THREATENED MUTINY.

19

risk. We were at one time threatened with a mutiny, on the subject of ardent spirits, which the steerage-passengers insisted upon having served out, whereas it had been determined from the first day of the leak to lock up the spirit-room, which did not contain a three days' supply for the number of claimants, who would have been more ungovernable while it lasted, and discontented when it was finished; so the captain firmly adhered to his resolution. A few of them, whose turn it was to pump, refused to work unless they got some whisky; he told them they might be drowned, but that they should be drowned sober, not drunk. We prepared our fire-arms in the cabin to defend the spirit-room in case of necessity.

Meantime the resolute courage of the captain of the gang on duty (who was a powerful young man from Anglesea) settled the question; he called out his men by rotation, and the first recusant he knocked down with his fist, the second he treated in the same manner, when seeing that he was determined, and that although they could get no whisky, they might, through a few minutes more delay, be drowned, they caught hold of the pump; I jumped in among them, and we worked away as merrily as if nothing had happened.

The breeze having continued favourable for twenty-four hours, we were rejoiced on the 8th by the cry of "land a-head;" it proved to be Graciosa, the northernmost of the Azores. In the even

20

ARRIVAL OFF FAYAL.

ing we shortened sail, and on the morning of the 9th were off Fayal. I leave it for the reader to imagine the sensations of delight and gratitude which accompanied the first view of this desired haven, after the fatigue and danger to which we had for nine days been exposed.

APPROACH TO FAYAL.

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CHAPTER II.

Approach to Fayal.-Peak of Pico-Reception by the British Consul.-The Town-its declining State.-Politeness of the People. Singular Custom.-Inauguration of the Emperor and Empress of Fayal.-The Fayal Authorities.-Agriculture.— Donkeys.-Volcanic Formation of the Island.-Market Days. -Cruelty to an Animal.-Delightful Climate.-Rock Pigeons. —A quaint old Hunter.-Perilous Ascent.-A good Shot.— The American Consul and his Daughters.-Beautiful Orange Garden.- Exquisite Scenery.- Evening Parties. - Absurd Custom.-Successful Attempt to reform it.

THE opening of these western islands from the north is strikingly beautiful. At first sight the round sloping hills of Fayal recall the Isle of Man to remembrance, but the soft air, the verdure, the orange groves, tell of a gentler climate; while the Peak of Pico, with his lofty summit towering above a wreathed mantle of clouds, looks down upon the cluster of isles beneath with the pride of a mountain autocrat. After passing through the strait which separates Pico from Fayal, and rounding two bold headlands in the latter island, the town gradually opens upon the view; it is of a crescent form, the streets having followed the indented margin of the bay, and the hills, by which it is sur

rounded on three sides, are covered with orange, lemon, lime, box, geranium, and other beautiful shrubs.

On landing, we went to the house of the British Consul, Mr. Walker, from whom we experienced a kind and hospitable reception; indeed, he pressed Captain and myself with so much sincerity to take up our abode with him that we could not decline so agreeable an offer.-Fayal does not boast of an inn or tavern of any description ;-the other cabin passengers were billetted in different halfoccupied half-furnished houses, while the steerage emigrants were all quartered in a spacious convent which had been dismantled and pillaged by some of the adherents of Don Pedro: meanwhile the poor Waverley would have sunk in the harbour had not the captain hired relays of Portuguese boatmen to pump her out continually until arrangements could be made for heaving her down, there being no dry dock in any port of the Azores.

The town consists principally of one long straggling street, from which many smaller ones branch off at right angles. The buildings are generally whitewashed and have a cleanly appearance, but there are many and evident marks of declining trade, population, and wealth: some large houses are empty, others going to ruin, and the public buildings (which are spacious picturesque edifices, with no pretensions to architecture) are in a miserable state of dilapidation; one of them seems to perform

SINGULAR CUSTOM.

23

the functions of all the rest, as it answers the various purposes of customhouse, treasury, home and foreign office, a barrack, and a college! Some of the houses attest by their shattered doors and broken windows that they belonged to Miguelites during the late civil war. The Pedro party is quite triumphant here, their few and feeble opponents having migrated to other islands. A stranger is much struck by the extraordinary and somewhat inconvenient politeness shown to him by all classes in the street: those in the upper ranks of life take off their hats and bow; and the peasantry and labourers stand still and uncovered, while making way for him to pass.

On the evening after our arrival I witnessed a curious procession, the origin and description of which may be so far interesting, as throwing some light upon the habits and religious prejudices of the inhabitants. The island of Fayal is divided into eight parishes, of which three are in the town. In each of these are chosen, on every successive Sunday between Easter and Whitsunday, an Emperor and an Empress; they are elected by universal suffrage of their fellow parishioners, from the middle and lower orders, their office lasting, of course, one week they may or may not be related to each other, and have no power, authority, or privilege of any kind; on the contrary, they are obliged to furnish wax candles for the churches on the day of their inauguration, and to provide a cer