Narrative of the surveying voyages of his majesty's ships Adventure and Beagle (vol.3)

2 ST. JAGO — CAPE DE VERD ISLANDS. Jan. 1832. prospect of an utterly sterile land possesses a grandeur which more vegetation might spoil. A single green leaf can scarcely be discovered over wide tracts of the lava plains ; yet flocks of goats, together with a fcAV cows, con- trive to exist. It rains very seldom, but during a short portion of the year heavy torrents fall, and immediately afterwards a light vegetation springs out of every cre\ace. This soon withers ; and upon such naturally-formed hay the animals hve. At the present time it has not rained for an entire year. The broad, flat-bottomed, valleys, many of which serve during a few days only in the season as a water- course, are clothed with thickets of leafless bushes. Few living creatures inhabit these valleys. The commonest bird is a kingfisher [Dacelo jagoetisis), which tamely sits on the branches of the castor-oil plant, and thence darts on the grasshoppers and hzards. It is brightly coloured, but not so beautiful as the European species : in its flight, manners, and place of habitation, which is generally in the driest valleys, there is also a wide difi'erence. One day, two of the officers and myself rode to Ribeira Grande, a village a few miles to the eastward of Porto Praya. Until we reached the valley of St. Martin, the country pre- sented its usual dull brown appearance ; but there, a very small riU of water produces a most refreshing margin of luxuriant vegetation. In the course of an hour we arrived at Ribeira Grande, and were surprised at the sight of a large ruined fort and cathedral. The little town, before its harbour was filled up, was the principal place in the island : it now presents a melancholy, but very picturesque appearance. Having procured a black Padre for a guide, and a Spaniard, who had served in the Peninsular war, as an interpreter, we visited a collection of buildings, of which an ancient church formed the principal part. It is here the governors and captain-generals of the islands have been buried. Some of the tombstones recorded dates of the sixteenth century.* * The Cape de Verc> Islands were discovered in 1449.