84 
CBUISE OF H.M.S. CHALLENGED 
mg a fine background for the barren and uninterest- 
ing coast scenery. Scarcely any supplies were to be 
obtained here. We left on tlie 5th of August, and 
the next day reached Santiago, another island of the 
same group. Here we had somewhat better success, 
and a fair supply of fruit and vegetables was obtained. 
Porto Praya is prettily situated, at least it appears 
so from the sea, on an elevated piece of land at the 
extreme end of an open roadstead, which is well 
protected from the prevailing winds : still there is 
generally a long Atlantic swell setting in, which 
makes landing unpleasant and difficult. 
Visiting the shore on one occasion under a very 
hot sun, the walk to the town was found exceedingly 
fatiguing. The roads were deep with sand, and the 
views obtained on reaching it anything but enticing ; 
and any idea previously formed in its favour was 
soon dispelled. 
The houses, with but few exceptions, are poor 
specimens of habitations, usually built of stone, one 
story high. The interiors present only a few articles 
of absolute necessity ; of home comfort or cleanliness, 
in our sense of the word, they seem to have no idea. 
The population appears to be made up of an inter- 
mixture of descendants from Portuguese settlers and 
negroes from the adjacent coast, who cultivate little 
patches of land in the valleys, where are produced 
a few varieties of tropical fruits for the market. 
It had been reported that a species of pink coral 
