Jan. 1832. st. jago — cape de verd islands. 



3 



The heraldic ornaments were the only things in this retired 

 place that reminded us of Europe. The church or chapel 

 formed one side of a quadrangle, in the middle of which a 

 large clump of bananas were growing. On -another side was 

 a hospital, containing about a dozen miserable-looking in- 

 mates. 



We returned to the Venda'^ to eat our dinners. A con- 

 siderable number of men, women, and children, all as black 

 as jet, were collected to watch us. Our companions were 

 extremely merry ; and every thing we said or did was fol- 

 lowed by their hearty laughter. Before leaving the town we 

 visited the cathedral. It does not appear so rich as the 

 smaller church, but boasts of a little organ, which sent forth 

 most singularly inharmonious cries. We presented the black 

 priest with a few shillings, and the Spaniard, patting him on 

 the head, said, with much candour, he thought his colour 

 made no great difference. Vv^e then returned, as fast as the 

 ponies would go, to Porto Praya. 



Another day we rode to the village of St. Domingo, situ- 

 ated near the centre of the island. On a small plain which 

 we crossed, a few stunted acacias were growing ; their tops, 

 by the action of the steady trade -wind, were bent in a 

 singular manner — some of them even at a right angle to the 

 trunk. The direction of the branches v/as exactly N.E. 

 by N., and S.W. by S. These natural vanes must indicate 

 the prevailing direction of the force of the trade wind. The 

 travelling had made so little impression on the barren soil, 

 that we here missed our track, and took that to Fuentes. 

 This we did not find out till we arrived there ; and w^e 

 were afterwards very glad of our mistake. Fuentes is a 

 pretty village, with a small stream j and every thing ap- 

 jjeared to prosper well, excepting, indeed, that which ought 

 to do so most — its inhabitants. The black children, com- 

 pletely naked, and looking very wretched, were carrying 

 bundles of firewood haK as big as their own bodies. 



Near Fuentes we saw a large flock of guinea-fowl— pro- 

 bably fifty or sixty in number. They were extremely wary, 



B 2 



