ST, JAGO CAPE DE VERB ISLANDS. Jan. 1832. 



prospect of an utterly sterile land possesses a grandeur 

 which more vegetation might spoil- A single green leaf 

 can scarcely be discovered over wide tracts of the lava 

 plains ; yet flocks of goats^ together with a few cows, con- 

 trive to exist. It rains very seldom, but during a short 

 portion of the year heavy torrents fall, and immediately 

 afterwards a light vegetation springs out of every crevice. 

 This soon withers ; and upon such naturally-formed hay the 

 animals live. At the present time it has not rained for an 

 entire year. The broad, flat-bottomed, valleys, many of 

 which serve during a few days only in the season as a water- 

 course, are clothed with thickets of leafless bushes. Few 

 living creatures inhabit these valleys. The commonest bird 

 is a kingfisher [Dacelo jagoensis), which tamely sits on the 

 branches of the castor-oil plant, and thence darts on the 

 grasshoppers and lizards. It is brightly coloured, but not so 

 beautiful as the European species : in its flight, manners, 

 and place of habitation, which is generally in the driest 

 valleys, there is also a wide diff<erence. 



One day, two of the officers and myself rode to Ribeira 

 Grande, a village a few miles to the eastward of Porto Praya. 

 Until we reached the valley of St. Martin, the country pre- 

 sented its usual dull brown appearance ; but there, a very 

 small rill of water produces a most refreshing margin of 

 luxuriant vegetation. In the course of an hour we arrived 

 at Ribeira Grande, and were surprised at the sight of a large 

 ruined fort and cathedral. The little town, before its harbour 

 was filled up, was the principal place in the island : it now 

 presents a melancholy, but very picturesque appearance. 

 Having procured a black Padre for a guide, and a Spaniard, 

 who had served in the Peninsular war, as an interpreter, we 

 visited a collection of buildings, of which an ancient church 

 formed the principal part. It is here the governors and 

 captain-generals of the islands have been buried. Some of 

 the tombstones recorded dates of the sixteenth century.* 



* The Cape de Verd Islands were discovered in 1449. 



psi 



