Show ia Sao I Miguel Mi ue a. a r I 1 1 Wine Barrels Barrel I Are Carried Under the Carta Can b br by National Geographic Society H i D. D tt W o.-W C. NU Service SAO AO MIGUEL L of the Azores Islands Islands Is Is- lands Is from oranges to pineapples as Its chief source of wealth Excellent J oranges or or- anges are still grown but since the Island lost the British market a few v years ago pineapple culture has occupied occupIed oc oc- agriculturists Natives of Sao Miguel hope hOle to develop develop develop de de- their Island Into an Isle of Pines which will provide a good part of Europe with practically all Its Ita fresh supply of pineapples An Englishman a skilled arrived at Sao Miguel more than eighty years ago to lay out the famous Jose lose do Canto gar gar- dens It was he who brought the first pineapples to his employers employer's hothouse Twenty years later the fruit was shipped to England each pine In Its pot selling for two guin guIn- England and Germany are now the chief consumers of Azorian pines France and continental Portugal Portugal Por Por- following The plant which Is here of the smooth-leaved smooth Cayenne variety Is Ie grown under tinder glass special beds of fermenting heath or some other mountain shrub being provided All AH the plants planta are brought to blossom at the same time by a process of smoking the value of which was accidentally accidentally ac ac- discovered many years ago when a carpenter working In one of the pineapple houses chanced to set fire to a pile of shavings To the surprise of the grower the plants Instead of being spoiled burst Into flower By this method practically all the plants In a hothouse hothouse hothouse hot hot- house can be marketed at the same time many months earlier than for for- merly mercy Little glass houses shimmer on emerald slopes In various sections of Sao Sno Miguel the exclusive producer producer pro pro- producer ducer of pineapples In this archi pelago Wrapped In cellophane or packed in excelsior and crated the fruit Is shipped to the European market by a fleet of three vessels vessel owned ned by the growers In 1934 1014 34 about pines worth half a million dollars were exported Tea Too Is II Grown There Another exotic Industry on this Island is the production of black and green tea which here retains Its original name cha Ever since they discovered ered the sea route to India India In dia dla and planted their settlements as asfar asfar asfar far afield as Macao Macau on the coast of China the Portuguese have been a tea-drinking tea nation There Is an old belief that tea Is better If It It U has not crossed the sea Whether this Is true or not i tea tastes to some much like the far eastern variety on Its native soil itIs It ItIs Itis is consumed locally and shipped to other parts of Portugal A number of Chinese were originally originally Imported as Instructors In the tea culture but now only native labor labor labor la la- bor chiefly female Is employed The plantations dot the hillsides on the northern side of the Island which has greater moisture than the south coast The stiff stilt little evergreen shrubs stand In precise rows very foreign In appearance contrasting strangely with the familiar European European Euro Euro- peon flora about them A motor road parallels the coast of Sao Miguel with connecting crossroads crossroads crossroads cross cross- roads enabling the traveler to see much of beauty and Interest even In one day ashore Including trips to the two largest volcano craters On the country roads are slow- slow swaying bullock carts with woven woven- willow bodies filled with heath for forthe forthe forthe the pineapple houses Some arc are of archaic lc pattern with solid wheels of the Itoman Boman type their approach heralded by a creaking song Sao Miguel has a deliciously green and r restful countryside Checkerboard Checkerboard Checker Checker- board fields brown and green altercate alternate alternate alter alter- nate cate with woods filled tilled with song song- birds These Thes Islands like those of the Madeira Madeira- and Canary groups are the habitat of the wild canary of greenish-gray greenish hue hoe Its glad note is one of the features of the Azores Near every elery stone tone cottage stands a acorn acorn acorn corn rick where brownish maize In Inthe Inthe inthe the husk Is hung to dry It forms the staple cereal crop of the Islands Fava beans broad beans and yams leading articles are grown and are of export In the Crater of a Volcano Skirting pine clad cliffs a rond road climbs to a misty heather-clad heather tableland ta to- then descends Into Furnas valley shut In by towering green walls Were It U not for the puffs of team steam ascending from its many boiling sulphur springs It would he be difficult to believe that this peaceful