“I think there was no square of that name when I was here before; but very likely they have one by this time,” replied the surgeon, laughing. “Of course a Spanish or Portuguese town cannot get along without one. On our right is the castle of Santa Cruz; and this name is quite as indispensable as that of the Constitution. Next to it is the mole, where you will land when you go on shore. The hills, which look so steep and rugged in places, are about five hundred feet high.”
“Here is a steep one on the starboard,” added Murray.
“That is only half the height I named. It is Monte Queimada, a volcano. Its sides look like a mass of cinders; but the streets and roads of this vicinity are of the same thing, as are many of the sides of the hills. Now we are approaching Monte da Guia. It is nearly five hundred feet high. That building on this side is a chapel.”
The boats pulled around the point, and soon came to an opening in the cliffs, not more than an eighth of a mile wide, into which the Prince’s gig, leading the way, entered, and proceeded about a quarter of a mile.
“Now we are in the crater of a dead volcano,” said the doctor, after the oarsmen had been directed to lie on their oars. “The inside of it has been blown out by the commotion of the elements, and one side of it has caved in so as to form a passage into it. You can see clearly the form of the crater on the land side. We call these extinct volcanoes; but they are liable to break out anew at any time. Nine years ago the earth was fearfully shaken by internal commotions, so that the people left their houses, under whose falling walls they were in danger of being buried, and lodged in tents. But the ground may open and draw them in at any time.”
The students gazed with wondering interest at the interior of the crater. The fleet of boats then pulled out and around the Point into Pim Bay, an enclosure formed by the peninsula at the end of which is the Caldeira Inferno, as the burnt-out volcano is called, meaning “the caldron of hell,” a name to which it is properly entitled. Pim Bay is only a quarter of a mile wide; but it is perfectly sheltered by the high hills mentioned, and the island, on three sides, but is open on the south-west. It has a castle for its defence; and the streets of the town of Horta extend over to it, so that the port is used for loading small vessels.
The boats returned by noon, and the students were well pleased with the excursion; but most of them were anxious to get out into the country, where the orange-trees were in their glory. After dinner they were permitted to land, and visit the town, or roam on the hill-sides, as they chose.
“Nearly two hundred whale-ships used to come into this port for supplies, and to unload their oil, which was shipped from here to the United States,” said Dr. Winstock, when the party had landed at the mole. “A great many of the people of these islands have engaged in the whale-fishery in our ships, which has induced them to emigrate to our country; and there is a part of New Bedford called ‘New Fayal.’”
“I think I should emigrate if the ground was liable to open and swallow me up,” said Scott.
“The people are used to that sort of thing,” added Murray.