Morris tribune., 1897-09-08
A MYSTERIOUS RACE.
A SETTLEMENT OF WHITES WHO,
HAVE LIVED 500 YEARS UNKNOWN.


tain Home Beautiful, Fair Haired,
White Skinned Girls Clad In Snowy
Linen Garments.
That white races of mysterious origin
and of an advanced grade of civilization
exist in certain of the as yet unexplored
plateaus of Africa has long been mat
ter Of tradition among all those who
have devoted their attentionsto the eth
biographical and geographical science Of
the dark continent and Rider Haggard
and other English novelists have found
in reports bearing upon the subject the
theme of many of their most popular
stories
But no attention has been drawn as
yet to the fact that in the interior of
San Jago, the largest of the Cape Verde
islands, which nestle in the Atlantic
off the most westerly point of northern
Africa. there exists strange people
known by the name of the Cantadas,
who for 800 years past have been abso-
lutely cut off from all intercourse with
the outer world, and who are fair
haired, light complexioned and blue
eyed, whereas the remaining population
of the Cape Verde islands consists of
negroes and of Portuguese, who are
almost as swarthy and somber in color
as full blooded Africans.
Clear and sharp against the sky line
of San Jago the mountain of San An
tonic towers aloft in pinnacle to the
height of some 5000 feet. In form it
conveys the impression of an ancient
volcano, with its sharp slope on the
side toward the sea, but on the inland
side the decIivity is broken by sort of
cup shaped interval, at the farther end
of which there is the stump of what
seems in times gone by to have consti-
tuted second peak, of equal height to
San Antonio, but which, through some
great cataclysm of nature, has been
broken off some 1000 or 5000 feet
above the common base.
Strangely enough, the peak of San
Antonio is accessible to clever noun
taineers, whereas the sister mountain
that is to say, the broken off peaks
quite the reverse. From the point where
it rises from the surrounding desert
table land there is nothing but a steep
wall of volcanic rock, not merely hun
dreds but probably couple of thou
sand feet high Indeed the only point
whence access could ever be obtained
to the summit of the sister mountain of
San Antonio would be from the cuplike
interval which divides the two, and
mention of which has been made above.
This cup, however, is filed with
water and is known by the name of the
Cantadas lake 1t is a great sheet Of
water of marvellous depth and clearness.
On this farther end of the lake, and
in the interior Of this sister mountain
of San Antonio, dwells the mysterious
white race known as the Cantadas Dis
trustful, apparently, of the gaze Of stran-
gers, these people of the mountain sell
dom leave their nabitations during day
time, and on the slightest alarm of
visitors they seek the shelter Of the rock
But by hiding on the opposite cliffs IN
til evening and with the aid of glasses
it is possible to get good view of them
when they begin at sunset to gather on
the grassy meadow which fronts the
opening Of the caves and extends down
to the waters edge.
Beautiful, fair haired, white skinned
girls, clad in flowing white linen gar
ments, which scarcely conceal the sinu-
GUS beauty of perfect grace and form,
come out to wash linen in the lake and
to sport on the cool green grass The
men, too, are simply dressed in much
the same way, their white linen gar
ments being admirably suited to the
tropic climate. Many other signs Of a
high degree of civilization appear, and
from certain points near the summit of
San Antonio it is possible, with the aid
of strong glasses, to catch glimpses
through assures here and there in the
wall Of rock of the twin mountain, of
sheep and cattle grazing, of green fields
and trees and of white, fat rooted houses
running parallel with one another, all
brilliantly lighted by the sun, and there
fore leading to the belief that the inte-
rior of this sister mountain of San An
tonic must be followed out into some
valley, possibly the crater of an extinct
volcano, which, through some freak Of
nature, has been converted from barren
basalt and lava into grassy and fertile
slopes.
An intrepid explorer would not have
great difficulty in reaching the Cantadas
people. All that would be necessary
would be to ascend the San Antonio
peak, to descend ON the other side until
one reached the cliffs that overhang the
Cantadas lake, to have oneself lowered
by means of rope to the surface Of the
latter and then to swim across the lake,
which may be anywhere from four to
six miles in length.
Certain scientists who have investi-
gated the tradition and rumors that ex-
ist about the Cantadas among the in
habiSants, African and Portuguese, of
the Cape Verde islands, are inclined to
the belief that they are of Cornish
origin. This theory is due to the fact
that what is stated to be their tongue
resembles the dialect OF the natives Of
Cornwall more than any other known
language. New York Journal.