the people informed us that what we did see was a very exact specimen of the rest.

The only article of trade in this island is wine, and the manner in which it is made is so simple, that it might have been used by Noah, who is said to have planted the first vineyard after the flood: The grapes are put into a square wooden vessel, the dimensions of which are proportioned to the size of the vineyard to which it belongs; the servants then, having taken off their stockings and jackets, get into it, and with their feet and elbows, press out as much of the juice as they can: The stalks are afterwards collected, and being tied together with a rope, are put under a square piece of wood, which is pressed down upon them by a lever with a stone tied to the end of it.

It was with great difficulty that the people of Madeira were persuaded to engraft their vines, and some of them still obstinately refused to adopt the practice, though a whole vintage is very often spoiled by the number of bad grapes which are mixed in the vat, and which they will not throw out, because they increase the quantity of the wine: An instance of the force of habit, which is the more extraordinary, as they have adopted the practice of engrafting with respect to their chesnut-trees, an object of much less importance, which, however, are thus brought to bear sooner than they would otherwise have done."

We

1 This opinion about the volcanic origin of the island of Madeira, has found several advocates since the publication of this work. The following quotation from a paper by the Hon. H. G. Bennet, contained in the first volume of the Geological Society Transactions, may furnish the inquisitive reader with a short summary of the principal appearances on which this opinion_rests. "To my mind, the most interesting geological facts, are, 1. The intersection of the lava, by dikes at right angles with the strata.-2. The rapid dips which the strata make, particularly the overlaying of that of the Brazen Head to the eastward of Funchial, where the blue, grey, and red lavas are rolled up in one mass, as if they had slipped together from an upper stratum.-8. The columnar form of the lava itself, reposing on, and covered by beds of scoria, ashes, and pumice, which affords a strong argument for the volcanic origin of the columns themselves. And, 4. The veins of carbonate of lime and zeolite, which are not found here in solitary pieces, as in the vicinity of Ætna and Vesuvius, but are amid the lavas and in the strata of pumice and tufa, and are diffused on the lava itself, and occasionally crystallized in its cavities."-E.

2 The censure passed on the carelessness of the people of Madeira as

to

We saw no wheel-carriages of any sort in the place, which perhaps was not more owing to the want of inge nuity to invent them, than to the want of industry to mend the roads, which, at that time, it was impossible that any wheel-carriage should pass: The inhabitants had horses and mules indeed, excellently adapted to such ways; but their wine, notwithstanding, was brought to town from the vineyards where it was made, in vessels of goat-skins, which were carried by men upon their heads. The only imitation of a carriage among these people was a board, made somewhat hollow in the middle, to one end of which a pole was tied, by a strap of whit-leather: This wretched sledge approached about as near to an English cart, as an Indian canoe to a ship's long-boat; and even this would probably never have been thought of, if the English had not introduced wine vessels, which are too big to be carried by hand, and which, therefore, were dragged about the town upon these machines.

One reason, perhaps, why art and industry have done so little for Madeira is, nature's having done so much. The soil is very rich, and there is such a difference of climate. between the plains and the hills, that there is scarcely a single object of luxury that grows either in Europe or the Indies, that might not be produced here. When we went to visit Dr Heberden, who lived upon a considerable ascent, about two miles from town, we left the thermometer at 74, and when we arrived at his house, we found it at 66. The hills produce, almost spontaneously, walnuts, chesnuts, and apples in great abundance; and in the town there are many plants which are the natives both of the East and West Indies, particularly the banana, the guava, the pineapple or anana, and the mango, which flourish almost without culture. The corn of this country is of a most excellent quality, large-grained and very fine, and the island would produce it in great plenty, yet most of what is consumed by the inhabitants is imported. The mutton, pork, and beef are also very good; the beef in particular, which

to the manufacture of their wine, does not now apply; for, according to Mr Barrow, who touched here in his voyage to Cochin China, (an account of which appeared in 1806) the care and pains used in choosing the freshest and ripest grapes only for the wine-press, are almost incredi ble. Madeira exports about 15,000 pipes of wine yearly, of which not one-third part comes to England-about 5500 pipes are taken out to India.-E.

5

we took on board here, was universally allowed to be scarcely inferior to our own; the lean part was very like it, both in colour and grain, though the beasts are much smaller, but the fat is as white as the fat of mutton.

