152 THE ATLANTIC. [CHAP. IL. 
There was a fine Lougainvillea in Captain Phillimore’s gar- 
den at Gibraltar, which greatly excited our admiration; but 
round Funchal it was everywhere, in every shade of color, from 
a brick-red, through rich crimsons and violets, to a pale, delicate 
mauve. What a pity it is that this singularly ornamental plant 
will not as yet stand the climate of England! From its brill- 
iancy not depending upon the flower, but upon a bunch of 
bracts, or flower-leaves, it stands a long time, scarcely varying in 
effect from early in December to the middle or end of August. 
Second only to the Bougaimvillea in decorating the verandas 
and trellises in Madeira are several species of Bignonia, par- 
ticularly B. venusta, which runs out into long wreaths, cluster- 
ing round every available projection, and glorifying it with its 
trusses of golden bells. Many of our party went off at once 
on horseback to the hills, while others found enough to enjoy, 
during the few hours of our stay, in the gardens and walks in 
the neighborhood of the town. 
Madeira is very rich in land-shells, which are particularly in- 
teresting, owing to the singular position in which these Atlan- 
tic islands stand as to the source and extension of their land 
faune. Some of the naturalists of our party took the opportu- 
nity of going over a very instructive collection of the land- 
shells which had been made by the Rev. R. Boog Watson dur- 
ing his residence. 
On the morning of the 5th of February we left Madeira and 
stood for the Canaries. We had a capital breeze all the way, 
force = 5—6, from the north-east. We only stopped to sound 
once in 1970 fathoms, about half-way ; and we made on an av- 
erage eight knots an hour, so that we found ourselves off Ten- 
eriffe early on the morning of the 7th. 
We anchored in the Bay of Santa Cruz, and remained there a 
couple of days, and sent off a tenting-party, consisting of sev- 
eral of the civilian scientific staff and one or two of the naval 
officers, to the Canadas, the mountain plateau at an elevation 
