Africa and its inhabitants . istuibanccs. No recent scoriae occur,and the old lavas have either been weathered by atmospheric action or clothedwith humus and verduie. 84 WEST AFRICA. Santa-Maria is distiuguished from all the other islands by the presence ofsome limestone beds deposited in the phallow waters before the upheaval of thecoasts. These deposits, which date from the close of the Miocene epoch, areutilised by the lime-burners, who export the product of the kilns to Ponta-Delgada, iu San-Miguel. The red argillaceous clays arc also used for the manu-facture of pozzolana. Villa do Porto,
Africa and its inhabitants . istuibanccs. No recent scoriae occur,and the old lavas have either been weathered by atmospheric action or clothedwith humus and verduie. 84 WEST AFRICA. Santa-Maria is distiuguished from all the other islands by the presence ofsome limestone beds deposited in the phallow waters before the upheaval of thecoasts. These deposits, which date from the close of the Miocene epoch, areutilised by the lime-burners, who export the product of the kilns to Ponta-Delgada, iu San-Miguel. The red argillaceous clays arc also used for the manu-facture of pozzolana. Villa do Porto, capital of Santa-Maria, scarcely deserves its name, which meansthe harbour town. Its creek, a mere fissure in the south coast, is exposed tothe west and south winds, and the anchorage is so bad that the shipping has oftento keep to the roadstead, ready to take to tlie high seas at the ajjproach of of the islands suffered more than Santa-Maria from the raids of the French 13.— ,! 1 : ;oO, S555 Depths. OtoSWFeet. 230 to 3,300Feet. Feot nudupwards. IS ililcs. and Algerian corsairs in the sixteenth century. In dry seasons it is threatenedwith scarcity, and at times with famine. Siin-Mif/uel is the largest and by far the most important island iu the archi-pelago, containing nearly one-half of the entire population. It consists of tworeally distinct islands, the channel between which has been filled up by a series oferuptions. This intervening space rises above the rocky plain formed by the lava-streams flowing from the two original islands. It is studded by a multitude ofvolcanic cones, whose outlines present from a distance the appearance of a line ofgiant molehills. The volcanic ashes mingled with the debris of these lavas, andmodified by the action of the rains, have developed an extremely fertile vegetablehumus, constituting the chief agricidtural district in the island. Here,-also, isconcentrated the great majority of the population. The eas
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