Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 3.djvu/49

 TOPOGRAPHY OE THE AZORES. 33 industriously reclaiming every inch of arable land. Wheat, which degenerates in San-Miguel, thrives well in Santa-Maria. Beans and haricots are also culti- vated, besides sweet potatoes and yams, which serve not only as food, but also for distilling alcohol. In many places the rotation of crops has been intro- duced in such a way as to yield two harvests in the year ; nevertheless, the produce is generally inferior to that of the mainland and of the other Atlantic archipelagoes. The vine, in recent years mostly destroyed by oidium, yielded to the middle of this century an indifferent but abundant white wine. It is now replaced by orange- groves, especially in San-Miguel, which in a single season has exported to London as many as two hundred and fifty million " Saint Michaels," valued at nearly £120,000. But this plant also has begun to " weep," stricken by lagrima and other diseases, which have reduced the export to one-fourth. A fibre is extracted from the pliovmium ienax, or New Zealand flax, introduced at an unknown date ; pineapples of fine flavour are raised under glass, and since 1878 attention has been paid to the tea industry. In 1885 a single plantation contained as many as twenty- seven thousand shrubs. But the staple agricultural product is maize, of which a considerable quantity is exported, notwithstanding the enormous local consump- tion. The peasant class itself is still in a miserable condition, wages ranging from about eightpence to fifteen pence, and during harvest-time rising to half a crown. Formerly the islanders wore clothes made almost exclusively of indigenous fabrics ; but the cheap foreign cotton and woollen goods have nearly extinguished the native looms. The only local industries, properly so called, are tanneries, flour- mills, and cheese-making, all not occupied with agriculture being engaged in trade. The foreign exchanges are steadily advancing, having increased tenfold between 1830 and 1880, although since then a considerable decrease has been caused by the ravages of the various diseases that have attacked the orange- groves. Topography. Santa Maria, which lies nearest to Portugal and Madeira, is one of the smallest and least populous members of the archipelago. But it appears to have formerly been much larger, for its marine pedestal, eaten away by the surf caused by fierce western gales, extends for a considerable distance to the north-west of the island. The Formicjas and Formigore reefs, "pigmy ants encircling a giant ant," which lie some 24 miles to the north-east, are also mere fragments of an islet about six miles long. But while one side of the Santa -Maria bank has been eroded by the waves, the island has elsewhere been enlarged by a slow movement of upheaval. The traces of old beaches are clearly visible round the coast to a height of about 300 feet. This western section of the archipelago appears to have been long exempt from eruptions and underground disturbances. No recent scoriae occur, and the old lavas have either been weathered by atmospheric action or clothed with humus and verdure.