Geology^ and Climate of the Island of Madeira. 339 



many of the trunks being from five to six, and some eight feet 

 in circumference. In the ground adjoining to the chapel of 

 St Antonio and the pilgrims' house, is a forest of old trees of 

 great size, and many of them upwards of forty feet in height. 

 The stems are covered with the beautiful fern, Davallia Ca- 

 nariensis, climbing the trees with its rough creeping root ; and 

 various species of rare or interesting flowering plants are found 

 in the neighbourhood. The Vaccinium Maderense also grows 

 to a great size, forming beautiful thickets or little woods, in 

 many places from twelve to fifteen feet in height. 



The slope of the land, I have said, is more gradual on the 

 south than on the north side of the island. Here the central 

 mountain sends down to the shore lofty ridges, but only at in- 

 tervals ; so that between them are left spaces or basins, in 

 which the land rises to the central heights by a series of gra- 

 dual slopes, interrupted here and there by ravines and pro- 

 jecting ridges. In a semicircular basin of this kind, bounded 

 by the high ridges that terminate in the lofty sea-cliffs of Cape 

 Giram on the west, and Cape Garajam on the east, lies the dis- 

 trict and town of Funchal. The town is situated round the 

 margin, and in the immediate vicinity of a large bay, open to 

 the south ; and immediately behind it the land rises gradually, 

 forming terraces of vineyard and garden ground on the sides 

 of the amphitheatre of hills by which the bay is surrounded. 

 The dark and rugged ravines by which these sloping grounds 

 are deeply intersected, stand in strong contrast to the verdure 

 that is interrupted by them. The lower hills are covered with 

 vines, which are here trained over trellis-work of cane, sup- 

 ported by rows of stone pillars. These rows of white pillars, 

 and the beautiful quintas or villas which are scattered on the 

 hill sides, give a fine appearance to the ground above the city. 

 About the upper limit of the vineyard-ground, built on an 

 eminence about 1900 feet above the sea, is the Mount Church, 

 the most conspicuous object in the landscape from the bay of 

 Funchal. Beyond this are forests of chestnut and pine, and 

 other trees ; and the scene is bounded by a ridge of moun- 

 tains nearly 4000 feet in elevation. Between this ridge and 

 the sea, along a great extent of the southern coast, are ranges 

 of low hills and elevations such as those in the neighbourhood 



