THE CAPE DE VEBDE ISLANDS 93 
So enchanting is the scenery of these glens, and so sud- 
denly do they start up beneath the feet, that one almost 
feels persuaded that the author of ' Easselas ' was there 
before him, or that the scenes of the Arabian Nights were 
not all laid in the East. 
Evening fell cool and refreshing as they descended this 
valley, and ' one little bird sang so hke a robin that we all 
exclaimed at once we were in England.' 
To give his father a notion of the fantastic peaks and 
pinnacles of the surrounding mountains, he employs his 
frequent method of reference to their common knowledge of the 
literature of travel. * They reminded me of the Organ Moun- 
tains of Eio de Janeiro, only these were much sharper.' 
Hospitality was freely offered by a Portuguese of some 
position in Porto Praya, but educated in France. In this 
remote valley he lived with his wife and several little slaves ; 
his property surrounding his house being cultivated with 
tropical fruits and plants. 
"During dinner our hostess arranged three little slaves 
round the table ; they were very clean and neatly dressed, 
quite young and jet black. After dinner they each received 
an embrace from their mistress and came to us for the same 
(which I assure you [he tells his sisters] was not withheld 
because of the swarthiness of their complexions, and was 
accompanied with a donation of fruit). Our host said he 
treated them as his children, and would not part with one 
for anything. On taking our departure we gave our kind 
host all our shot and I my powder flask, as the only recom- 
pense he would take. 
So delightful had the excursion been, that on the Monday 
(17th) he repeated it, in company with Wilmot ^ and Lefroy. 
This time they left early, and managed to ride across the 
first six uninteresting miles, when ' Mr. Wilmot was the first to 
find out how to make a Porto Praya pony gallop (if it ever can). 
^ Lieutenant Eardley Wilmot was an engineer officer. A close friend of 
Lefroy (see ii. '34:3) he had joined in his effort to improve the training of officers 
at Woolwich. With Lefroy also he was selected for magnetic work on Ross's 
espedition, his destination being the Cape Observatory. 
