situated about two hun- 

 dred feet above the sea. The horizontal stratifica- 

 tion of the red and yellow-coloured sandstone' shows 

 most conspicuously in this cliff, and forms one of 

 the most remarkable objects on this part of the 

 island. It is of tertiary formation, and contains 

 many fossils. 



On landing, a stranger is immediately sur- 

 rounded by numbers of the inhabitants, with fruit, 

 vegetables, chickens, turkeys, and monkeys, all 

 pressing him with bargains, and willing to take any 

 thing for the purpose of obliging their customers. 

 Many of them continue to follow until they meet 

 with some new customer. 



The soil, rocks, and every thing around on the 

 surface, show unequivocal marks of volcanic origin. 

 The rock above the tertiary formation is a thick 

 bed of cellular lava, with fragments of the same 

 strewn in every direction over it. A thin and 

 poor soil gives but little sustenance to a light herb- 

 age. Goats and asses are found in great numbers 

 grazing upon it. 



The walk from the landing to the town is exceed- 

 ingly fatiguing, and the road deep with sand. The 

 first view of the town on entering it is any thing 

 but striking, and all the ideas formed in its favour 

 are soon dispelled. The houses are whitewashed, 

 and in general appearance resemble those inhabited 

 by the lower orders in Madeira, but they are much 

 inferior even to them. The north-east part of the 

 town is composed of rough stone houses, covered 

 with palm leaves. The streets are wide, and in the 

 centre is a large public square, the middle of which 

 is occupied by a small wooden monument said to be 

 emblematical of royalty ! A chapel, jail, and bar- 

 racks constitute the principal public buildings. 

 The fort, which flanks the town, is almost entirely 

 in decay. This is the case with almost every thing 

 we saw here; the place is, indeed, little better than 

 an African town. The houses are of stone, one 

 story high, partly thatched, and others tiled. Their 

 interior presents only a few articles of absolute 

 necessity. Of comfort and cleanliness, in our sense 

 of the words, they have no idea. The houses and 

 streets are filthy in the extreme ; and in both of 

 them, pigs, fowls, and monkeys appear to claim, 

 and really possess, equal rights with the occupants 

 and owner. 



The population is made up of an intermixture of 

 descendants from the Portuguese, natives, and 

 negroes from the adjacent coast. The negro race 

 seems to predominate, woolly hair, flat noses, and 

 thick lips being most frequently met with. The 

 number of inhabitants in St. Jago is about thirty 

 thousand. Porto Praya contains two thousand 

 three hundred, of which number one hundred are 

 native Portuguese. 



The language spoken is a jargon formed by a 

 mixture of the Portuguese and negro dialects. 

 Most of the blacks speak their native tongue. Mr. 

 Hale, our philologist, obtained here a vocabulary 

 of the Mandingo language, and found it to agree 

 with that given by Mungo Park. 



The officers of this garrison were, like the 

 governor, all black. The latter made a brilliant 

 appearance, dressed in a military frock coat, red 

 sash, two large silver epaulettes, and a military 

 cross on his breast. He was good-looking, although 

 extremely corpulent, and speaks both French and 

 Spanish well. He was very civil and attentive. 



