AND PORTO SANTO. 107 



they do not attain the height of the vaccinium, and are by no 

 means large. On the top of Ariero, I found two or three solitary 

 plants of the little viola odorata, in the most exposed situations : 

 on the western side of the island, which is the most sheltered, the 

 clethra formed large trees, and the digitalis grew at their feet. I 

 have thus mentioned the clethra separately, because I believe it to 

 be nearly peculiar to the peak of Kuivo, at the height of this 

 region. Travelling directly eastward, (where the soil is composed 

 of a deep red earth, containing more alumine than the ordinary 

 red tufa, where vegetation is more scanty, and loses all that rich 

 variety which is found to the westward) we find the broom pre- 

 vaiUng at 2000 feet above the sea, and dwarf vaccinia, mixed with 

 broom, heath and bramble, on the downs near the Pilgrimage 

 House of Antonio de Serra (about ten miles from Funchal), which 

 are not more than 2500 feet above the sea, but comparatively 

 close to it. 



The fourth, and last region, about 6000 feet high, is formed by 

 the upper part of the peak of Ruivo, and consists of arborescent 

 erica, patches of graminea, and here and there a solitary fern. 



There is no end to the varieties of the vine in Madeira, if you 

 listen to the cultivators, no two of whom, however, agree in giving 

 the same name to the least important. I had no opportunity of 

 seeing the fruit, but have examined the leaves of the only varieties 

 which the cultivator thinks it worth while to separate ; collecting 

 them from different vineyards, and comparing them carefully, so 

 as not to be deceived in the names, which a person may easily be 

 without this precaution. The juices of the verdelho, negro molle, 

 bastardo, bual, and tinta", are commonly mixed together, to pro- 



" The verdelho leaf has seven lobes, the sinuses of which are not strongly marked ; 

 it is of a dark green, but perfectly bald ; the two lowest lobes are very indistinct. 

 That of the negro molle has five distinct lobes, the two lowest closing, but not ad- 

 hering, over the stalk ; the sinuses are deep and round, the dentations large and 



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