The Republican journal., 1896-01-09
In the Azores Islands.

| aEMBRANDTESQUE PICTURES. THE FIN
| f~r GRAPES IN THE WORLD AT ONE
FNr PER POUND AND WINE THREE
ltNrS A SCHOONER.
pecia correspondence of The Journal.
PoNrA DEL GApA, san Miguel, Nov.
Il 1885. In Lies Isles FORTUNES
The Fortunate Islands, as the Azores
we're originally called-life never ceases
q. wear the charm of novelty. Ever
81 nee their first settlement, in the 18th
| injury old Tempus seems to have been
ng steadily backward. Nowhere else
Ri YOU SO fully enjoy the restful sensa-
ron of being sin the world but not of it,
Is II the whole procession had swept by
ad left you 400 years ont of the reckon
Va. Perhaps you are occasionally dis
hed by faint rumors that some where
1tv0nd these azure seas there is hustle and
Activity; but the disagreeable impression
,u fades under the Circian spell of the
tte. Here, as elsewhere, poverty is
.a picturesque than riches, and the
lltt az tOI loNlA StltCl SttlltS ONt llltii
ms and color to the lowly. In Ponta
ada the most animated DAYS are
~ and Sunday, Wien the public
Set is open and people in holiday
4ra come from all parts Of the island
| uy, sell OF exchange their wares The
| 6et- place is large square enclosure
unded by high walls and wel-shaded
| ueense trees Stout iron gates guard
entrance, water ripples from a stone
| tain in The centre and several corset
Il ms of Mars are constantly in attend
Il to hear complaints and enforce hon
The booths of the larger dealers
backed up against the wals-those
sell meats and jewelry. earthen- ware
.4 heap tiuery, straw hats and pats of
| Ter wrapped up in yam leaves, prayer
Mks, and strings of garlic. In front of
,>e are the low fruit stands, piled with
aen oranges, luscious grapes. white and
aple yelvety peaches, figs, guavas,
niles, bauanas-all the fruits you ever
5rl Of and many that are entirely I'M
| luiliar. In the open space between
| ltse and the great fountain, scattered
| 0tut under the trees, are the hill
| .asants. as those from the interior are
| ed with their heaps of vans, melons
sweet potatoes of mammoth size,
..-try and other country products. The
~rA lounge idly about, taking no part in
| vehement hagg!ing sin Gods name
-Neen buyers and sellers; while the
tlen, Sqsatted Turkish fashion on the
t0nd, knit and gossip in the intervals of
itiic \ on soon discover that the most
hid looking AzoIean peasant Possesses
positive genius for barter, and
.u must either submit to the most
t5.o-fared eXtortion or practice patience
an eAliausting degree. Slow sales and
n4e profits is the principle of trade with
eIy one Of them. If Won are only Il
7l-s5u- stranger, spending a few hours n
.t1. 1t matters little if You pay ten times
uurh for one or two articles as the
more sophisticated conner but ii
attend to- remain here sometime and
SHOWN yourself gul lille in the first
ia yen Will lind that thereafter the
pl u everything in the market mounts
el per cent. the minute you appear in
# I'ut things are cheap enough.
q -- knows Meat and poultry sell for
WA half the average New York price.
q ae hsh-malket is an infinite wonder
81 le-} cheapness and excellent quail
iH.t is almost given away; the fin
e - pes f0T one cent per pound. 20
- ripe luscious FIGS for two cents
fnn geuts for a melon bigger than You
#aa 9:ly, six cents for basket full of
ll keting'' of various sorts sufficient to
#lEe good dinner for half a dozen per
s. And ''the people, oh the people,
w. dressed buyers and barefooted ser
Fan1s. men and women carrying all sorts
~ HFdens on their heads, priests and
gfo.elers in the sombre and gaudy cos
where to the pictures.
i4e men, of the dark swarthy type, are
almost invariably handsome, muscular
( aul we'll formed, and most of the chill
ran are exceedingly beautiful, but the
Women, after youth is passed, are simply
-qeous- The young girls, however,
W.h their lustrous eyes, white teeth,
Supple forms, developed by much burden
bearing to stately grace that Juno might
envy, short skirts and low bodices show
ug the dainty plumpness of the maidens
tuscany, full of song, laughter, and
1uocent coquetry, are singularly at
Iaetiye. Probably the women would be
eSS grotesquely ugly were it not for the
luote capello, or combination of hood
aud cloak, which envelops them from
head to heels, its enormous hood, stretch
Fi IN whale bones, like storm bent UNI
2Iel'a, bullying over the face three feet OF
more. Though the climate of San Migue
warrants the lightest clothing, no woman
of the So called better class ever sets
NJ from home without this extraordinar,
lment of heavy broadclotb, whose
"9est known similitude is the hooded