The herald., 1897-08-04
LONG LIVED UNKNOWN
A MYSTERIOUS WHITE RACE OF
PEOPLE
That Inhabit African Mountains.
Have Kept Aloof From Neigh
boring Tribes 800 Years

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 a mat
ter of tradition among all those who
have devoted their attention to the
ethnographical and geographical science
Of the dark continent, and Rider Hag-
gard and other English novelists have
found in reports bearing upon the sub
| ject 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 Verd is
lands, which nestle in the Atlantic off
the most westerly point Of northern AZ
rica, there exists a strange people
known by the name of the Cantadas, who
for 300 years past have been absolutely
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 Verd islands consists Of negroes
and Of Portuguese, who are almost as
| swarthy and sombre in color as full
| blooded Africans.
A WILD MOUNTAIN HOME
Clear and sharp against the sky line
of San Jago the mountain of San An
tonic towers aloft in a pinnacle to the
height of some 5000 feet. In form it con-
veys the impression of an ancient vol
cano, with it's sharp slope on the side
toward the sea. But on the island side
the declivity is broken by sort of
cup-shaped interval, at the further end
of which there is the stump of what
seems in times gone by to have con-
stituted a 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 An
tonic Is accessible to clever mountain
eers, whereas the sister mountain, that
| Is to say the broken off peak, is quite
| the reverse. From the point where it
| rises from the surrounding desert table
land there is nothing but steep wall of
| volcanic rock, not merely hundreds, but
probably a couple Of thousand feet high.
Indeed, the only point where access
could ever be obtained to the summit of
1.-THE sister mountain of San Antonio would
| be from the cuplike interval which di-
vides the two, and mention Of which has
been made above.
This cup, however is filled with water
and is known by the name Of Cantadas
lake. 1t is great sheet of water of
marvellous depth and clearness.
| On thic fartbar erd of tho lalxa and in
the interior Of this sister mountain of
San Antonio, dwell the mysterious white
race known as the Cantadas Distrust-
full, apparently of the gaze Of strangers,
| these people of the mounain seldom leave
their habitations during day time, and
on the slightest alarm of visitors they
seek the shelter of the rocks. But by
hiding on the opposite cliffs until even
ing, 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 open
ing of the caves and extends down to the
waters edge.
FAIR AS EUROPEANS
| Beautiful fair-haired, white-skinned
girls, clad in flowing white linen gar
ments, which scarcely conceal the sin
uous 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 garments
being admirably suited to the tfopic eli
mate. Many other signs of high de-
gree Of civilization appear, and from cer-
| tain points near the summit of San An
| tonic it is possible, with the aid of strong
glasses, to catch glimpses through fis-
SureS here and there in the wall of rock
| of the twin mountain of sheep and cat
| tie grazing, of green fields and trees and
of white flat-roofed houses running par
allel with one another, all brilliantly
lighted by the sun, and therefore lead
| ing to the belief that the interior of this
sister mountain of San Antonio 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 himself 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 to six
miles in length. -
Certain scientists who have investi-
gated the tradition and rumors that ex-
ist about the Cantadas among the in
habitants, 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.
TWO SENATORS WHO KEEP COOL