The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1896-04-02

'"o'o AioeoIloSIdpuef OF the 1SlanQS,
holds different opinion. Some stones
have been discovered in the Canaries
which bear sculptu1ed symbols precisely
like those found on the shores of Lake
superior, and from that circumstance he
argues that the first inhabitants of these
islands, and those of our great West.
were of the same race How that could
be, IN the days before boats were invent
ed, he does not state. However, the Ca
naries may have been inhabited at differ
ent periods by different people.
When the elder Pliny wrote about them,
they were entirely uninhabited. He got
his account from Juba ii, King of the two
Maurtanias; and long before his day the
Ph@nicans had visited them. Both Plu-
tarch and Ptolemy wrote of the ''Fortu-
nate Islands, but every island on this
side OF the Atlantic, from Cape Verde to
the Azores, claims the distinction of be-
ing the one alluded to. In more modern
times, the first account of the Canaries
was furnished by the crew of French
vessel, which was driven upon them by
stress of weather, in the year 1884. Soon
afterwards Spanish gentlemen obtained
grant of them from the Pope, and I'M
dertook to make a settlement on LAMA
rote. At that time the islands were
densely populated, and the people, though
unframed in the arts of war, etfectuallv
resisted all attempts at their subiuga-
ton for a hundred years; and not unit
1893 was Spain authority finally estab-
lished. Most of the Guanchas were killed
in the invasion, and many were sold by
their conquerors as slaves. The few that
| remained persisted in the terrible pesti-
lence of 1904, caused it is said, by the
great number of dead bodies left unburi-
ed by the Spaniards after the battle of La
guna; and the Guancha nation was practi-
cally extinct at the beginning of the 10th
century.
Southwest from Tenertfe, and only 20
miles away, is the small island of Come
IA, also circular in shape, with precipi-
tous coast and tall interior mountains. 1t
than most of the islands, lack of fresh
water springs being their greatest draw
back. The principal town and port is st.
Sebastion, and its pride and glory is that
Columbus once resided here, before en-
gaging in the business Of discovery. The
people of Gomera, though frugal and in
dustrious, look wretchedly poor-prob-
ably on account of Spain's policy of tax
ing her colonies to the limit of endurance.
They export much raw silk, besides guam
titles of dates and dried figs, wine and
orchil. Farther to the southwest, 81
miles from Teneriffe, is the island of
Hero, its coast bound by tall cliffs, with
only one halbor among them and that in
accessible to large vessels.
But the interior is level and covered
with rank grasses, and the people are
mostly occupied in sheep raising. Its one
town, Nalverde has less than ), 900 inhab-
ltalltS Sixty miles or SO due north from
IIrerro is the island of san Miguel de la
! Palma, 26 miles long 10y half us broad \
chain OF mountains traverse it from end
to end, with crater ten miles in diane
ter IN one OF them, overhung by peaks
which rise ), 900 feet above it. Its capi-
tai, which rejoices in the name of Santa
Cruz de san Migue. de la Palma has
a population OF 1000. Ribbons and
siderable raw silk is exported. The poor
est peasant girl OF the Canalies wears silk
stockings whenever she wears any.
Fuerte ventura, the big island which
lies nearly 100 miles east of Tenertfe is
the only one of the group upon which the
vine is not cultivated. A each end of the is
i land stands a mountain, like a sentinel on
guard, which stretches out two long arms
to meet the outstretched arms of its fell
/ low mountain at the other end, the two
enclosing between them a large, arid plain
| Fuerte Vantura is the most barren looking
| of all the islands, for rain seldom falls
there, sometimes not drop in two or
three years. But the arid sands are not
without their valuable commercial pro-
ducts, orchil- litchen and barilla, the for
mer dye-stutf largely exported to Eng
| land, the latter a sort of kelp, which is
burned in heaps and from the ashes an
alkali of impure soda is made, which is
used for bleaching purposes and in the
making of soap, glass, ETC. Its Astounding
century plants also yield a great deal
of fibre, from which ropes and girths are
made, and from its palm leaves hats and
baskets are manufactured.
Lanzarote, the most easterly of the
group and barely so miles from the coast
of Africa, is naked and mountainous,
showing everywhere its volcanic origin.
and several eruptions have occurred upon
it within a recent period. Its port, nam
ed Naos, is on the south coast, protected by
two strong forts; and short distance away
is the town of Arrecfe, with population
of 3, 900. Its climate is much like that of
the adjacent main land, and the number