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

4^ ST. JAGO — CAPE DE VERD ISLANDS. Jan. 1832. and could not be approached. They avoided us, like par- tridges on a rainy day in September, running with their heads cocked up ; and if pursued, they readily took to the wing. The scenery of St. Domingo possesses a beauty totally unexpected, from the prevalent gloomy character of the rest of the island. The village is situated at the bottom of a valley, bounded by lofty and jagged walls of stratified lava. The black rocks afford a most striking contrast with the bright green vegetation, which follows the banks of a Uttle stream of clear water. It happened to be a grand feast-day, and the village was full of people. On our return we over- took a party of about twenty young black girls, dressed in most excellent taste ; their black skins and snow-white linen being set off by their coloured turbans and large shawls. As soon as we approached near, they suddenly all turned round, and covering the path \^-ith their shawls, sung with great energy a wild song, beating time with their hands upon their legs. We threw them some vintems, which were received with screams of laughter, and we left them redoubUng the noise of their song. It has aheady been remarked, that the atmosphere is generally very hazy ; this appears chiefly due to an impal- pable dust, which is constantly falling, even on vessels far out at sea. The dust is of a brown colour, and under the blowpipe easily fuses into a black enamel. It is produced, as I believe, from the wear and tear of volcanic rocks, and must come from the coast of Africa. One morning the view was singularly clear ; the distant mountains being projected mth the sharpest outUne, on a hea\7^ bank of dark blue clouds. Judging from the appearance, and from similar cases in England, I supposed that the air was satu- rated with moisture. The fact, however, turned out quite the contrary. The hygrometer gave a difference of 29.6 degrees, between the temperature of the air, and the point at which dew was precipitated. This difference was nearly double that which I had observed on the previous mornings.