CHAP. I.] BERMUDAS TO MADEIRA. 47 



A wonderful scene then bursts upon the wanderer. The ridge 

 is the edge of a large crater two miles and a half in diameter, 

 surrounded by an nnbroken craggy wall, more than a thousand 

 feet in heiglit. The floor of the crater is richly wooded and 

 cultivated. There are two small lakes of a wonderful sapphire 

 blue, and on the margin of one of them a village of white cot- 

 tages. The zigzag path down into the crater is so steep that 

 one or two of the parties who went from the ship contented 

 themselves with the view of the valley from the crest of the 

 ridge, and from all I hear I am inclined to think that these had 

 the advantage in every respect over some others who went 

 down and had to come up again. 



Next morning Caj^tain IS^ares and I called on M. Jose do 

 Canto, about whose good and liberal deeds in introducing val- 

 uable and ornamental foreign plants, and distributing them 

 through the islands, we had heard so much. We were fortunate 

 in finding him at home, and we sj)ent a very pleasant couj)le of 

 hours with him in his charming garden. 



The trees of all temperate and subtropical regions seem to 

 thrive admirably in sheltered situations in the Agores. M. do 

 Canto has for the last thirty years spared neither money nor 

 time in bringing together all that appeared desirable, whether 

 for their use or for their beauty, and in doing them ample jus- 

 tice while under his charge. The garden is well situated on 

 the slope above the town ; it is extensive, and very beautifully 

 laid out and cared for. Great care is taken to allow each in- 

 dividual tree to attain its characteristic form, and consequently 

 some species, particularly those of peculiar and symmetrical 

 growth, such as the different species of AUingia, Araucaria, 

 Cryptomeria, etc., are more perfect probably than they are any- 

 where else, even in their native regions. M. do Canto does not 

 give much heed to the growing of flowers : his grounds are 

 rather an arboretum than a garden. He has now upward of a 

 thousand species of trees under cultivation. 



