Nelson's defeat at Santa Cruz--The Mantilla--Arrival at Porto
Grande--Poverty of the inhabitants--Portuguese Exiles at the Cape de
Verds--City of Porto Prayo--Author's submersion--Green Turtle--Rainy
Season--Anchor at Cape Mesurado.
_July_ 1.--Ashore at Santa Cruz. The population of the city is reckoned
at six or eight thousand. The streets are clean, and the houses built in
the Spanish fashion. Camels are frequent in the streets.
The landing at the Mole is generally bad, as Nelson found to his cost. It
is easy to perceive that, even in ordinary times, the landing of a large
party, though unopposed, must be a work of considerable difficulty. How
much more arduous, then, was the enterprise of the great Naval Hero, who
made his attack in darkness, and in the face of a well-manned battery,
which swept away all who gained foot-hold on the shore! The latter
obstacle might have been overcome by English valor, under Nelson's
guidance; but night, and the heavy surf, were the enemies that gave him
his first and only defeat. The little fort, under whose guns he was
carried by his step-son, after the loss of his arm, derived its chief
interest, in my eyes, from that circumstance. The glory of the great
Admiral sheds a lustre even upon the spot where success deserted him. In
the Cathedral of Santa Cruz are to be seen two English flags, which were
taken on that occasion, and are still pointed out with pride by the
inhabitants. I saw them five years ago, when they hung from the walls,
tattered and covered with dust; they are now enclosed in glass cases, to
which the stranger's attention is eagerly directed by the boys who swarm
around him. The defeat of Nelson took place on the anniversary of the
patron-saint of Santa Cruz; a coincidence which has added not a little to
the saint's reputation. It was by no means his first warlike exploit; for
he is said to have come to the assistance of the inhabitants, and routed
the Moors, when pressing the city hard, in the olden time.
We wandered about the city until evening, and then walked in the Plaza.
Here the ladies and gentlemen of the city promenade for an hour or two,
occasionally seating themselves on the stone benches which skirt the
square. Like other Spanish ladies, the lovely brunettes of Santa Cruz
generally wear the mantilla, so much more becoming than the bonnet. There
are just enough of bonnets worn by foreigners, and travelled Spanish
dames, to show what deformities they are, when contrasted with the
graceful veil. This head-dress could only be used in a climate like that
of Teneriffe, where there are no extremes of heat or cold. It is a proverb
that there is no winter and no summer here. So equable and moderate is the
temperature, that, we were assured, a person might, without inconvenience,
wear either thick or thin clothing, all the year round. With such a
climate, and with a fertile soil, it would seem that this must be almost a
Paradise. There is a great obstruction, however, to the welfare of the
inhabitants, in the want of water. It rains so seldom that the ground is
almost burnt up, and many cattle actually perish from thirst. It is said
that no less than thirty thousand persons have emigrated from the island,
within three years.
The productions of Teneriffe, for export, are wine and barilla. Of the
first, the greater part is sent to England, Russia and the United States.
About thirty thousand pipes are made annually, of which two thirds are
exported. Little or no wine is produced on the southern slope of the
island. The hills around Santa Cruz are little more than rugged peaks of
naked rock. The scenery is wild and bold, but sterile; and scattered
around are stupendous hills of lava, the products of former volcanic
eruptions, but which have, for ages, been cold and wave-washed.
14.--Arrived at Porto Grande, in the island of St. Vincent's, one of the
Cape de Verds. The harbor is completely landlocked by the island of St.
Antonio, which stretches across its mouth. Still, there is, at times, a
considerable swell. The appearance of the land is barren, desolate, and
unpromising in the highest degree; and the town is in keeping with the
scenery. Eighty or ninety miserable hovels, constructed of small, loose
stones, in the manner of our stone-fences, stand in rows, with some
pretence of regularity. Besides the Governor and his aid, there are here
five white men, or rather Portuguese (for their claim to white blood is
not apparent in their complexions), viz. the Collector, the American
Consular Agent, a shop-keeper, whose goods are all contained in a couple
of trunks, and two private soldiers. We called to see the Governor, and
were politely received; he offered seats, and did the honors of the place
with dignity and affability. His pay is one dollar per diem. He has five
soldiers under his command, two of them Portuguese, and three native
negroes, one of whom has a crooked leg.
The people here are wretchedly poor, subsisting chiefly by fishing, and by
their precarious gains from ships which anchor in the port. The Collector
informed me that there had been sixty whale-ships in the harbor, within
the past year. The profits accruing from thence, however, are very
inadequate to the comfortable support of the inhabitants. The adults are
mostly covered with rags, while many of the children are entirely naked;
the cats and dogs (whose condition may be taken as no bad test of the
degree of bodily comfort in the community) are lean and skeleton-like. As
to religion, I saw nothing to remind me of it, except the ruins of an old
church. There has been no priest since the death of one who was drowned, a
few years ago, near Bird Island, a large rock, at the mouth of the harbor.
At the time of this fatal mishap, the reverend father was on a drunken
frolic, in company with some colored women.
