Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 3.djvu/146

114 WEST AFRICA. divided into two sections, one resting on the continental plateau, the other washed by deep oceanic waters. None of its cones are active, and no eruptions have hitherto been reported by the natives. On all sides the waters descend from the hills in little cascades and rivulets, irrigating every dell and valley, and everywhere maintaining a fresh and exuberant vegetation ; every tree is clothed with a forest of tiny orchids, ferns, and begonias, and every branch is draped with festoons of hanging mosses. The thickets of matted plants are a greater obstacle even than the rugged slopes to the exploration of the island, which has, nevertheless, been traversed in every direction ; while the central, as well as the neighbouring cones, has been several times ascended since the feat was first performed by Becrof t. The exuberance of the arborescent vegetation is due to the abundant moisture brought by the south-west monsoons, which blow regularly during the greater part of the rainy season, and which are frequently interrupted by the tornadoes, causing a considerable precipitation on the uplands. Mention is made by M. Pellon of a waterspout which burst over the land, discharging in a single hour a liquid mass six inches thick. There can be no doubt that on the higher grounds even heavier downpours occur, as may be concluded from the dense vapours and clouds constantly enveloping the loftier summits, and often even during the dry season the lower slopes. There are altogether about a hundred and sixty- seven rainy days, with a mean annual rainfall of from 100 to 120 inches, and an average temperature of 77^ F. at the capital, Santa-Isabel, varying from 90^^ F. in February to 66° F. in September. Flora. Thanks to the great elevation of its mountains, rising from the torrid lowlands to the cold upper regions, Fernando-Po presents a highly diversified flora, corres- ponding below with that of the neighbouring mainland, higher up with that of the African highlands. The summit of the peak is clothed with a vegetation resembling that of the temperate zone, in which Mann has recognised seventeen species recurring on the lofty Abyssinian uplands 2,000 miles away. The same botanist asserts that the flora of the peak offers a certain affinity with that of the islands in the Indian Ocean, while difl'eiing altogether from that of the Cape and the Atlantic islands. All the cultivated tropical plants flourish on the lowlands, and those of the temperate zone on the middle slopes, so that the island might become a garden of acclimatisation for all the terrestrial flora. The species most generally cultivated are the same as in Sam-Thome — cacao, cofPee, sugar-cane, cotton, tobacco. The banana, maize, rice, tapioca, yams, supply abundance of food to the black popula- tion, and on the cleared uplands grow all European vegetables. The cinchona plantations have also yielded excellent results. Fauna. Most European domestic animals have been introduced ; cattle herd in the