Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1897-12-05

tain Home Beautiful, Fair Haired,
 whit0 Skinned GirIs Clad In Snowy
 Einen 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 attention to the eth biographical and geographical science of tho 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 tho Cape Verde islands, which nestle in the Atlantic off the most westerly point of northern Africa, there exists q strange people known by the name of the Cantadas, who for 300 years past have been abso- iutely cut off from all intercourse with the outer world, and who are faix haired, light eomplexioned 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 slzy iins of San Jago the mountain of San An tonic towers aloft in a pinnacle to the height of some s, GOO feet In form iS aopx,axyc fba i,,Y,roeoio,, ,q o,, anc;ov.A volcano, with it's sharp slope on the aide toward the sea, but on the inland side the declivity is broken by q sort of cup shaped interval, at the farther end of which there is the stump of what seems ill times gone by to have consts- tuted second peak, of equal height to San Antonio, but which, through soma great cataclysm of nature. has been broken off some 4,000 or 5000 fest above the common base.
 Strangely enough, the peak of San Antonio is accessible to clever moun- taineers, whereas tho sister mountain-- that is to say, the broken off peak-is quite tho reverse. From the point where 1t rises from the surrounding desert Sable land there is nothing but 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 Go tho 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 filled with water and ie known by the name of the Cantadas lake 1t is great sheet of water of marvellous depth and olearness
 On this farther end of tho 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 habitations during day time, and on the slightest alarm of visitors they seek the shelter of the rock But by hiding on the opposite cliffs un- til evening and with the aid of glasses ie 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 tho waters edge.
 Beautiful, fair haired, white skinned girls, clad in flowing white linen gar-s ments, which scarcely conceal the sinu- ous beauty of perfect grace and form, come out to wash linen ill 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 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, fiat roofed houses running parallel with one another, all brilliantly lighted by the sun, and there fore leading to tho belief that the inte- rior of this sister mountain of San An tonic must be hollowed out into some valley, possibly tho 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 i'll reaching tho Cantadas people. All that would be necessary would he to ascend tho San Antonio peak, to descend on the other side until one reached tho cliffs that overhang the Cantadas lake, to have oneself lowered by means of a rope to the surface of the latter and then to swim across the lake, which may be anywhere from four so six miles ill length.
 Certain scientists who have invests- gated tho tradition and rumors that ex- ist about the Cantadas among the .in- habitants, African and Portuguese, of she Cape Verde islands, are inclined to the belief that they are of Cornish origin. This theory is due to tho fact that what is stated to be their tongue resembles the dialect of the natives of Cornwall more than any other knows fAuc.s1oszss Nc.-g Vr,l- vo.,.,..