Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 3.djvu/119

 CAPE VEED ISLANDS. 91 Saint Vincent. Saint Vincent (Sam-Vicente) is a geographical dependence of Santo-Antam, which, being larger and higher, almost completely deprives it of the moisture brought by the north-east trade winds. Hence it almost everywhere presents a parched and arid appearance, the whole island possessing only one or two small springs and a single valley capable of cultivation. No attempt was made at a settlement till 1795, when some Negro slaves and white convicts were introduced; but even in 1829 the population was still no more than about a hundred. Yet Saint Vincent was known to possess the best harbour in the archipelago, formed by an ancient crater eroded on the west side by the waves, and completely sheltered from all winds. The future commercial importance of this harbour had already been foreseen in 1851, when an English speculator here established a coaling station for passing steamers. The small town of Mindcllo, better known under the names of Porto- Grande and Saint Vincent, soon sprang up on the east side of the haven. But it is a dreary place of residence, treeless and waterless, the inhabitants being obliged to drink distilled sea-water, or water brought in boats from Santo An tam. Never- theless, here is concentrated nearly all the trade of the archipelago, and the port is yearly visited by hundreds of Atlantic steamers to renew their suj)ply of coal. In the foreign trade of the archipelago the first position is taken by the English, who import all the coal. Mindello has become an international seaport, in which the English language prevails, and in which the number of annual visitors is twenty times greater than the local population. Saint Vincent is also the intermediate station for the Atlantic cable between Lisbon and Pernambuco. Sam-N'icolau. East of Saint Vincent fallow Snnta Lucia, occupied only by shepherds, the desert islets of Branco and Raze, and a little farther on the large island of Sam- Nicolau, which about the middle of the last century was already well peopled. The first census of 1774 showed a population of 13,500 — more than at present; the decrease being due to a series of calamities, famine, yellow fever, cholera, following one on the other. In normal times, however, the birth-rate greatly exceeds the mortality. Sam-Nicolau presents the form of an irregular crescent, one of its horns pro- jecting eastwards, the other towards the south. Like all the other members of the Cape Verd group, it is covered with volcanic rocks, disposed either in isolated cones or continuous ridges, and culminating in the north with Mount Gordo, 4,000 feet high. Here is the central point of the whole archipelago, the summit, easily reached even on horseback, commanding in clear weather a complete view of all the islands from Sam-Antam to Fogo. From the south side of Gordo flows a copious stream, which, however, like several other rivulets, disappears in the scoriae. Owini? to the lack of communication, no attempt has been made to utilise