The Cape de Verd Islands derive their name from the nearest point of the
mainland of Africa; they are under the dominion of Portugal, and,
notwithstanding their poverty, furnish a considerable revenue to that
country, over and above the expenses of the Colonial Government. This
revenue comes chiefly from the duties levied upon all imported articles,
and from the orchilla trade, which is monopolized by the Government at
home, and produces 50,000 dollars per annum. Another source of profit is
found in the tithes for the support of the Church, which, in some, if not
all the islands, have been seized by the Government (under a pledge for
the maintenance of the clergy), and are farmed out annually. These islands
supply the Portuguese with a place of honorable exile for officers who may
be suspected of heresy in politics, and hostility to existing
institutions. They are advanced a step in rank, to repay them (and a poor
requital it is) for the change from the delicious climate of Portugal, and
the gaieties of Lisbon, to the dreary solitude, the arid soil, and burning
and fever-laden air of the Cape de Verds. It is a melancholy thought, that
many an active intellect--many a generous and aspiring spirit--may have
been doomed to linger and perish here, chained, as it were, to the rocks,
like Prometheus, merely for having dreamed of kindling the fire of liberty
in their native land.
22.--We have spent some days at Porto Praya, the capital of St. Jago, the
largest of the Cape de Verd islands; whence we sail to-day. A large part
of the population is composed of negroes and mulattoes, whose appearance
indicates that they are intemperate, dissolute, and vile. The Portuguese
residing here are generally but little better; as may be supposed from the
fact, that most of those who were not banished from Portugal, for
political or other offences, came originally to engage in the slave-trade.
Going ashore to-day, we beached the boat, and a large negro, with a ragged
red shirt, waded out and took me on his shoulders. There is no position so
absurd, nor in which a man feels himself so utterly helpless, as when thus
dependant on the strength and sure-footedness of a fellow-biped. As we
left the boat, a heavy "roller" came in. The negro lost his footing, and I
my balance, and down we plunged into the surf. My sable friend seemed to
consider it a point of duty to hold stoutly by my legs, the inevitable
tendency of which manoeuvre was to keep my head under water. Having no
taste for a watery death, under these peculiar circumstances, I freed
myself by a vigorous kick, sprang to my feet, and seizing the negro by the
"ambrosial curls," pushed his head in turn under the surf. But seeing the
midshipmen and boat's crew laughing, noiselessly but heartily, at my
expense, the ludicrousness of the whole affair struck me so forcibly that
I joined in their mirth, and waded ashore as fast as possible. An
abolitionist, perhaps, might draw a moral from the story, and say that
all, who ride on the shoulders of the African race, deserve nothing better
than a similar overthrow. Sailed from Porto Praya. The bay of this port is
a good one, except in south-east gales, when the anchorage is dangerous.
The town, called Villa de Praya, contains about two thousand inhabitants
of every shade, the dark greatly predominating. Many vessels from Europe
and the United States, bound to India, Brazil, or Africa, find this a
convenient place to procure water and fresh provisions, and bring, in
return, much money into the city. There are three hundred troops here,
nearly all black, and commanded by forty Portuguese officers. The men are
under severe discipline, are tolerably well dressed, and make a soldierly
appearance. It is said that a St. Jago soldier formerly wore only a cocked
hat, being otherwise in a state of nature; but I cannot pretend to have
seen any instance of this extreme scantiness of equipment.
23.--Saw a large green turtle asleep on the surface of the water. One of
our boats went alongside of him, and two men attempted to turn him over
with boat-hooks. He struggled successfully, however, to keep himself
"right side up," and, in a few moments, plunged beneath the surface. Once
upon his back, he would have been powerless and a prisoner, and we might
have hoped for the advantage of his presence at our mess-table.
24.--At noon, the first rain came. It continued heavy and unremitting, for
twenty-four hours, after which there was a glimpse of the blue sky. Two
startling thunder-claps burst over the ship, at about 9 o'clock, A.M. Last
night, at 10, a heavy plunge carried away both our chain bobstays at once,
and all hands were turned up in the rain, to secure the bowsprit.
The sanitary regulations of the squadron, induced by the commencement of
the rainy season, cause considerable mirth and some growling. One rule is,
that every man shall protect himself with flannel next his person, and at
night shall also wear a cloth-jacket and trowsers. Stoves are placed on
the berth-deck, to dry the atmosphere below. It is a curious fact, that,
in March last, at Portsmouth, N. H., with the thermometer at zero, we were
deprived of stoves the moment the powder came on board; while now in the
month of July, on the coast of Africa, sweltering at eighty degrees of
Fahrenheit, the fires are lighted throughout the ship.
27.--Continual rain for the last three days. All miserable, but getting
used to it.
29.--A clear day, and comfortably cool. Wind fair.
30.--Made land, and saw an English brig of war. Commander Oakes, of the
Ferret, came on board.
31.--Made Cape Mount.
_August_ 1.--At 12, meridian, anchored at Cape Mesurado, off the town of
Monrovia. We find at anchor here the U. S. brig Porpoise, and a French
barque, as well as a small schooner, bearing the Liberian flag. This
consists of stripes and a cross, and may be regarded as emblematical of
the American origin of the colony, and of the Christian philanthropy to
which it owes its existence. Thirty or forty Kroomen came alongside. Three
officers of the Porpoise visited us. All are anxious to get back to the
United States. They coincide, however, in saying that, with simple
precautions, the health of this station is as good as that of any other.
They have had only a single case of fever on board; and, in that instance,
the patient was a man who ran away, and spent a night ashore.
My old acquaintance, Captain Cooper, came on board, and is to be employed
as pilot.