peaceful peace peace- ful vale Is the crater of a mighty volcano which more than once poured out Its molten lava and which still speaks through vents In the hot sulphur stained crust around the springs It Is a beautiful picture from the heights this quiet sheltered valley alley with Its long narrow village meandering mean mean- dering like a stream through woods and meadows The lake on a raised platform of the crater lies Ues some distance distance dis dis- tance from the settlement which Is a favorite fa summer resort Prescott the famed historian came to Furnas as a young man to visit at the summer home of his grandfather first American lar officer In Sao Miguel who was appointed In 1705 by President Washington Furnas has bas a thermal establishment establish establish- ment meat where sulphur and Iron baths are available Nearby Near fountains supply various kinds of mineral water the place being noted for the diversity of Its Ita waters and the proximity of hot and cold springs One deep caldron belchIng belchIng belching belch- belch Ing forth boiling mud and steam Is called The Mouth of HelL lIelL Its Ita evil appearance and the strong smell of sulphur give the Impression that this Is really an entrance to the abode of His Satanic Majesty Stately manorial houses erected centuries ago are to be seen throughout Sao Miguel usually set seton seton on the heights One such house built In 1724 Is a delightfully romantic romantic ro ro- mantic mantle old place The big stone stone- paved kitchen has a place chimney-place which Is a room In itself StandIng StandIng Stand Stand- Ing In It beside the huge brick hearth one can look up the wide chimney which towers above the house bouse to a patch of blue sky Such chimneys are a distinctive feature of houses bouses Life of the Inhabitants InhabItant The upper class of Ionta Ponta Ionta Delgada leads a pleasant life quiet as compared compared com com- pared Jared with the stress of American cities clUes There Is a social club dub where dancing Is a favorite pastime a coliseum seating 2000 a sports field for football tennis croquet and handball a baseball park and an open-air open sea pool built In la the rocks rucks by the shore There are motion pictures twice a week chiefly from Hollywood American Influence Is apparent In Inthe Inthe Inthe the English spoken throughout the Azores There seems to be a gen genn liking for tor the United States The Stars and Stripes are In la evIdence evidence evi evl dence deuce at every festival During the World war Ponta Fonta Delgada was an American naval base l Economically self self contained contained the the are no less Independent when It comes to their social pleas pleas- ures In their amateur shows the scenery Is apt to be painted locally the costumes made In the homes of the young men and women who par par- In their singing done dancIng dancing ing log and acting these young people exhibit amazing talent and poise The young folks mingle In crowds but there Is here no such free tree and easy companionship among them as exists In the United States The chaperon Is still In vogue and balcony balcony bal cony courtship Is carried on with Its own prescribed etiquette the girl leaning over o the story second-story balcony to talk with her admirer on the street below The finest sight eight on the Island Is the crater of Sete CIdades Seven Cities The view from the rim Is magnificent The shaped cup-shaped crater Is nearly ten miles In circumference and holds besides a lake fake with a hamlet on Its shore pastures and cultivated fields and three volcanic cones due to subsequent eruptions Owing to varying depths and deposits deposits de do- posits the lake fake shaped like the fig tit figure ure 8 and sometimes spoken of as two lakes Is vividly green at one end brilliantly blue at the other The on their aerial odyssey from Greenland's Icy mountaIns mountains mountains moun moun- to the steaming Jungles of the Amazon swooped down over this secluded lake There are many among the poor of the Azores who have suffered since money orders have ceased to arrive from Manoel or Antonio who formerly prospered In Providence or New Bedford The assets are a stout heart a willing band hand a productive soil and a climate which though damp and rain rainy sIx sir months of the year Is without extremes of temperature Wages are low but food Is cheap The main diet of the peasant con con- slats of soup of cabbages beans and antI potatoes white while cornbread and fish Pork ork and beef beet are only for special occasions such as 81 religious holl holi days das In the Pouts Ponta Delgada market CO rA small fish sell lieU for two and a half cents a pound of I t ten fen pens peas for less than two rents A fresh live p lobster which Is only for the well well- to-do to costs cost 25 cents |