CHAP. I.] BERMUDAS TO MADEIRA. 29 



the centre of the great crater a secondary cone, very perfect in 

 shape, and composed of scorire and hiva, rises to a height of up- 

 ward of 200 feet above its rim. This little additional peak 

 gives the top of this mountain a very characteristic form. The 

 top of the mountain is covered with snow during the winter 

 months, but it has usually entirely disappeared before the end 

 of May. The sides of the mountain, alternately ridged and 

 deeply grooved, and studded with the cones and craters of 

 minor vents, are richly wooded, and the lower and more level 

 belt sloping down to the sea-cliff produces abundance of maize, 

 yams {Calocasia esculetita), and wheat. The other islands de- 

 pend greatly u^^on Pico for their supply of vegetables, fruit, 

 and poultry. The morning we were at Fayal a fleet of Pico 

 boats, two -masted with large lateen - sails, loaded with green 

 figs, apricots, cabbages, potatoes, and fowls, crossed over in time 

 for early market. Formerly Pico was the vineyard of the 

 Agores. Previous to the year 1853 from twenty to thirty thou- 

 sand pipes were exported from the island of a dry, rather high- 

 flavored wine, which commanded a fair price in the markets 

 of Europe, under the name of "Pico madeira."" In 1853 the 

 wretched Oidium Tuckeri devastated the vineyards and reduced 

 the population of the island, who depended mainly on their 

 wine production for their subsistence, to exti'eme misery. Noth- 

 ing would stop the ravages of the fungus ; in successive years 

 the crop was reduced to one-fourth, one-eighth, one-tenth, and 

 then entirely ceased, and the inhabitants emigrated in great 

 numbers to Brazil and California. Some few attempts have 

 been made to restore the vines, but up to the present time there 

 is practically no manufacture of wine in the Acores. 



We left Fayal the morning after our arrival, and had one or 

 two hauls of the dredge in shallow water, from 50 to 100 fath- 

 oms, in the channel between Fayal and Pico. Everywhere the 

 bottom gave evidence of recent volcanic action. The dredge 

 came up full of fine dark volcanic sand and pieces of pumice. 



