icious than the last. The _Hooghly_ sped smoothly and rapidly before
the wind, and at daybreak on the fifth morning notice was given that the
Cape Verde Islands were in sight. The sky, however, grew thick and
misty as they neared land; and it was late in the forenoon before they
had approached near enough to obtain a clear view of it.

"I wonder why they call these islands _Verdes_?" observed Gilbert, as
the vessel ran along the coast of one of the largest of the group, which
was low and sandy and apparently barren; "there doesn't seem to be much
_green_ about them, that I can see."

"No, certainly," said Warley; "a green patch here and there is all there
is to be seen, so far as the sea-coast is concerned But the interior
seems a mass of mountains. There may be plenty of verdure among them,
for all we know."

"No," said Mr Lavie, who was standing near them. "Their name has
nothing to do with forests or grass-fields. There is a mass of weed on
the other side of the group, extending for a long distance over the sea,
which is something like a green meadow to look at--that's the meaning of
the name. There are very few woods on any of the islands, and this one
in particular produces hardly anything but salt."

"They belong to the Portuguese, don't they?" asked Frank.

"Yes; the Portuguese discovered them three centuries and a half ago, and
have had possession of them ever since. Portuguese is the only language
spoken there, but there are very few whites there, nevertheless."

"Why, there must be a lot of inhabitants," remarked Ernest, his eye
resting on the villages with which the shores were studded.

"Yes, from forty to fifty thousand, I believe. But they are almost all
of them half-breeds between the negroes and the Portuguese."

"Well, I suppose there's some fun to be had there, isn't there?"
inquired Frank.

"And something to be seen?" added Warley.

"And first-chop grub?" wound up Gilbert. "There's plenty to see at
Porto Prayo," returned Mr Lavie. "The town, Ribeira Grande they call
it, is curious, and there are some fine mountain passes and grand views
in the interior. As for grub, Master Nick" (for this sobriquet had
already become young Gilbert's usual appellative), "there are pretty
well all the fruits that took your fancy so much at Madeira--figs,
guavas, bananas, oranges, melons, grapes, pine-apples, and mangos--and
there's plenty of turtle too, though I'm not sure you'll find it made
into