Very few Western Islanders have settled in Wellfleet, and these are mainly employed on the railroad as section hands. They are generally sober and industrious. There are comparatively few persons of foreign birth in the town. The tendency on the part of the younger persons to leave the town for more active industrial centres is quite marked.

The chain of ponds in the northeastern part of the town, which is the source of Herring Brook, is composed of fine sheets of fresh water, connected by sluiceways to permit the herring to run up and spawn. These ponds seem to be quite deep, with sandy shores, and a moderate current flowing from them into the brook at all times. The run of herring is said to have increased very much in the past few years, owing to the better care which has been taken of the brook so as to keep it open from the ponds. There were formerly quite large settlements near these ponds, but as the older people passed away, the houses have gone to decay, and now but few remain. In the valley there is very good farming land, and the ponds afford an inexhaustible supply of good, fresh water. In this section of the town there are not as many clay banks as elsewhere, but they are scattered more or less over the entire town. The uplands have a light, sandy soil, thickly covered with a small growth of oak and native pine. Near the ponds there are several high hills. In South Wellfleet there is much salt marsh, some of it dyked off into cranberry bogs, but with indifferent success. One large bog, formed at a great expense, and with provision for flowage, has proved a failure. The land, other than the marsh, is very high and sandy, with very few ponds. In the most southern part it consists of high level ground with poor soil, but it could be made to yield asparagus with the aid of fertilizers. While driven wells are the main source of water supply, there is one flowing spring, the water of which is bottled and marketed.

THE WESTERN ISLANDERS.

Before commenting on the figures and statements so far presented, which show very fully the condition of the towns, there are other subjects, within the scope of the investigation, that require attention.

It is apparent that the Western Island Portuguese are becoming an important factor in the social and industrial life of certain sections of the Cape. It may be well to examine somewhat closely their characteristics.

Under the general head of "Western Islanders " have been included, for the purpose of this investigation, such natives of the Cape Verde Islands as have come to Barnstable County, although, strictly speaking, the Azores alone constitute what are generally termed the Western Islands. Both the Azores and the Cape Verde Islands are under the dominion of Portugal, both being located in the Atlantic, the first named group 500 miles west of Portugal, and the other 320 miles west of Cape Verde. The Azores are the more northern, as well as the more populous, their position being between 36° 55′ and 39° 44' north latitude, and between 25° 10′ and 31° 16' west longitude. The Cape Verde Islands, on the other hand, lie between 14° 47′ and 17° 12′ north latitude, and between 22° 45′ and 25° 25' west longitude; and comprise 14 islands, not all inhabited, having an aggregate area of 1,650 square miles. The Azores comprise three groups of islands, the groups being separated by distances of from 70 to 114 miles. Both the Azores and the Cape Verde Islands are of volcanic origin, with fertile soil, imperfectly cultivated, and adapted to the sugar cane, coffee, and other tropical products.

The Azores have been held by Portugal since 1449. The inhabitants are Portuguese in origin, modified in certain respects by their insular environment. Owing to the system of land tenure, and the restrictions due to the survival of feudal customs, improvement in methods of agriculture is practically impossible, and the opportunities for improving the social and economic conditions of the people correspondingly limited. In proportion to the means of subsistence the islands are overpopulated. As might be expected, therefore, emigration is now continuous, and the United States offers an especially inviting field. Here there is opportunity; and industry, with the frugality to which they are accustomed, meets an adequate reward. The abandoned lands upon Cape Cod, cheap, near the shore, and near the point of arrival, give them a foothold far superior to that at home, notwithstanding the

differences of climate; and there is also employment in the fisheries.

A visitor to the Azores, who is also a careful and intelligent observer, speaks as follows of the conditions under which emigration was proceeding in 1886:

Emigration, generally clandestine, has of late years greatly relieved the necessitous condition of these poor islanders, but the difficulties in the way of the overplus population seeking their fortunes elsewhere have been increased by a law passed in the Cortes in 1880, compelling all males, on attaining the age of 14, to deposit £40 with the State, before being allowed to leave the country; this sum being kept in pawn with a view to providing a military substitute, should the emigrant not return when required to undergo the period of service in the army all Portuguese are liable to.

