Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-08-03
Geographic News
Bulletins BY the
National Geographic Society
A WHIsTLING LANCUACE

ipidue tfaVei Is causing a tre-
boom in oceanic real es-
tate. Mid-ocean islands became
0 important with their use as
coaling stations then cable lines res
cued other land dots. such as zap,
0 obscurity. The Azores fig-
ured as a halfway station IN the first
transatlantic flight. Now the Can
aries, wher Columbus halted on
ms voyage of discovery, end the
nrst leg of the Lisbon-to-Rio de
Janeiro trip of Portuguese air.
men,"
With this Introduction the Ma
tional Geographic Society issues
from its Warrington, d. c., head
quarters the following bulletin on
the Canaries:
IF you will picture seven articles
a Juggler has just thrown into the
air, and imagine these seven arti-
cies to be pear, a shoulder OF NUT
ton. two golf balls, the broken off
end of a putting iron. and a lady's
spring hat with the visor down
and a feather in the back-you
Will have a fair idea Of one of the
most interesting island groups in the
world.
Had Churches in Caves
interesting, that is, whether
you are looking for the people with
a whistling language or the arbo-
real curiosity known as the dragon
tree, whether you choose to hunt
for the archaeological traces of abors
igines who w~orshipped in caves or
to mingle with the vivacious crowds
in the Gale del Castillo of an even
ing when the band plays.
The highest mountain rising
from the Atlantic ocean is to be
found on Teneriffe; a volcano crater
on Palma is SO large that its wealth
err conditions vary from those of the
surrounding country. This crater,
Gran Caldcra. Is four miles in di-
ameter and In much of it's area is
between twelve and thirteen times
as the Washington monument. The
natives Will tell you that a mighty
~upheaval in Palma pitched the
mountain mass over to teneriffe, and
in proof point to the mighty cavity
left on Palma.
Plutarcb's Geography Good
"Plutarch's geographical COM
ment about the Canaries need not be
revised. He said, Rain seldom falls
there, and then falls moderately;
while they have usually soft breezes
which scatter such rich dews that
the soil is rot only good for sowing
and planting, but spontaneously
produces the most exalted fruits;
and those in such abundance that
the inhabitsnt have only to indulge
themselves IL the enjoyment of ease
and leisure The air is always
pleasant and salubrious through the
happy temperature of the seasons
and their insensible transition into
each other
THE most remarkable and least
studied phenomenon OF the Cana
ries is the whistling language of the
natives Of Gomera. The townsfolk
do not know the whistling vocabu-
larry and their reports OF the range
of expression the mountain folk
attain by using four or five notes of
varying intensity and length may
readily be exaggerated. That such
a language does exist, developed
beyond the stage of signals, is at
tested by travellers. 1t is extremely
useful and this little island Of big
distances and high mountains,
where cattle raising is the principal
industry. Here, toe some of the ma
tives dwell in caves, as did the
Guanches, whose blood still flows in
veins Of the natives, though the
pure type become extinct after the
Spanish conquest early in the fif-
teenth century.
Where Columbus Halted
ION Gomera, also, is the village of
San Sebastian where Columbus
provisioned his voyage to the UNI
known West, and there still stands
the church which he attended to
pray for the success of his quest.
Few travellers visit the hill encircled,
red-roofed. isolated little village
whence Columbus departed-Sep-
TENDER Z. 1892.
1.-The Phoenician traders proba-
bly, knew the Canaries. then the
Fortunate Island Homer's allusion
to the 'habitations of the blest' is
thought to have referred to them.
Legend clusters about them. Myth
cally they were the home of the
Hesperides, e Of Herculean adj
ventures, and the visible traces of
the lost Continent of Atlantis.
In 1922 they constitute a health
resort of note. are populate by some
500, 900 people. export foodstuifs,
fruits, vegetables, sugar and wine.
and have an important wireless sta
ton. Telephones have been strung
where roads are yet unknown and
goats, mules and camels are the
only common carriers that the
mountains will allow. The COM
bined area of the islands is about
equal to that of Corsica. They are
administered as a part of SPAIN"