The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1930-07-18

portuguese sea captains, they were
devoid Of human life. The only ex-
element was the occasional overflow
ing of volcanic crater. The latest
eruption occurred in 1880.
For more than 200 years the Cape
VerdeS built up a fiourishing trade
and became POrtugaI's principal out
post of trade with Africa Until the
middle of the last century the natives
reaped a harvest from the African
slave trade. This probably accounts
for the majority of negroes in the
present population of about 10000.
Those inhabitants who are not black
are Portuguese or of mixed blood.
In the early days when New Eng
land was famous as a whaling cen
ter, many of the crews of the whalers
were recruited in the Cape Verdes.
Those who did not return to the is
lands settled in southeastern MasSa-
chusetts in the vicinity of New Bed
ford. 'BravOes," the name by which
they are sometimes known, comes
from the name of the island from
which most of the recruits migrated
Bravo. the southwesternmost island Of
the Cape Verde group.
Barbados Densely Inhabited.
Quite different is Barbados, one of
the most interesting and less we'll
known of Great Britain's possessions
in the Western Hemisphere. Pear
shaped, solitary, farthest east of the
West Indies, Barbados generally is
accounted the most healthful of the
group, even though it is the most
populOus country in the world, per
square mile. except China; and al
though George Washington carried to
his grave the marks of the smallpox
contracted on a visit there
The island-there is but one despite
the misleading plural name-is but an
eighth the size of our Rhode Island,
but has twice as many inhabitants per
square mile as our smallest and most
densey populated state.
Seldom does a volcano become an
asset. But volcanic eruptiOns have
contributed largely to the fertility of
Barbados When the sun was OBJ
scured throughout one day in May
1912. the Barbadans were panic strick-
en-; but when the gentle rain of black
dust subsidized. the deposit was found
to be ashes from an eruption of st.
VincentS Soufriere, nearly 100 miles
TO the west, and an enrichment for
the soil.
Long before that time, though, Bar
bados was productive. Oldest of Brit
ish colonial possessions except New
foundland, it also was the first place
in the British empire where sugar cane
was planted. Its average crop of this
essential commodity is $4,000 tons. 1t
also has 2.0G0 acres planted in sea-is-
land or lOng-staple cotton: raises 49,
coo punches yearly of the Chinese
banana, and exports molasses.
Hot, Dusty Bridgetown.
Bridgetown, the island capital, is a
hot, dusty city Of about 10000 peo-
pie. 1t is especially busy on Fridays
when planters flock to town for bust
ness and buying. Its cathedral was
built principally by funds obtained
from lottery authorized by the legs-
lature. after the original building had
been blown down by a hurricane in
1880
y natural curiosity of Barbados is
the animal Flower Cave" the So
called flowers being sea worms. Not
so agreeable are the mauchineel, or
poison trees, along the shores, whose
10 Oh
nate the water.
Labor is so plentiful that men COM
pete with beasts of burden. But this
condition was greatly improved by the
use of considerable Barbados labor in
building the Panama canal.
The third important island visited
by the Graf Zeppelin was Porto Rico.
But it was really San Juan, the capt.
tai city, rather than the island to
which the great air liner paid its re-
spects. After cruising over the city,
it turned sharply northward and put
out over the Atlantic.
San Juan has a population of more
than 114000 and has nearly doubled
in size since the island came under
American control 1t was from San
Juan that Ponce de Leon set SAIL like
another Jason in search of the Golden
Fleece for the fulfillment of his
charming, if bOyish, dream of finding
the Fountain of Youth, which, we all
recall. resulted in the discovery of The
southermost end of the United States.
San Juan was settlement half a
century before st. Augustine, Fla, the
oldest town in the United States,
came into being and a full century
before the Pilgrims landed at Ply
mouth Rock ii began to take on the
semblance of city. More than two
and half centuries before the Unit
ed States began 10 build the White
House in Washington. Spain starred
the construction of the Casa Blanca.
The gaIeruOr'S Dalace