There are 2 hills on this island of a considerable height; one pretty
bluff, the other peaked at top. The rest of the island is pretty level
and of a good height from the sea. The shore clear round hath sandy bays
between the rocky points I spoke of, and the whole island is a very dry
sort of soil.
OF THE CAPE VERDE ISLANDS; ITS SALT POND COMPARED WITH THAT OF SALT
TORTUGA; ITS TRADE FOR SALT, AND FRAPE-BOATS.
On the west side of the isle where the road for ships is, there is a
large sandy bay and a sandbank of about 40 paces wide within it which
runs along the shore 2 or 3 miles; within which there is a large salina
or salt pond, contained between the sandbank and the hills beyond it. The
whole salina is about 2 miles in length, and half a mile wide; but above
one half of it its commonly dry. The north end only of the pond never
wants water, producing salt from November till May, which is here the dry
season of the year. The water which yields this salt works in from out of
the sea through a hole in the sandbank before mentioned, like a sluice,
and that only in spring tides when it fills the pond more or less,
according to the height of the tides.
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