The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1895-09-26

each three time her own size: and after ali
her masts were gone and she had been
three times boarded without success. de-
flying to the last the whole fleet of fifty-
one sail which lay around waiting for
her to strike or sink. Raleigh tells us
how finally Sir Richard, shot through
body and head and wounded again and
again, was taken ON board the Spanish adj
miraFs ship to die, and gave up his gal
liant ghost with the words, ssHere die 1,
Richard Granville, with joyful and
quiet mind for that have ended my life
as true soldier ought, fighting for his
country, queen, religion and honor; my
soul willingly departing from this body,
leaving behind the lasting fame of having
behaved as every valiant soldier is in his
duty bound to do That was rather
long and stilted speech for a dying man,
shot all to pieces, to make; probably, in
point of fact, he said no such thing,
though it reads SO well in history Sir
Walter Raleigh romanced too much in
his accounts of Ell Dorado and the golden
skies of South America for lis to have en-
tire confidence in his famous 'sReport Of
the Truth of the Fight about the Isles OF
the Azores"
As the outline of Flores grows more
distinct you see jagged volcanic peaks
soping on all sides to the sea, ending in
black precipices against which the surf
beats ceaselessly. A nearer view reveals
green fields and cultivated uplands, cot
tages and waving grain, and cloud shad-
ows chasing each other on the hill tops
and down the deep ravines. While wait
ing for a boat to come off with the health
officers and pratique to go ashore, bust
ness of some hours, we amuse ourselves
by getting all the information we can
about Corvo, the nearby neighbors, of
which we have fine view. 1t looks al
most round, a picturesque mass of rock
and forest, not five miles in diameter-n
short, what it is, merelya volcanic crater,
which the natives call 0 Caldurao, 1.-The
Big Pot and whose outer sides are cult
waited. This smallest and most northerly
OF the Azorean archipelago exists only as
a satellite Of Flores, and could not be
mentioned at all were it not within sigh
of the latter. Vessels never call there, be-
cause it has no harbor, the only means of
communication with the outside world
being by means of a whale boat from
Flores once month"; winds and waves
permit. But sometimes during bad
weather even this is forbidden, and for
three Or four consecutive months the tiny
island is totally isolated. At best the
ten mile row is not a pleasure excursion,
owing to boisterous waves and adverse cur
rents, SO it is not likely that we shall ever
set foot on Corvo. The great drawback
OF all these islands is their lack of natural
harbors, business being mainly carried on
through TWO of them, where artificial
got its name, (which is Portuguese for
crow) from the number of those birds
found upon it when discovered. The
captains chart says that it is six miles
long by three wide, rising abruptly from
the ocean, with a rough, inhospitable
looking coast Of dark, serrated rocks,
which run in reefs from the shore, here
lifting themselves high above the water,
there merely blackening the surface and
again sinking to such a depth that their
dangerous presence can be told only by
tile eddy whirling above them. 1t is in
labited by small colony of Moorish
descent, about a thousand strong, who
are said to be peculiarly gentle and in
! offensive people, called ''old- fashioned
by the other islanders. Their speciality
is raising poultry, the very best in the
world says the ships steward; and they
also produce some wheat, vans and corn.
and raise horses of small but hardy
breed. There are two natural curiosities
on the little island. One is small lake
at the bottom of the extinct volcano.
studded with tiny islets that present a
perfect miniature representation of the
Azorean archipelago. The other curiosity
is of semi historical interest. On cliff
near the shore nature has depicted the
figure of a man on horseback, with extend
ed arm pointing to the westward. The
ravages of wind and weather have nearly
obliterated the likeness, but local tradition
still confidently asserts that this stone
horseman had great deal to do with the
discovery of America. The story goes
that Columbus, on his great voyage of
discovery, became completely disheartened
by the difficulties surrounding him, and
was on the point Of abandoning his pro-
ject and turning back to Spain when a
severe storm drove him close to Corvo.
Seeing this rock, and its colossal horse
man sternly pointing to the westward, he
regarded it as a heaven-sent omen, pious-
ly crossed himself, and proceeded on his
way to the New World. A great many
Carthagenian coins have been picked up
in Corvo, from which circumstance it is
argued that the ancient Carthagenians
must have visited this island, although
there is nothing in history to show that