On This Coast, Between The Tropic And
The Equinoctial, We Never Meet With Any Hard Gales, As Storms Are Very
Rarely Found Within The Tropics.
On nearing the land, the soundings in
many parts of the coast do not exceed fifty _braccia_, but farther out
the depth rapidly increases, and the sea usually runs high at a distance
from the land.
When we arrived at Rio del Oro, as mentioned before, we
observed four stars in the form of a cross, of an extraordinary size and
splendour, elevated thirty degrees above the antarctic pole, and forming
the constellation called _il Crusero_. While under the tropic of Cancer,
we saw this constellation very low; and, on directing our _balestra_[8]
to the lowermost of these stars, we found it to be directly south, and
concluded that it must be in the centre of the antarctic polar circle. We
observed the same constellation very high when we were at the island of
St Thomas; and remarked that the moon, after rain, produces a rainbow
similar to that occasioned by the sun during the day, except that the
colours were dim and ill-defined. On leaving the straits of Gibraltar, I
did not observe any sensible change on the ebb and flow of the sea; but
when we approached Rio Grande, which is eleven degrees to the north of
the equinoctial, we observed a considerable tide at the mouth of that
river, and the rise in some places was much the same as on the coast of
Portugal, whereas at the isle of St Thomas it was nearly the same as at
Venice.
The island of St Thomas was discovered above eighty[9] years ago, by some
captains in the royal navy of Portugal, and was altogether unknown to the
ancients. Its horizon or parallel passes at an equal distance between the
arctic and antarctic poles, and its days and nights are always equal. The
arctic polar star is there invisible, but the _guardiani_ are seen in
some measure to revolve, and the constellation which is known by the name
of _il crusero_, is seen in the heavens at a high altitude. To the
eastwards[10] of St Thomas, and at the distance of 120 miles, the small
island called _Il Principe_ is situated. This latter island is inhabited
and cultivated, the produce of its sugar canes belonging to the revenue
of the kings eldest son, from which circumstance the island derives its
name. To the S. S. W. or S. and by W. and in the latitude of almost 2 deg. S.
is the uninhabited island of Annobon, on which numbers of crocodiles and
venomous serpents are found. Its rocky shores abound in fish, and are
much resorted to by the inhabitants of St Thomas on that account. When
first discovered, the island of St Thomas was an entire forest,
containing a variety of trees, which, though barren, were extremely
verdant. These trees were all remarkably tall and straight, their
branches all drawn close to the stems, and not spreading out as with us.
After clearing away a great part of the forest, the inhabitants built a
principal town called _Pouoasan_, which has an excellent harbour. The
principal dependence of the settlers in this island is upon their sugars,
which they exchange yearly with the merchants who trade thither, for
flour in barrels, wines, oil, cheese, leather, swords, glass beads,
drinking-cups, pater-nosters, and _buzios_, which are a small kind of
shells, called by the Italians _white porcelain_, and which pass in
Ethiopia as money. The Europeans who reside on this island depend much
for provisions on the ships, as they cannot subsist on the fare used by
the Negroes. The slaves employed in their sugar plantations are procured
from Guinea, Benin, and Congo; and some rich planters have from 150 to
300 Negroes. These work five days in every week for their masters, and
are allowed the Saturdays to themselves, when they cultivate various
articles of provision, as the _miglio zaburo_, a species of bean formerly
mentioned, a root called _igname_, and many species of culinary
vegetables, the seeds of which must be imported from Europe, as they do
not come to perfection in this climate.
[Illustration: Chart of North Western Africa]
The soil of St Thomas consists of a red and yellow marl, or clay, of
great fertility, which is kept soft and mellow by the heavy dews which
fall nightly, contributing greatly to vegetation, and preventing it from
being dried up by the great heats; and so great is the luxuriant
fertility of the soil, that trees immediately spring up on any spots left
uncultivated, and will grow as high in a few days as would require as
many months with us. These sprouts are cut down and burnt by the slaves,
and their ashes are used as manure for the sugarcanes. If planted in
January, the canes are ready to be cut in June, and those which are
planted in February become ripe in July; and in this manner they keep up
a succession throughout the whole year. In March and September, when the
sun is vertical, the great rains set in, accompanied with cloudy and
thick weather, which is of great service to the sugar plantations. This
island produces yearly above 150,000 arobas of sugar, each containing
thirty-one of our pounds, of which the king receives the tenth part,
which usually produces from 12,000 to 14,000 arobas, though many of the
planters do not pay this tythe fully. There are about sixty _ingenios_
driven by water, for bruising the canes and pressing out the juice, which
is boiled in vast chaldrons, after which it is poured into pans in the
shape of sugar-loaves, holding from fifteen to twenty pounds each, in
which it is purified by means of ashes. In some parts of the island,
where they have not streams of water, the canes are crushed by machines
worked by the Negroes, and in others by horses.
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