Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 3.djvu/111

CAPE YERD ISLANDS. 85 The general salubrity of the islands is in many places affected by the presence of swampy tracts and stagnant waters, producing dysentery and marsh fever, espe- cially on the coast of Sam-Thiago. The evil is largely due to the reckless destruction of the forests on the hillsides, which causes the rains to run off rapidly from the surface of the uplands and to lodge in the depressions on the lower grounds. The slopes might, however, be easily replanted, as shown by the results of several essays in this direction. Some of the upland valleys in the higher islands, rising 3,000 and even 6,000 feet and upwards above the sea, also pre-ent favourable sites for health resorts. Flora. The indigenous flora of the archipelago has not yet been studied with the same care as that of the other Atlantic groups. This is partly due to the greater distance from Europe, and partly to the somewhat inaccessible nature of many districts. Saint Vincent also, where nearly all strangers land, happens of all the islands to be most destitute of vegetation, consisting, in fact, of little more than bare rocks and scoriae. Although one of its hills takes the name of Monte Verde, it has little to show except a few tamarisks, and in 1880 the whole island contained only two trees, both exotics, an eucalyptus and a barren date-palm. Salt, Boa- Vista, and Maio present the same arid aspect, but the mountainous lands, espe- cially Santo-Antara and Sam-Thiago, offer in many places verdant valleys, due entirely to the introduction of African plants. IS'ot a single tree appears to be here indigenous, even the dracoena having probably been imported from the Canaries, or from the neighbouring continent. At present Sam-Thiago possesses some baobabs and other Senegambian trees ; but, although lying under the same lat tude as the West Indies and Sudan, the archipelago nowhere presents the splendour of the tropical flora. Excluding the cultivated plants of recent introduction, the known species number about four hundred, of which not more than one-sixth forms the original stock of the islands. The native types are essentially Atlantic, and allied rather to those of the temperate zone, presenting in this respect a much more northern aspect than might be supposed possible from their tropical position. Canarian types are also somewhat numerous, especially in Santo Antam and the other members of the Windward group. But most of the exotics come from Africa, whereas those of the Canaries are mainly European. jS'evertheless, some Mediterranean species also occur on the uplands, especially on the hilly districts of Santo- Antam and Sam-Thiago. Fauna. The aboriginal fauna comprises but few distinct species. The monkey, seen only in Sam-Thiago and Brava, belongs to the Cercopithecus Sahceus family of the African continent. Nor do the wild boars of the Sam-Thiago thickets constitute a separate variety ; while all the other mammals, whether domestic cattle or noxious