Journal of an African Cruiser: Comprising Sketches of the Canaries, the Cape De Verds, Liberia, Madeira, Sierra Leone, and Other Places of Interest on the West Coast of Africa — John Shaqi
Journal of an African Cruiser: Comprising Sketches of the Canaries, the Cape De Verds, Liberia, Madeira, Sierra Leone, and Other Places of Interest on the West Coast of AfricaBridge, Horatio
History
Journal of an African Cruiser: Comprising Sketches of the Canaries, the Cape De Verds, Liberia, Madeira, Sierra Leone, and Other Places of Interest on the West Coast of Africa
Bridge, Horatio
Africa, West -- Description and travel; Bridge, Horatio, 1806-1893
We wandered about the city until evening, and then walked in the Plaza.
Here the ladies and gentlemen of the city promenade for an hour or two,
occasionally seating themselves on the stone benches which skirt the
square. Like other Spanish ladies, the lovely brunettes of Santa Cruz
generally wear the mantilla, so much more becoming than the bonnet. There
are just enough of bonnets worn by foreigners, and travelled Spanish
dames, to show what deformities they are, when contrasted with the
graceful veil. This head-dress could only be used in a climate like that
of Teneriffe, where there are no extremes of heat or cold. It is a proverb
that there is no winter and no summer here. So equable and moderate is the
temperature, that, we were assured, a person might, without inconvenience,
wear either thick or thin clothing, all the year round. With such a
climate, and with a fertile soil, it would seem that this must be almost a
Paradise. There is a great obstruction, however, to the welfare of the
inhabitants, in the want of water. It rains so seldom that the ground is
almost burnt up, and many cattle actually perish from thirst. It is said
that no less than thirty thousand persons have emigrated from the island,
within three years.
The productions of Teneriffe, for export, are wine and barilla. Of the
first, the greater part is sent to England, Russia and the United States.
About thirty thousand pipes are made annually, of which two thirds are
exported. Little or no wine is produced on the southern slope of the
island. The hills around Santa Cruz are little more than rugged peaks of
naked rock. The scenery is wild and bold, but sterile; and scattered
around are stupendous hills of lava, the products of former volcanic
eruptions, but which have, for ages, been cold and wave-washed.
14.--Arrived at Porto Grande, in the island of St. Vincent's, one of the
Cape de Verds. The harbor is completely landlocked by the island of St.
Antonio, which stretches across its mouth. Still, there is, at times, a
considerable swell. The appearance of the land is barren, desolate, and
unpromising in the highest degree; and the town is in keeping with the
scenery. Eighty or ninety miserable hovels, constructed of small, loose
stones, in the manner of our stone-fences, stand in rows, with some
pretence of regularity. Besides the Governor and his aid, there are here
five white men, or rather Portuguese (for their claim to white blood is
not apparent in their complexions), viz. the Collector, the American
Consular Agent, a shop-keeper, whose goods are all contained in a couple
of trunks, and two private soldiers. We called to see the Governor, and
were politely received; he offered seats, and did the honors of the place
with dignity and affability. His pay is one dollar per diem. He has five
soldiers under his command, two of them Portuguese, and three native
negroes, one of whom has a crooked leg.
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