PORTERS JOURNAL. 
$5 
caution you will be likely to fall to leeward of the anchorage 
ground. It is also advisable to run in under top-sails, as it is 
frequently squally under the lee of the point. It is best to anchor 
well on the east side of the bay, in order that you may have room 
to clear the rocks that lie off the Isle of Quails. The wind sel¬ 
dom blows from the southward, and never strong enough to en¬ 
danger vessels lying in the roads. Vessels bound to Port Praya 
should guard against entering, though mistake, into a bay that is 
formed by the S.E. point of the island and the east point of 
Praya, which bears a strong resemblance to Praya bay, and is very 
dangerous. 
Praya may be known by an old fort on point Tubaron ; by the 
black island of Quails, on which several guns are mounted ; by the 
fort and town of Praya; and by a flag-staff, or signal establish¬ 
ment, situated on a mountain, at the back of the east point of the 
bay. Praya is situated on a plain, on the top of a rock overlook¬ 
ing the bay, the sides of which, toward the sea, are every where 
nearly perpendicular, except two roads, one on the east, the other 
on the west, which have been cut in the rock, and are very steep, 
The houses or cabins, except those of the principal officers and. 
the gaol, are built of rough stone, one story high, and covered 
with the branches of the cocoa-nut tree. The police of Praya is 
rigid; no one is permitted to wear concealed weapons ; and had 
I not been well assured, that there were no better arms in the 
island, I should have supposed, that fears of an insurrection in ra 
duced them to put unserviceable muskets and broken cutlasses 
into the hands of their naked negro soldiers. 
The following determinations were made at Port Praya, by 
astronomical observations: 
Latitude 14® 54' 05'' north 
Longitude 23° 30' 17" west 
Variation of the compass 14° 58' 00" west. 
Praya at present has no commerce. It derives its principal 
support from vessels that casually stop in there for refreshments, 
and its only importance from being the residence of the captain- 
general of the islands of Cape de Verd, who receives a salary 
from the crown of g 200 per month, and draws some portion ©£ 
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