1838.] WINE MAKING. 35 



The inhabitants of Madeira are of Moorish origin, though 

 free negroes, and descendants of the European race, are fre- 

 quently to be met with. The men are tall, muscular, and 

 well-built. The women, particularly among the peasantry, 

 are masculine and vigorous, and rarely exhibit any traces of 

 beauty : as they share the labors of their husbands, the soft- 

 ness natural to the sex is very soon destroyed. All are tough 

 and hearty, and capable of enduring great and long-continued 

 fatigue. Among the higher classes, the fashions of Spain 

 and Portugal are imitated or copied ; and rustling silks and 

 gay velvets are often seen in the streets. The dress of the 

 peasant is far less expensive, yet quite picturesque : the men 

 wear trowsers descending as low as the knee, and shirts and 

 jackets of the brightest colors ; and the women, bodices laced 

 with pretty ribbons, and short gayly-striped petticoats. A 

 corneal cap, common to both sexes, completes the costume. 



The difference between the imports and exports of Madeira, 

 indicates a high state of prosperity. The former barely ex- 

 ceed one hundred thousand dollars annually, principally con- 

 sisting of staves, rice, and oil ; while more than eight thou- 

 sand pipes of wine, valued at over one and a half million of 

 dollars, are exported during the same period. Most of the 

 cereal grams, sugar, coffee, and taro, are produced in abun- 

 dance. Large quantities of fine beef, vegetables, and fruit, 

 are furnished, also, to the vessels that stop at the island. 

 But the great staple is the far-famed Madeira wine, the best 

 qualities of which, the connoisseur need not be told, come 

 from the " south-side." Great care is taken to maintain the 

 reputation of the wine, and the laws are so strict, that even 

 the genuine article, once shipped, cannot be introduced into 

 the island. 



The method of manufacturing the wine is certainly very 

 primitive, and differs but little from that in vogue among the 

 nations of the East in olden times. The grapes are deposited 

 in an elevated vat, usually about six feet square and two feet 

 deep, under an open shed covered with a thatch roof. Some 

 half a dozen bare-legged and hare- footed peasants, then spring 



