ground, and are only in leaf during a few of the summer months, it is not surprising, on this theory, that there is little water. In St. Michael's and in Flores there are deep ravines running up the mountains, the sides of which are still covered with box and bilberry, Fayas, and large heaths; and by these natural agents for the condensation of clouds and mists, streams are formed which run along the bottoms of these glens. The extent to which orange-trees are cultivated in St. Michael's must increase the supply of water, and make some amends for the improvident destruction of other trees; for the leaf of the orange is smooth and thick, can imbibe little moisture, and must condense rapidly. But in this island, there are comparatively few orange-trees, and very little wood of any kind; the greater part of the uncultivated land being covered with coarse grass. How easily deficiency of water in any of these islands might be remedied by practical scientific knowledge and well-directed energy, is shown by the little Island of Ascension; a volcanic rock, lying midway (as is well known) between Africa and South America. It is, like these islands, of purely volcanic formation, but In much more barren. A single green mountain, two thousand nine hundred feet high, rises in the centre of a black table-land, consisting of sheets and masses of lava, fields of cinders and ashes. There is little verdure, or even soil, except in sheltered spots. It was taken possession of by the English government on the transportation of Napoleon to St. Helena in 1815. 1829 the population consisted of one hundred and forty Europeans, chiefly marines, and seventysix Africans; they suffered from both a deficient and precarious supply of water, depending on springs or drips in banks among the mountains. The water thus obtained was conveyed in barrels on ox-waggons, to a tank in the town, and some rain water was collected in casks. After long droughts, even this scanty supply was liable to great diminution. At this time Captain Brandreth surveyed the island by order of the Admiralty, and proposed boring for water. "He fixed on a spot high up in the mountain district at the bottom of a steep ravine, the sides of which were eighty feet in height, and the section showed the arrangement of the strata to consist of volcanic matter lying on beds of retentive clay.' The clouds and mists, and constant evaporation from the sea, were evidently arrested by the high land, and their moisture deposited here; and the experiment fully succeeded. "At a depth of twenty-five feet from the surface, they found a spring that has yielded on an average five tons of water daily for the last five years." A line of iron pipes, of nearly six miles in length, reaching from the mountain to the town, has been laid down, and in the course of the line, a tunnel, six hundred feet in length, was driven through high land which intervened. This tunnel is of sufficient size to admit a person to walk through it, and was worked out of compact beds of cinders and ashes, and occasionally of clay and trachyte. It was executed in a short time, with much labour, but very trifling cost. When Captain Brandreth visited the island after a lapse of five years, he found abundance of water in it, and learned that the average amount in the tanks throughout the year was one thousand tons. (See Journal of the Geographical Society of London, Vol. V. Part 2, 1835.) This was all effected by a marine officer and a small garrison, in addition to their garrison duties, farming, catching turtles, erecting forts, &c. CHAPTER II. And look at the broad-faced sun how he smiles Ride round Fayal.-Wine-shop.-The basket-system.-Castello Branco. Cedros.-Silver Lamp.-Finesse.-Red pottery. Gentleman Farmer.-Return to Horta. FAYAL, MAY 18.-Yesterday and the day before we rode round the island. On arriving at the village of Feteira, being obliged to make a halt, owing to rain, we stopped at a wine-shop which had an upper room in all respects as decent as the parlour of a village inn in England. The windows were well glazed, the floors were sound and clean, the walls well white-washed, and the 16 THE BASKET-SYSTEM. chairs as soft as wooden-bottomed chairs usually are. "In whatever way you travel," says Walker in his Original,' "I particularly recommend you to guard against the cravings of hunger, both for your health's sake, and in order the better to preserve placidity of temper, which, with every precaution, is exposed to frequent disturbance. When your mind is ruffled you can neither see with pleasure nor profit, and the natives are pretty sure to revenge themselves for your illhumour by imposing upon you. On setting out on the last long journey I made," he adds, “which was in a private carriage with one companion, I bought a small basket and caused it to be filled with cold provisions, bread, and fruit, which I kept constantly replenished during ten months, whenever we were upon the road, to which circumstance I mainly attribute the fact that we never had the shadow of a disagreement or an uncomfort." "There is nothing like a basket of this sort for diminishing the dreadful tediousness of uncertain distances at the end of a long day, and it is a great consolation in case of accidental stoppages." I cannot say that "we bought a small basket;" but, by the kindness of a lady, we had |