The Voyage of the Beagle | Page 9

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during a few days only in the season as watercourses, are clothed with thickets of leafless
bushes. Few living creatures inhabit these valleys. The commonest bird is a kingfisher
(Dacelo Iagoensis), which tamely sits on the branches of the castor-oil plant, and thence
darts on grasshoppers and lizards. 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 valley, there is also a wide difference.
One day, two of the officers and myself rode to Ribeira Grande, a village a few miles
eastward of Porto Praya. Until we reached the valley of St. Martin, the country presented
its usual dull brown appearance; but here, a very small rill 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. This 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. (1/2. The Cape de Verd Islands were
discovered in 1449. There was a tombstone of a bishop with the date of 1571; and a crest
of a hand and dagger, dated 1497.) The heraldic ornaments were the only things in this
retired place that reminded us of Europe. The church or chapel formed one side of a
quadrangle, in the middle of which a large clump of bananas were growing. On another
side was a hospital, containing about a dozen miserable-looking inmates.
We returned to the Vênda to eat our dinners. A considerable number of men, women, and

children, all as black as jet, collected to watch us. Our companions were extremely merry;
and everything we said or did was followed by their hearty laughter. Before leaving the
town we visited the cathedral. It does not appear so rich as the smaller church, but boasts
of a little organ, which sent forth singularly inharmonious cries. We presented the black
priest with a few shillings, and the Spaniard, patting him on the head, said, with much
candour, he thought his colour made no great difference. We then returned, as fast as the
ponies would go, to Porto Praya.
Another day we rode to the village of St. Domingo, situated near the centre of the island.
On a small plain which we crossed, a few stunted acacias were growing; their tops had
been bent by the steady trade-wind, in a singular manner--some of them even at right
angles to their trunks. The direction of the branches was exactly north-east by north, and
south-west by south, and these natural vanes must indicate the prevailing direction of the
force of the trade-wind. The travelling had made so little impression on the barren soil,
that we here missed our track, and took that to Fuentes. This we did not find out till we
arrived there; and we were afterwards glad of our mistake. Fuentes is a pretty village,
with a small stream; and everything appeared to prosper well, excepting, indeed, that
which ought to do so most--its inhabitants. The black children, completely naked, and
looking very wretched, were carrying bundles of firewood half as big as their own bodies.
Near Fuentes we saw a large flock of guinea-fowl--probably fifty or sixty in number.
They were extremely wary, and could not be approached. They avoided us, like
partridges 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 little
stream of clear water. It happened to be a grand feast-day, and the village was full of
people. On our return we overtook a party of about twenty young black girls, dressed in
excellent taste; their black skins and snow-white linen being set off by coloured turbans
and large shawls. As soon as we approached near, they suddenly all turned round, and
covering the path with their shawls, sung with great energy a wild song, beating time
with their hands upon their legs. We threw