Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1910-04-22

There are three groups of islands in the
Atlantic ocean near tie European
shores: Thu Azores. the Madeira and the
Canary islands. We left of the last
named group. but visited the other two,
ard found them Of much interest
The first visited were the Azores. These
vr..S. fx..aIsriy caIled the Western is
izilds. because they were the farthest
west from the coasts OF Europe and
Africa They are of the beaten track OF
travel and are not very often visited.
IL was surprising how little information
could be obtained about them The
usual books Of travel are silent with re-
gard 10 them. Nobody seemed TO have
any definite knowledge OF them And
so / just had 10 do the best ! could.
think. though. the following information,
gathered from different sources. may be
relied upon as accurate:
NINE ISLANDS.
The islands are nine in number: Flores.
corvc. Terceiva. san Jorge. Pico. Fayal.
GrnciOca. san Miguel and Santa Maria.
They are about 80 miles from the coast
Of Portugal. TO which country they be-
long. and extend from the southeast to
the northwest They form the province
OF Azores. or Azores. which means
Hawks and obtained the name from the
fact that when first discovered the
Islands were Inhabited by an immense
number OF hawks. An autonomous gov
eminent was granted a few years ago
similar 70 that Of Canada. and the flag
adopted was a blue hawk on a white
ground The islands are OF volcanic ORR
gin. In iSoS a volcano on the island Of
49, Harrrr- nm
burned for six days. desOlated the sur
rounding country. ana subsidized. In 1882
a volcano rose out of the sea near the
island OF San Miguel. vOmited stones.
ashes and lava for several days, and
disappeared. ETuptiOns are said TO have
occurred on San Miguel in Is3S, 1852, 1852,
l713 lis. I7IO. las. I773. 1910. 1919. 1852,
,lS55. 1SS2. iSS2 and 1854 Some Of these
eruptions were submarine. The islands
were first discovered by navigators, who
did not seem TO think them worth having,
and In las bold navigator. Don Henry,
OF Portugal. took possession OF them in
the name Of his country, TO which they
have ever since belonged. The total pop
ulati0n OF the group is now about 30, 600.
We had been passing the islands all
day From early morning they were in
plain sight We made no stop, however,
Until we came to Ponta Delgada. the
capital Of the group. and situated on the
principal island. San Cor Sao) Miguel.
which is Il miles long by IL broad The
name Is pronounced San Megale. but it
means simply Saint Michael. Ponta Del
gada means the thin point, from its
location on a narrow strip OF land be-
tween the mountains and the sea. 1t lies
inside an amphithestre of hills. and is
sheltered from the winds i'm every direc-
ton. except seward.
Ponta Delgada is 2zSS miles from New
York. and when we came TO anchor there
IL was the first stop our ship had made
since pulling out from the dock i'm New
York What skill j must take to aim
for a port over 200 miles away, and de-
spite wind and wave and storm, to hold
her on her course almost in a straight
line. for the whole distance and bring
her to the desired port without the loss
81 man. and anchor in the exact place
aimed for. only a few hours behind
schedule tina Whata great
thing IL is % have a skillful pilot; one
who knows the way across the trackless
sea
1 thought Of that BEAUTIFUL hymn:
Jesus. Savior pilot me
Over LIES tempestuous sea.
Unknown waves before me roll
Hiding rocks and treacherous snoal.'
Jesus. Savior. pilot me
Over iife's tempestuous sea
We were greatly disappointed that We
were not allowed to land at Ponta Del
gada- especially as il was the first op-
portunity we had had to set foot on
shore since leaving New York. but hav-
ing Deen r,i.r,ied by head winds for the
past several Gays. the ship was SIX
hours behind time. anu instead of reach
ing Ponta Delgada "a 10 a. m, as sched-
ufea. we did not arrive until y. m,
which was leaving tin1e. So the captain
gave orders that no one s.ouId be al
lowed to go on shore, anc we had TO con-
tent ourselves with viewing .Ie land
ecape from afar during the hour we
were lying at anchor OFF the shore. But
We could get a very rine view Of the
town and Island from this position. dur
ing the hour they were exchanging
mails obtaining Clearance papers and
fransecting other business OF the kind.
On the theory that distance lends en-
chantment 20 the view IL may be thar
u was better that we 90 not go on shore
lat least better for PonJa DeIgada so
far as our impressions or the place are
concerned. As IL is they are quite ia
vorabIe. while they might not have been
50 favorable. had we obtained a closer
view.
seen from the ships deck IL was n