290 OUTDOOR STUDIES 
fully wielded. There are no wheelbarrows, 
but baskets are the universal substitutes. The 
plough is made entirely of wood, only pointed 
with iron, and is borne to and from the field on 
the shoulder. The carts are picturesque, but 
clumsy ; they are made of wicker-work, and the 
iron-shod wheels are solidly attached to the 
axle, so that all revolves together, amid fearful 
creaking. The people could not be induced to 
use a cart with movable wheels which was im- 
ported from America, nor will they even grease 
their axles, because the noise is held to drive 
away witches. Some other arts are a little 
more advanced, as any visitor to Mr. Harper’s 
pleasant Fayal shop in Boston may discover. 
The islanders make homespun cloth upon a 
simple loom, and out of their smoky huts come 
beautiful embroideries and stockings whose 
fineness is almost unequalled. Their baskets 
are strong and graceful, and I have seen men 
sitting in village doorways, weaving the beauti- 
ful broom-plant, yellow flowers and all, until 
basket and bouquet seemed one. 
The greater part of the surface of the island 
is cultivated like a kitchen garden, even up to 
the top of volcanic cones eight hundred feet 
high, and accessible only by steps cut in the 
earth. All the land is divided into little rectan- 
gular patches of various verdure, — yellow-blos- 
