92 THE VOYAGE : PASSING IMPEESSIONS 
told us he was going nigger hunting to the Coast. We had 
no commission to catch slavers or to do mischief further 
than resenting personal injuries. 
If Madeira afforded the first vision of real tropical verdure, 
the Cape de Verdes intensified it with the unimagined grace 
and beauty of a cocoanut grove, the one redeeming feature 
of the prevaihng Saharan desolation near the coast. The 
fertile interior w^as twelve miles away from Porto Praya ; still, 
in a week here, dm'ing the bad season, Hooker managed to 
collect 110 species in a tolerable state and saw perhaps 100 
more in a useless state — a very fair proportion of the 300 
brought home by a previous collector. Of the famous Baobab 
tree he remarks that neither to himself nor to Captain Eoss 
did it give the impression of being such a slow growing and 
ancient tree as was reported by those who had seen one cut 
down. 
Distance was not the only obstacle confronting the botanist. 
Eeturning from their first day's outing they found that ' the 
Consul had very thoughtfully left word for us to prepare our- 
selves for the coast fever (or yellow fever), which was certain 
to lay hold of all Europeans who should expose themselves 
as we had done.' Nevertheless they went not once again, but 
twice, further afield to the beautiful valley of St. Domingo in 
the interior, the first time entirely, the second half way, on foot. 
The Consul persuaded us to ride, assuring us that a w^alk 
of twelve miles there and twelve back would assuredly be 
followed by fever. We therefore hired two ponies, the 
only two we could procure, and the very worst I ever saw, 
and a Jackass for which we drew lots. Mr. McCormick 
and I soon relinquished our beasts, and sent them back 
before leaving the Town, and the Jackass, having performed 
the feat of unassing Mr. Hallett and running through the 
Town with our poor purser hanging to his neck, we deter- 
mined to w^alk. 
After the Saharan desolation of the lower country, where 
under the tropical sun the soil of black volcanic slag and ashes 
scorched the feet in walking, the picture changed suddenly. 
