Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 3.djvu/50

 Santa-Maria 1s distinguished from all the other islands by the presence of some limestone beds deposited in the shallow waters before the upheaval of the coasts. These deposits, which date from the close of the Miocene epoch, are utilised by the lime-burners, who export the product of the kilns to Ponta-Delgada, in San-Miguel. The red argillaceous clays are also used for the manufacture of pozzolana.

Villa do Porto, capital of Santa-Maria, scarcely deserves its name, which means the "harbour town." Its creek, a mere fissure in the south coast, is exposed to the west and south winds, and the anchorage is so bad that the shipping has often to keep to the roadstead, ready to take to the high seas at the approach of danger. Few of the islands suffered more than Santa-Maria from the raids of the French

and Algerian corsairs in the sixteenth century. In dry seasons it is threatened with scarcity, and at times with famine."

San-Miguel is the largest and by far the most important island in the archipelago, containing nearly one-half of the entire population. It consists of two really distinct islands, the channel between which has been filled up by a series of eruptions. This intervening space rises above the rocky plain formed by the lava-streams flowing from the two original islands. It is studded by a multitude of volcanic cones, whose outlines present: from a distance the appearance of a line of giant molehills. The volcanic ashes mingled with the débris of these lavas, and modified by the action of the rains, have developed an extremely fertile vegetable humus, constituting the chief agricultural district in the island. Here, also, is concentrated the great majority of the population.

The eastern part of San-Miguel, resembling Santa-Maria in the aspect of its ravined slopes and weathered lavas, is dominated by the Pico da Vara, highest