or nearly 100 m. It emits smoke and ashes at
intervals; and in 1680, 1785, 1799, 1816, 1846, 1852 and 1857 it was
in eruption. After the first and most serious of these outbreaks, the
island, which had previously been called Sao Felippe, was renamed
Fogo, _i.e._ "Fire." The ascent of the mountain was first made in 1819
by two British naval officers, named Vidal and Mudge. The island is
divided, like Santo Antao, into a fertile and a sterile zone. Its
northern half produces fine coffee, beans, maize and sugar-cane; the
southern half is little better than a desert, with oases of cultivated
land near its few springs. Sao Felippe or Nossa Senhora da Luz (3000),
on the west coast, is the capital. The islanders claim to be the
aristocracy of the archipelago, and trace their descent from the
original Portuguese settlers. The majority, however, are negroes or
mulattoes. Drought and famine, followed by severe epidemics, have
been especially frequent here, notably in the years 1887-1889.

_Brava_ (9013), the most southerly of the islands, has an area of 23
sq. m. Though mountainous, and in some parts sterile, it is very
closely cultivated, and, unlike the other islands, is divided into a
multitude of small holdings. The desire to own land is almost
universal, and as the population numbers upwards of 380 per sq. m.,
and the system of tenure gives rise to many disputes, the peasantry
are almost incessantly engaged in litigation. The women, who are
locally celebrated for their beauty, far outnumber the men, who
emigrate at an early age to America. These emigrants usually return
richer and better educated than the peasantry of the neighbouring
islands. To the north of Brava lie a group of reefs among which two
islets (Ilheus Seccos or Ilheus do Rombo) are conspicuous. These are
usually known as the Ilheu de Dentro (Inner Islet) and the Ilheu de
Fora (Outer Islet). The first is used as a shelter for whaling and
fishing vessels, and as pasturage for cattle; the second has supplied
much guano for export.

_History_.--The earliest known discovery of the islands was made in 1456
by the Venetian captain Alvise Cadamosto (q.v.), who had entered the
service of Prince Henry the Navigator. The archipelago was granted by
King Alphonso V. of Portugal to his brother, Prince Ferdinand, whose
agents completed the work of discovery. Ferdinand was an absolute
monarch, exercising a commercia