The stream of emigration from the three most eastern islands of S. Miguel, Santa Maria and Terceira, has through accidental circumstances generally proceeded steadily to Brazil, whereas that from the westernmost islands of Fayal, San Jorge and Flores is directed mainly to the United States, whilst Madeira, singularly enough, contributes a by no means insignificant quota to the Sandwich Islands, where the number of Portuguese (chiefly from Madeira and the Azores) had in 1884 reached 9,000, as against 436 in 1879.

The total annual emigration from this archipelago fluctuates between two and three thousand of both sexes, but is continuous. Besides the English, German and Portuguese steamers which occasionally call at these islands for their living freights, there are three or four sailing vessels employed between them and Boston and New Bedford, U. S., carrying each about 170 passengers, and making five or six Voyages in the year.

The amounts remitted by successful emigrants to their friends in the islands are very considerable. The fortunes of Terceira have of recent years positively revived under this influence, and Fayal alone receives in some years as much as £20,000 of savings from the Western States. I have seen it stated in a generally well-informed native paper, that the sums remitted to these islands by absent colonists have occasionally amounted to 300 contos or £53,600, but this must be an exaggerated or very exceptional estimate.

The emigrants from the Azores ever retain an affectionate remembrance of their former homes, and unless prevented by family ties, return, sometimes with considerable fortunes, to end their days here. I once met a man on board the "Açor," who had been away in one of the Western States for 25 years and was visiting Fayal to see his friends. He had forgotten every word of Portuguese except "Saudades,"† for his native place, which he felt must be satisfied at any cost.

* The Azores; William Frederick Walker, F. R. G. S., etc.; London, Trübner & Co., 1886; pp. 107, 108, and 109. + Indicating ardent desire or longing for one's home.

Every steamer from Lisbon carries as passengers to the islands, one or more of these fortunate emigrants returning home with their "little pile," after an absence of many years in the United States or Brazil.

Although there is no permanent line of packets, sailing at fixed times between New Bedford and the Azores and Cape Verde Islands, there are five or six vessels which make regular trips, some sailing twice each year. They carry out as freight, principally, stores for whaling vessels; and bring in, on the return passage, oil from American whaleships, salt, and goat skins. Most of the vessels employed are schooners owned at the Islands, supplemented occasionally by a Portuguese steamer. Through the courtesy of Zephaniah W. Pease, Esq., Collector of the Port of New Bedford, the information contained in the following table is presented, showing the arrivals at New Bedford of immigrants from the Western Islands, (including, as previously stated, the Cape Verde group) for a series of years, classified by age periods and sex:

Arrivals at the Port of New Bedford from the Western Islands: By Years, Age Periods, and Sex.

In the aggregate, 1,978 persons are included; the number of arrivals being greater in the early than in the later years. The males are considerably in excess, numbering 1,356, as against 622 females. As to ages, those 15 years but under 40 are most numerous, this period including 1,091 males and 409 females. The children, that is, persons under 15, comprise 151 males and 150 females; while persons 40 years of age and over include 114 males and 63 females.

During the same years covered by this table a certain number of these immigrants have no doubt returned. Indeed it is not unlikely that the passage to and from the islands may have been made more than once by the same persons. No record upon this point is kept, but the following table shows the number who have sailed from New Bedford to the islands, by years, classified, as in the preceding table, by age periods and

sex:

Departures from the Port of New Bedford for the Western Islands: By Years, Age Periods, and Sex.

The total number of returning passengers is 807, of whom 625 are males and 182 females. The excess of males in both entering and returning vessels, strengthens the probability that there is a movement to and from the islands, of men, either without families or who in the first coming did not bring wives with them. Of course there are other means of reaching southeastern Massachusetts from the Azores than the comparatively direct communication afforded by the vessels entering New Bedford. The figures cited, however, show something of the movement to and from the Western Islands at this, perhaps the chief port of entry.

The Portuguese who enter at this port or elsewhere, and who remain in Massachusetts, have in many cases engaged in agriculture in the vicinity of New Bedford, and have been distributed upon the Cape as has been shown. They are generally law-abiding, industrious, and thrifty. Incidental statements respecting their habits have been given in the reports relating to the Cape towns. They do not recruit the army of tramps.