June.] THE AZORES. 487 



for cattle. Besides Angra, there are several other towns and large 

 villages on this island ; but no harbour that is even tolerable, excepting 

 that of Angra. The forts and garrisons are under the direction of the 

 governor, who has the power of filling all the vacancies that happen 

 among the military officers. 



The Azores (Hawk Islands), or Western Isles, are a group or 

 cluster of islands, lying nearly in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, 

 westward of Portugal, to which kingdom they belong. They are 

 about nine hundred miles west of Cape Vincent, and about the same 

 distance south-east of Newfoundland, so that they are almost at an 

 equal distance from Europe, Africa, and North America. The centre 

 of the group is in the same latitude as the Capes of the Delaware, from 

 which they are six hundred leagues east. They are seen from a great 

 distance at sea, on account of a high mountain called the peak, or pico f 

 rising from an island of the same name. These islands are nine in 

 number, and are known by the following names : Tercera, St. Michael, 

 Santa Maria, Gratiosa, St. George, Fayal, Pico, Flores, and Corvo. 

 The two last are very small, and lie at a considerable distance from 

 the rest. 



The Portuguese claim the discovery of the whole group, though 

 they cannot tell by what navigator, nor at what precise period they 

 were first seen. The Flemings maintain that they were first discovered 

 by one of their countrymen, Joshua Vanderberg, a merchant of Bruges ; 

 who, when on a voyage to Lisbon, in 1439, was driven from his course 

 in a violent storm, and fell in with this group, which he called " The 

 Flamingas," or Flemish Islands. This was fifty-three years before 

 Columbus sailed on his first voyage. 



On his arrival at Lisbon, Vanderberg communicated the discovery 

 to some of his friends, and gave such a favourable account of his ad- 

 venture as induced the Portuguese, who were then the most enterpris- 

 ing nation in Europe, to attempt a further discovery. They accordingly 

 explored the whole cluster, in 1444 ; and Don Henry, Prince of Portu- 

 gal, was so pleased with the acquisition, that he went in person to take 

 possession of them in 1449. In 1466 Alphonso V. gave them to his 

 sister, the Duchess of Burgundy, when some of them were colonized 

 by Germans and Flemings, who always acknowledged the authority 

 of Portugal. They were called " The Azores," from the immense 

 number of hawks found among them. 



These islands are evidently of volcanic origin, and they have fre- 

 quently suffered severely from earthquakes and eruptions. In Kircher's 

 Mundus Subterraneous, lib. iii., we are informed that "In 1538, fre- 

 quent earthquakes were felt for nearly eight days, which were so vio- 

 lent as to compel the inhabitants to forsake their houses, and lie night 

 and day in the open fields. On the 26th of June, afire burst through 

 the surface of the sea, flaming to the clouds, vomiting prodigious quan- 

 tities of sand, earth, stones, and minerals ; and raging with such fury 

 that, had not the wind blown from the land, the whole of the neigh- 

 bouring islands would have been destroyed. This was followed by 

 the emersion of a group of rocks, which at first filled a space of only 

 five or six acres* but which soon extended to as many miles. Another 



