The times., 1898-08-31
THE CAPE VERDE ISLANDS
An Important, But Not Invttfnr
Group OF Africa
(From the Chicago Inter Oce,nl

! De. 10 speak the truth. the island GER
| talnly has few attractions; on the other
/ mana. 1t mas pecuiiarities which at times
/ make 1t seem part Of Dante's Inferno.
Long before one reaches the Cape Verde
Islands, in fact, from half days steam
distant. the high noun tain peaks away
OF on the horizon appear misty and
vague and announce the near approach
10 land and the proximity OF the Portu-
suese settlements In the meantime all
around Is swelterins heat, dazzling sun.
anu unchanged blue, the air clear 10 the
POINT of vacuum. and this intensity az
hsht mas most peculiar effect as one
4 gets near the island-they seem to stand
out witout any relief in the way of lights
ana shadows, flat, dusky yellow picture
cn blue canvas. Dusty brown rocks and
! peaks, hard and without any relief. stand
ing up against bright blue background
! with a perfectly clear and deep blue sea
IN front sea so clear that as the
steamers rest at anchor in the bay the
haIf-breed boys swim from the shore and
dive for silver coins in and out under the
keels of the largest ocean vessels. and
one can see them down TO the sandy
bottom of the ocean catching the coin
and laughing up to the surface on the
other side of the ship
As TO the island. in this case surely dis
tance lends enchantment to the yiew, for
though at long range and before landing
IL is not half bad BY way Of a study in
bizarre effects-Once on shore IL is awful.
Dust and rocks, rocks and dust. here and
there a small patch of tropical shrub or
a ha'f-grown tree. but all dust-covered.
The steamers and warships lie out IN
the harbor. which Is excellent and Is the
reason OF this veritable hells mouth be-
coming one of the mouthpleces to cIviIi-
zation's speaking tubes, for the Eastern
Cable Company has a station here and
from St Vincent are the movements Of
ocean steamers duly chrOnicled as they
ceaseiessly come and go 10 take on coal
But 10 return TO the harbor-it IS very
large and in shape like hroseshOe. with
another and comparatively fertile island
by the name of San Antonio, lying across
the open front and protecting il from the
Atlantic storms-the ships coming AMI
going through the opposite corners. One
goes ashore IN the inevitable small boat
which bumps alongside a low cOaling
wharf where the first person met with
VIII probably be the also inevitable En-
lishman and most likely one Of the Miller
family. the millionaire owners OF the
eoaling station, for the enterprise OF pri-
yate firm IS responsible for the coal SUD
plies OF ST. Vincent which are brought
over from England in Golfers and then
stored on the island IN very large qJranti-
ties.
=
ing this trade IS also the resident British
consul; he is married 70 a Portuguese
lady and has lots of brothers and sisters
az the old home in SOmersetshire. a spIen-
did country seat not far from Bath
About the only other white men on the
island are a few diminutive Portuguese
officials. brave in uniforms and gold lace.
and the employees of the cable company,
the latter OF whom possess. besides their
rv14t ~ amin ali
rickety billiard table. a few sorry horses,
which they race up and down the sandy
stretches along the shore. ard a large
stock Of good whisky. Particular men
tiOn is made Of the spirits. because there
is no water in this accuTsed isIe-it has 10
be brought across in boats from neigh
boring San AntOniO-and because some
times no rain falls there for as long al
two years at a stretch. then il pours
and dries up for another two years The
Eastern Gable Companys young men
just manage 10 survive the nine months
they live there; fortunately for three
months they are allowed a furiOugh in
England or where else they please, and
well they need it.
Mr.. Miller, however is a man OF mill
lions and water is therefore no object.
Indeed, he has it brought over in boat
loads. and has in consequence quite a
:
spurs Jutting out along the harbOr. The
natives do such labor as there Is 10 be
done. acting as boatmen. steved0res and
seryants-they are half Portuguese, half
African. and speak Portuguese as their
native tongue and as their favOrite Occu-
patton do nothing. They somehow man
age 10 exist on the crumbs gathered from
the passing steamers. of town there Is
none, just a struggling T-Shaped street Of
Il -s--T-G
place or filthy joint. and here and there
a ship chambers. and that is all Ths
society events of the station are usually
confined 10 entertainments given BY Jhs
hOspitable crew or passengers of sOms
steamer or war boat taking on coal, but
there is no diversity; the going OF one
ship is the coming of the next. and there
are always two or three in the harbor.
In fact the mOnot0ny and dust are stu
pendous. One of the company's operators
once told the writer with tears OF whisky
and loneliness in his eyes, that he
thought he would surely go mad. living
on under the shadeless blue in the intense
heat. with nothing 10 breathe but air and
nothing TO see but sun and nothing 10
drink but impure water. and so on
through the whole gamut of a disap-
pointed life. Even the very ships stay no
longer than they have 10, just coal. l. e.
make all the dirt and dust they can. and
away.
Such is St Vincent at present. the so
called base for Spain's fleet OF torpedo
boats and warships. OF course. in reality
this is not the fact. The islands belong
to Portugal and the coal supplies are the
property of an English firm. Cape Verde,
however is not SO far from the Grand
Canaries. ST. Vincent itself could be but
the scene of a naval battle. for the only
yeStiges of life, always excepting the mis-
rable lane or street of houses already
described. are the ships riding at anchor
in the offing. Nevertheless, the pace.
such as it is. plays the part of a halfway
house in the worlds happenings. Steam
ers from South Africa from the River
Platte the Pacific coast of South Arneri-
ca. and from Braza. al call there and
the time-worn. heat-weaTy rocks on the
African coast are after all a factor in
our civilization by virtue of the coal sup
plies and cable station.
AS to the interior OF the island there is
none simply rocks, ever higher and high
81. till they become mountains. The
Island of San Antonio is
equally steep and PERCEPTIONS. but there
Is abundance of fresh water, and, as a
natural consequences, considerable vege-
tatiOn. There is, however, absolutely no
offing, harbor or anchorage of any kind,
and consequently this land is quite use
less to the wheels of commerce or mont-
tors of war. The rest of the Islands are
more or less of the same nature, but
smaller. and some of them are more fer
tile than San Antonio. hence their name.
POLITICALLY. the harbOr. or eOaling sta
ton, of St Vincent. Cape Verde Islands,
gives one the impression of some cave
~ winds whence iSS1e from the emDtV