Sept. 1836. 



TERCEIflA. 



597 



is not cultivated, numbers are emigrating to Brazil, where 

 the contract to which they are bound differs but little from 

 slavery. It seems a great pity that so fine a population 

 should be compelled to leave a land of plenty, where every 

 article of food — meat, vegetables, and fruit — is exceedingly 

 cheap and most abundant : but the labourer finds his labour 

 of proportionally little value. 



Another day I set out early in the morning to visit the 

 town of Praya situated towards the N.E. extremity of the 

 island. The distance is about fifteen miles ; the road ran 

 during the greater part of the way, not far from the coast. 

 The country is all cultivated, and scattered over with houses 

 and small villages. I noticed in several places, that the solid 

 lava, which in part formed the road, was worn into ruts of 

 the depth of twelve inches from the long traffic of the bullock- 

 waggons. This circumstance has been noticed with surprise 

 in the ancient pavement of Pompeii, for it does not occur in 

 any of the present towns of Italy. The waggon-wheels 

 here have a tire surmounted by singularly large knobs of iron; 

 perhaps the old Roman wheels were thus furnished. The 

 country during our morning^s ride was not interesting ; ex- 

 cepting always when enlivened by the pleasant sight of the 

 healthy peasantry. The harvest was lately over, and near 

 the houses, the fine yellow heads of the Indian corn were 

 tied in large bundles, to be dried, to the poplar-trees ; and 

 these, seen from a distance, appeared weighed down by some 

 beautiful fruit, — the very emblem of fertility. 



One part of the road crossed a broad stream of lava, 

 which from its rocky and black surface seemed to be of com- 

 paratively recent origin : indeed, the crater, whence it had 

 flowed, could be distinguished. The industrious inhabitants 

 have turned this space into vineyards ; but for this purpose 

 it was necessary to clear away the loose fragments, and to 

 pile them up into a multitude of walls, which enclose little 

 patches of ground a few yards square, thus covering the 

 country with a network of black lines. 



The town of Praya is a quiet, forlorn, little place : many 



