other islands were all discovered by 1457. Colonization had meanwhile been
going on prosperously; and in 1466 Fayal was presented by Alphonso V. to
his aunt, Isabella, the duchess of Burgundy. An influx of Flemish settlers
followed, and the islands became known for a time as the Flemish Islands.
From 1580 to 1640 they were subject, like the rest of the Portuguese
kingdom, to Spain. At that time the Azores were the grand rendezvous for
the fleets on their voyage home from the Indies; and hence they became a
theatre of that maritime warfare which was carried on by the English under
Queen Elizabeth against the Peninsular powers. One such expedition, which
took place in 1591, led to the famous sea-fight off Flores, between the
English ship "Revenge," commanded by Sir Richard Grenville, and a Spanish
fleet of fifty-three vessels. Under the active administration of the
marquis de Pombal (1690-1782), considerable efforts were made for the
improvement of the Azores, but the stupid and bigoted government which
followed rather tended to destroy these benefits. Towards the beginning of
the 19th century, the possession of the islands, was contested by the
claimants for the crown of Portugal. The adherents of the constitution, who
supported against Miguel the rights of Maria (II.) da Gloria, obtained
possession of Terceira in 1829, where they succeeded in maintaining
themselves, and after various struggles, Queen Maria's authority was
established over all the islands. She resided at Angra from 1830 to 1833.

For a general account of the islands, see _The Azores_, by W. F. Walker
(London, 1886), and _Madeira and the Canary Islands, with the Azores_, by
A. S. Brown (London, 1901). On the fauna and flora of the islands, the
following books by H. Drouet are useful:--_Elements de la faune acoreenne_
(Paris, 1861); _Mollusques marins des iles Acores_ (1858), _Lettres
acoreennes_ (1862), and _Catalogue de la flore des iles Acores, precede de
l'itineraire d'une voyage dans cet archipel_ (1866). The progress of
Azorian commerce is best shown in the British and American consular
reports. For history, see _La Conquista de las Azores en 1583_, by C.
Fernandez Duro (Madrid, 1886), and _Histoire de la decouverte des iles
Azores et de l'origine de leur denomination d'iles flamandes_, by J. Mees
(Ghent, 1901).

AZOTH, the name given by the alchemists to mercury, and by Paracelsus to
his universal remedy.

AZOTUS, the name given by Greek and Roman