The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1895-12-05

IL tOHe. lIlt Slitht tstdplIlS DIS DCSt IL call
In another corner is the bed, SO high that
it almost needs a ladder To climb into it.
covered with 4 gay patch work spread,
suen a. our glandmothers used to make
bef9ie the days Of crazy quilts. There
is also a hand loom, a deal table, some
scriptnral prints on the wall, bench and
perhaps a chair on two with seats OF WOW
en- PUSHES. BIT the latter seem to be
merely ornamental, OF reserved for com
pany the ladies Of the household invari-
ably squatting upon the floor when busy
with their sewing Or spinning, carding
flax Or wool, weaving baskets and braid
ing hats, doing their beautiful knitting
and enlbroidering. and making exquisite
lace out Of the split fiber of the aloe. For
illuminating purposes there is the same
modification of the. old Roman lamp that
oul Puritan ancestors used i'll New Eng
land, viz. a small triangular pan to hold
grease, with a floating wick OF twisted
rag in 1t.
One thing which perplexes stranger in
the Azores is the multiplicity of names in
the same family, making it difficult to
identify its members When a girl mar
ries she sometimes takes her husbands
name; but oftener she does not The
oldest son, when arrived at years of dis
erection, appropriates one or two Of his
father 5 ancestral names, choosing those
that please his fancy: and the second son
selects some OF his mothers in the same
/ manner-but neither ever assumes the
fathers family name That is considered
OF no consequence whatever. the baptis-
nal name being the one to which impor-
1lenas, Jorges and Jesus abound in dis
tracing numbers, and in the post office
letters are assorted according y-no at
tention being paid to the surname, but
\ the Antonios nut IN one pile, the Batas in
another, and 50 on through the alphabet
sac Jorge is about tile same size as its
near neighbor, Graciosa, but greater
I contrast can hardly be imagined than that
between The appearance Of the two islands.
4 geographically considered sac Jorge is
by far the most Interesting island Of the
archipelago except perhaps, Pico, which
surpasses II ouy ID the height Of its single
volcanic Gone. Thirty miles long by bare
y 1lree and half miles wide, with tall
M auMtains running from end 70 end, it
presents one 1T the most impressive sea-
waiis eyes ever heheld. skilting il in a
yacht on a tranquil sammer's day is a
to-be-torgotten experience, as full
Il danger as Of sublimity No wonder
/ that sailors dread The approach to this
I small speck id mid Atlantic even more
1 than rounding storm beset Cape Horn
The mighty mass of headands rising
sheer and abrupt out Of the Azorean sea,
from 300 ~ l,300 feet, with scarcely a
break in their grim sides save where
| gulches corrugate the upper heights, are
t guarded by projecting reefs of high black
rock against which the surf beats with
ceaseless fury. Strong currents set in
oiiCiO"d1N, hiiliC Dl1otS ploNIHS QOh Ii lllt
| gulches with destructive force soon dash
| to pieces the unfortunate vessel driven
under the lee of this Titanic wall, where
not solitary crag projects to which a
drowning mariner may cling.
San Jorge's one town, or rather ham
let, called Ponta de las Velhas, set close to
the shore on the shelving edge of one Of
these heights, looks just ready to slip off
into the water. Taken all in all, it is the
most lugubrious, -begone and desc
late Hooking place to be found in many a
long journey. You climb up to it over a
slippery, wave washed heap of rocks CALI
ed by courtesy a quay, and enter the vii :
lage through picturesque medieval gate
way. Ruins Of ancient Notifications sur
round the little harbor as if nature had
not sufficiently fortified the undesirable
possession; but the rusty guns were long
since planted in the earth, mouth down
ward, to serve the peaceful purpose of
tying posts for boats. Grass and weeds
spring up unhindered in it's irregular
streets, and there are few poor shops, a
market place with a covered shed. a grea
church and hospital. The latter building
was once populous convent. The mar
row cells Of the monks, turned into sick
wards have a cheerful outlook into the
cemetery on one side, and into the patio
on the other where the official cotfins are
stored. These black painted boxes ha We
been many times used, being only loaned
% the dead for the short journey to the
gave, into which the corpse is dumped
uneof1ped, the box being returned to the
patio to serve the same purpose again and
agait. The most attractive place in Vel
has il the central Understanding in
which, looking up and around, you feel
as if at the bottom Of a mighty well, so
close on all sides are the precipitious
mountains. The broad plateau which
forms the backbone of this rocky islet is
extremely FERTILE and every available
patch OF soil is cultivated to the utmost.
Even the almost perpendicular sides of
the Hottest cliffs are rerraced and TILED,
to the edge Of precipices which drop