I 
38 
SANTA ANNA DE CHAVES. 
truncated cones with hollows near the summits, like 
craters : they are bare of wood, except in these depres- 
sions and the ravines descending from them. The sides 
at the other parts are covered with dry grass. In the 
back ground is the lofty mountain Santa Anna de 
Chaves, 7,000 feet high. Its highest point is a 
remarkable cone, with a smaller one on either hand. 
We found a pretty little river, but its bar could only 
be crossed by boats at high water ; and as the bay 
is very shallow, vessels lie at a considerable distance, 
which makes watering here a tedious operation. 
Wood was not to be obtained, except from a great 
way inland; which was not worth the detention. We 
saw two or three little villages, of poor-looking huts, 
but the inhabitants were handsome contented-looking 
negroes. They had apparently plenty of live stock, 
and fruit in abundance. The oranges, however, though 
they looked fine, were generally bitter. 
A very superior-looking man of colour, named 
Emanuele, said that the greater part of the coflfee on 
the island was cultivated by free labour. Half of the 
produce goes to the proprietor and half to the culti- 
vator. His father had five slaves, but when he came 
to the inheritance there only remained one, whom he 
sold, to prevent his loss by running away ; and has 
since found free labour to be the best. This informa- 
tion was given almost unasked. 
A schooner which at first had been thought to 
be a slaver, came to the anchorage, and proved to 