The town of Funchiale derives its name from Funcho, the Portuguese name for fennel, which grows in great plenty upon the neighbouring rocks; by the observation of Dr Heberden, it lies in the latitude of $2° 33′ 33′′ N. and longitude 16° 49′ W. It is situated in the bottom of a bay, and though larger than the extent of the island seems to deserve, is very ill built; the houses of the principal inhabitants are large, those of the common people are small, the streets are narrow, and worse paved than any I ever saw. The churches are loaded with ornaments, among which are many pictures, and images of favourite saints, but the pictures are in general wretchedly painted, and the saints are dressed in laced clothes. Some of the convents are in a better taste, especially that of the Franciscans, which is plain, simple, and neat in the highest degree. The infirmary in particular drew our attention as a model which might be adopted in other countries with great advantage. It consists of a long room, on one side of which are the windows, and an altar for the convenience of administering the sacrament to the sick: The other side is divided into wards, each of which is just big enough to contain a bed, and neatly lined with gally-tiles; behind these wards, and parallel to the room in which they stand, there runs a long gallery, with which each ward communicates by a door, so that the sick may be separately supplied with whatever they want without disturbing their neighbours. In this convent there is also a singular curiosity of another kind; a small chapel, the whole lining of which, both sides and cieling, is composed of human sculls and thigh-bones; the thigh-bones are laid across each other, and a scull is placed in each of the four angles. Among the sculls one is very remarkable; the upper and the lower jaw, on one side, perfectly and firmly cohere; how the ossification which unites them was formed, it is not perhaps very easy to conceive, but it is certain that the patient must have lived some time without opening his mouth: What nourishment he received was conveyed through a hole which we discovered to have been made

on

on the other side, by forcing out some of the teeth, in doing which the jaw also seems to have been injured.

We visited the good fathers of this convent on a Thurs day evening, just before supper-time, and they received us with great politeness: "We will not ask you, said they, to sup with us, because we are not prepared, but if you will come to-morrow, though it is a fast with us, we will have a turkey roasted for you." This invitation, which shewed a liberality of sentiment not to have been expected in a convent of Portuguese friars at this place, gratified us much, though it was not in our power to accept it.

We visited also a convent of nuns, dedicated to Santa Clara, and the ladies did us the honour to express a particular pleasure in seeing us there: They had heard that there were great philosophers among us, and not at all knowing what were the objects of philosophical knowledge, they asked us several questions that were absurd and extravagant in the highest degree; one was, when it would thunder; and another, whether a spring of fresh water was to be found any where within the walls of their convent, of which it seems they were in great want. It will naturally be supposed that our answers to such questions were neither satisfactory to the ladies, nor, in their estimation, honourable to us; yet their disappointment did not in the least lessen their civility, and they talked, without ceasing, during the whole of our visit, which lasted about half an hour."

The hills of this country are very high; the highest, Pico Ruivo, rises 5,068 feet, near an English mile, perpendicularly from its base, which is much higher than any land that has been measured in Great Britain. The sides of these hills are covered with vines to a certain height, above which there are woods of chesnut and pine of im

mense

3 Mr Barrow is no admirer of the monks that swarm in Madeira-he represents them as a very worthless, and a very ignorant race of beings. -E.

According to Mr Barrow's account, it should seem, that though there are several nunneries in this island, "not a single instance of the veil being taken has occurred for many years past."-Ë.

5 In Mr Leslie's table of the heights of mountains appended to the second edition of his Elements of Geometry, the altitude of this remarkable peak is stated to be 5162 English feet, but on what authority is not mentioned. That of Ben Nevis, in Inverness-shire, as ascertained by the barometer, is 4380.-E.

mense extent, and above them forests of wild timber of various kinds not known in Europe; particularly two, called by the Portuguese Mirmulano and Paobranco, the leaves of both which, particularly the Paobranco, are so beautiful, that these trees would be a great ornament to the gardens of Europe.

The number of inhabitants in this island is supposed to be about 80,000, and the custom-house duties produce a revenue to the king of Portugal of 20,000l. a-year, clear of all expences, which might easily be doubled by the product of the island, exclusive of the vines, if advantage were taken of the excellence of the climate, and the amazing fertility of the soil; but this object is utterly neglected by the Portugueze. In the trade of the inhabitants of Madeira with Lisbon the balance is against them, so that all the Portugueze money naturally going thither, the currency of the island is Spanish; there are indeed a few Portugueze pieces of copper, but they are so scarce that we did not see one of them: The Spanish coin is of three denominations; Pistereens, worth about a shilling; Bitts, worth about sixpence; and Half bitts, threepence.

The tides at this place flow at the full and change of the moon, north and south; the spring-tides rise seven feet perpendicular, and the neap-tides four. By Dr Heberden's observation, the variation of the compass here is now 15° 30' west, and decreasing; but I have some doubt whether he is not mistaken with respect to its decrease: We found that the north point of the dipping needle belonging to the Royal Society dipped 77° 18".

The refreshments to be had here, are water, wine, fruit of several sorts, onions in plenty, and some sweetmeats; fresh meat and poultry are not to be had without leave from the governor, and the payment of a very high price.

We took in 270 lib. of fresh beef, and a live bullock, charged at 613 lib. 3,032 gallons of water, and ten tons of wine; and in the night, between Sunday the 18th and Monday the 19th of September, we set sail in prosecution of our voyage.

When Funchiale bore north, 13 east, at the distance of seventy-six

• The reader need scarcely be apprized of the necessity of verifying or modifying the account of some of the particulars now given respecting Madeira, by an appeal to more recent authorities. A hint to this effect is sufficient, without further occupying his attention on the subject.-E.