re destroyed in several
successive years between 1875 and 1885. There are valuable fisheries of
tunny, mullet and bonito. The porpoise, dolphin and whale are also common.
Whale-fishing is a profitable industry, with its headquarters at Fayal,
whence the sperm-oil is exported. Eels are found in the rivers. The only
indigenous reptile is the lizard. Fresh-water molluscs are unknown, and
near the coast the marine fauna is not rich; but terrestrial molluscs
abound, several species being peculiar to the Azores.

_Flora._--The general character of the flora is decidedly European, no
fewer than 400 out of the 478 species generally considered as indigenous
belonging likewise to that continent, while only four are found in America,
and forty are peculiar to the archipelago. Vegetation in most of the
islands is remarkably rich, especially in grasses, mosses, and ferns,
heath, juniper, and a variety of shrubs. Of tall-growing trees there was,
till the 19th century, an almost total lack; but the Bordeaux pine,
European poplar, African palm-tree, Australian eucalyptus, chestnut,
tulip-tree, elm, oak, and many others, were then successfully introduced.
The orange, apricot, banana, lemon, citron, Japanese medlar, and
pomegranate are the common fruits, and various other varieties are more or
less cultivated. At one time much attention was given to the growing of
sugar-cane, but it has now for the most part been abandoned. The culture of
indigo, introduced in the 16th century, also belongs to the past. A kind of
fern (_Dicksonia culcita_), called by the natives _cabellinho_, furnishes a
silky material for the stuffing of mattresses and is exported to Brazil and
Portugal.

_Population._--The inhabitants of the islands are mostly of Portuguese
origin, with a well-marked strain of Moorish and Flemish blood. There is a
high birth-rate and a low average of infant mortality. A large proportion
of the poorer classes, especially among the older men and women, are
totally illiterate, but education tends to spread more rapidly than in
Portugal itself, owing to the custom of sending children to the United
States, where they are taught in the state schools. Negroes, mulattoes,
English, Scottish and Irish immigrants are present in considerable numbers,
especially in Fayal and St Michael's. The total number of resident
foreigners in 1900 was 1490.

_Government._--The Azores are subdivided into three administrative
districts named after their chief