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

sea, where the peasants sole companions
are mountain goats and buzzards. Men
| and wemen working on these terraced
heights look like flies clinging to the wall
Of room. In pleasant weather the scene
is attractive, green and peacefnl but i'm
agination fails to depict the terror and
devastation that follows in the wake Of
the fierce gales which SO frequently buff
these stern coasts. Even more destruc-
tive, though happily less frequent, are
earthquakes and volcanic eruptions that
| occasionally overwhelm the island. Sew
eral times since its settlement, notably in
the years 1880, 1857, 1908, its towns have
been literally wiped out and the green
fields buried deep in blackened lava and
scoriae. Velhas is situated in Just the right
spot to be demolished by volcanic streams
seeking pathway to the sea; but as often
as destroyed it has been rebuilt on the
same site, for the simple reason that there
is no other opening in the rock bound
coast on this side Of the island; and after
each disaster nature has made e4traordi-
nary haste in hiding the ravages under
additional bloom and beauty. 1t is hard
to believe, but is nevertheless true, that
the industrious population of IS, 600 not
only manage to wrest a comfortable living
from these rugged hills, but actually ex-
port considerable butter, cheese, fruit
and cattle to Portugal and the neighbor-
ING islands. Their cheese is said to be Of
especial excellence and the shipping rec
ords show that in a single year one house
alone in Lisbon received $50, 900 worth of
butter from Nellas The peasantry OF
Sac Jorge are more picturesque in dress
and manners than any we have yet seen
in the Azores Their ways Of living and
methods Of labor are as primitive as We're
those of the Moors when they invaded
Spain and Portugal, from whom these
people are said to have sprung and to
whom they certainly bear a strong facial
resemblance. The women wear dresses
of dark blue wooden cloth. with enormous
heads from the waist and scant petticoats
OF the same material bordered with scar
let. OF the men S outfit the most notice
able part is the funny little cap, of dark
colored cloth edged with red, with tri-
angular visor turned up in front, so that
the long, sharp point looks like finger
pointing skyward.
1t is related that during the last great
volcanic eruption clouds of smoke were so
thick that the darkness of midnight set
tied over the island at noon day render
ing the ignited matter more bright and
terrific by contrast Every fresh explosion
resembled tie report of cannon, the
earth opening in many places, casting up
| red hot stones and ashes, and lava flowed
| in streams of liquid fire down the noun
| tain sides. The populace abandoned all
| hope and locked to the churches and con
vents TO pray, or rushed into the sea. pre-
ferring drowning to death by fire. The
| largest stream of fire set straight towards
| the convent OF the Sacred Sisters, known
| as Trsulines: and at the suI RENE moment
neal that the windows We're broken and
the shaken walls had cracked. an extraor-
binary spectacle took place The Mother
/ Abbtss, having assembled all her nuns
! and put a cruciX in the hands of each,
| threw wide the convent gates and adj
! vanced to meet the stream Of fire, weep
! lng aloud and besecching the Virgin and
| their patron saints to advert threatened
destruction III an instant the liquid fire
! changed its course to an opposite direc-
| tiCn. no longer menacing the convent, but
/ spreading desolation in another track to
the sea The nuns Frustrated themselves
on the ground in alteration and then sang
| hymns of praise. in which the astonished
people joined. The miracle was duly re-
ported to the Governor General of the
Azores and the powers that be in Portu-
| gal, who FASTENED to assure the Ursulines
that they should ever be este emed as
saints while living and their bones canon
lied when dead. Modern hcretcs, of
course see other reasons for the turning
aside Of the food. They say that the
valley is intersected by a deep ravine,
caused by a former earthquake, commu-
nicating with the ocean, and when the
stream reached that point it went into it,
as naturally as the water falls over the
cliffs at Niagara; but heaven forbid that
we should take anything from the glory
| of the Sacred Sisters
4 FANNIE B. WARD