The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1891-11-17
THE PREVIOUS ENVIRONMENT OF THE
PORTUGUESE.


And the great majority OF them hav'
made their homes here and will re
main.
While quite number went away
during the past few years, some hav'
returned and more have beel born
and the census shows that there ART
only 775 less in the country than il
1884.
Nearly all of the Portuguese here
came from the Azores or Western
Islands. These islands lie in Tie
Atlantic about 700 miles west of the
coast of Portugal, and are nine il
number. Their total area is abou.
7C0 square miles, or about 60 square
miles less than the area of Maui
and are densely settled having 9
population of about 100000. Maui
has a population of only 10000. The
names of these Islands are San Mi
guel, Santa Maria, Terceira, San
Jorge, Fayal, Graciosa, Flores and
Corvo. They lie in an irregular line
of 400 miles in length, running w. n.
w. and e. S. f. and between SO deg.
and SO deg. N, or about the latitude
of San Francisco.
Their inhabitants are Portuguese,
and are subject TO the crown of Po"-
tugal, but at the time of their
colonization, in the middle of the
fifteenth century, a great influx
of Flemish blood took place and
other races mixed with them, so
that traces of these races still re-
main. Among the Portuguese he.e
various types are observable. In
| 1888 these islands were bestowed
by King Duarte upon his brother,
Prince Henry (the navigator), as a
reward of his re-discOvery of them.
Before this they were uninhabited.
For 400 years, until 1882, Captain
General ruled over the destinies of
Azores, but on the fourth day of June
of that year this all-powerful office
was abolished by Dom Pedro, and
they then became a Province of Por-
tugal, with Angra, on the Island of
Terceira, as the political capital.
THE CLIMATE.
The climate, though humid, is
healthy, mild and equable. The Their
mometer seldom rises above rs deg,
or descends below 80 deg. Fab.
In summer the prevailing winds
are northeast and easterly. In winter,
however, they are Oftentimes visited
by severe gales from the south, south
west, and more rarely from the north
west and southeast. Except on the
mountain tops, frosts are unknown.
The temperature during the winter
months shows a mean of 81 deg, and
in summer of 69.5 deg.
The rainfall is very irregular, but
has increased considerably of recent
years, owing to the covering of the
highlands with timber trees. On the
highlands the annual rainfall is over
60 inches, but on the lowlands the
average is about 40 inches.
The islands sometimes suffer from
droughts, the island of Santa Maria,
the most southerly of the group, suf-
ferlng the most frequently. In the
summer of 1876 nearly all the crops
were lost on Santa Maria and the in
habitants were driven to great straits,
exporting nearly all their cattle to
obtain the bare necessities of life.
Many of them, unable to subsist upon
the scanty food procurable, emigrated
to Brazil.
The years 1SSl-1SS2 were again bad
years, during which large quantities
Of food had to be imported.
The .rainfalls in the Azores are
capricious, and it appears to be a
question how far the planting and
telling of trees of extern
sive tracts affects the regularity of the |
That these, more especially |
during recent times, have been much |
disturbed there is no doubt, for |
changes are now more fire.
luent and violent; bringing about |
failures of crops, so that, with a
genial climate and soil of unsur-
passed fertility, famine among the
poor classes is not uncommon. The
great proportion of the land is owned |
Dy a comparatively few families.
Formerly the law of primogeniture
and the land descended to
,he eldest son. This law was abol-
shed, and in order to retain the prop
,rty in families, the inter-marriage of
citations became common, cousins
cousins, and uncles marry
ng nieces.
The soil is very productive, and the
people have depended largely upon
he cultivation and exporting of fruit
IS source of income. The annual
Profits on oranges alone in some
-ears, before they were blighted, in
ST., reached nearly 100000.
The st. Michael orange (of first
uality) has no European rival.
OF the pineapples there are no less
han fiftytwo varieties. The variety
which is almost exclusively culti-
ated for export is the Smooth
cayenne. When fully ripe they
Weigh from to lbs.
Many varieties of grapes formerly
hrived, but were attacked by disease,
i'll now the American Isabel grape is
lmost the only kind relied upon.
heir experience in this respect is
cry similar to ours in Hawaii.
THE PEOPLE.
The Portuguese are a liberty-loving
eOple. For sixty years in the six
zenith and seventeenth centuries they
we're ruled by the Spaniards till, in
$40, when the people rose in revolt,
nd, by almost unanimous vote, pro-
laimed Braganca King under title of
ohm ". A long war ensued with
pain, which was terminated in 1865
y the decisive defeat of the Spaniards.
| treaty of alliance concluded with
England in 1861, inaugurated series
t similar alliances, one of which, in | :
7O3, drew Portugal into the war of
ne Spanish succession. The reign of
oseph Jose 1750-77) was marked by [
reat social and agricultural reforms,
nd the exDulsion of the JesuitS .