256 CAPE VERBS. [1828. 



northern and western of the Cape Verd Islands. The centre of 

 this island is in latitude 17° 4' N., long. 25° 23' W. ; and in clear 

 weather it may be seen from a ship's deck at the distance of twenty- 

 five leagues. This is not often the case, however, as hazy and cloudy 

 weather generally prevails among these islands. 



Although the general appellation of " Cape Verd Islands" is fa- 

 miliar to readers of all classes, I find that there are great numbers of 

 people who are totally ignorant of their history, and even of their loca- 

 tion. For the information of such, I shall drop a few words before I 

 proceed any farther with my journal. 



The broadest part of that vast section of the globe called Africa extends 

 from Cape Guardafui, on the east, to Cape Verd on the west, a dis- 

 tance of nearly four thousand six hundred miles ! Cape Verd points 

 due west into the Atlantic Ocean, in latitude 14° 44' N., about one 

 hundred and forty-five miles north-west of the mouth of the river Gam- 

 bia, and is of course the most westerly land of Africa. Cape Verd 

 projects from that part of Africa called Senegambia, renowned for its 

 inexhaustible fertility of soil, as well as for the ferocious perversity of 

 the natives. Whether this cape has derived its name from its natural 

 verdure, or, as some pretend, from a green marine vegetable that abounds 

 in those waters, I cannot presume to determine ; at all events, it has 

 given its name to a group of islands lying about one hundred leagues, 

 westward of the coast, in the Atlantic Ocean, between the fourteenth 

 and eighteenth degrees of north latitude. 



These islands were first discovered by the Portuguese, in the year 

 1446. They are said to have been known to the ancients under the 

 name of Gorgades ; but not visited by the moderns till they were dis- 

 covered, in the year just mentioned, by Anthony Noel, a Genoese in 

 the service of Portugal, and received their general name from their 

 situation opposite Cape Verd. They are ten in number, besides islets 

 and rocks, lying nearly in a semicircle. Their names are St. Antonio, 

 St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Branco, Raza, St. Nicholas, Sal, Bonavista, 

 Mayo, St. Jago, Fuego, and Brava. Of all these, St. Jago is the 

 principal. 



These islands are generally mountainous ; some of them are barren 

 and uninhabited ; others are very productive. Notwithstanding the 

 droughts to which they are subject, their natural produce in cotton, 

 indigo, fruits, salt, goat-skins, and turtle oil, might give them a consider- 

 able value under a more intelligent government. Their actual popula- 

 tion is estimated at forty-two thousand souls. The air is hot and in- 

 salubrious, rain being very rare ; but a north-east breeze commonly 

 rises before four o'clock, P. M. 



The marine vegetable before alluded to, from which some say these 

 islands derive their name, is called by the Portuguese mar de sargasso, 

 or sea-lentils ; it resembles watercresses in appearance, and produces a 

 berry somewhat like the gooseberry. In some places it is so abundant 

 as to impede the progress of vessels in their course. To the north of 

 these islands, according to the best authorities, " the waters of the ocean 

 disappear under a thick bed of seaweed, which, like a floating meadow, 

 extends as far as the twenty -fifth parallel, and occupies a space of sixty 



