Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 14, 1903.djvu/142

126 The Moorish element, which is strongest in Southern Portugal, no doubt exists in the Azores, and may be expected to show itself especially in St. Michael's and Santa Maria. The folklore of these islands shows, as will be seen, a strong resemblance to that of the old Moorish province, the Algarve, with its marked Eastern affinities. The introduction of negro slavery affected the Azores as well as Continental Portugal; but in 1531 there was a general massacre of Moors and Negroes, and this perhaps has made the negro admixture less marked here than in some other Portuguese possessions. Moreover, the temperate climate, in which Europeans thrive, did not require negro labour. No doubt the white population, already established, looked on the introduction of negroes with jealousy, much as Chinese and Kanakas are now regarded in some of our Colonies. The aristocracy of the islands is still representative of the original conquerors and explorers, and Da Gamas, d'Albuquerques, Cabrals, and Bethencourts, are all to be met with.

The only other point I need refer to as affecting the popular legends is the volcanic nature of the group. In the eastern part of St. Michael's lies the Valley of the Furnas or Caves (wrongly anglicized as the Furnace). The Lake of the Furnas occupies a volcanic crater; and there is another depression (formerly a lake, but filled up since 1630 with cinders and ashes) which is known as the Lagoa Secca, or Dry Lake. The Valley of the Furnas contains many hot springs and geysers, locally known as Caldeiras. In 1445, soon after the first Portuguese settlement, the most important mountain at the western end of St. Michael's was entirely blown away, leaving an enormous crater now known as the Lakes of the Seven Cities. The 'Sete Cidades' or 'Septem Civitates' figure largely in mediæval writers as a name for Pluto's Atlantis, which was frequently identified with the Azores. Hence the name of 'Seven Cities' applied to the lakes which are believed to cover the former capital of Atlantis.