thousand pipes. The greatest 
ntity exported in any one year 
‘appears to have been fifteen thou- 
sand pipes, in the following man- 
othe East Indies - Pipes 5500 
ToEngland - - - - - 4500 
Tothe West Indies - - 3000 
To America, and taken away 
by Americans 2000 
15000 
_ The value of which, with a little 
fruit and other articles exported, 
may be estimated at 500,000/., of 
hich more than 400,000/. is taken 
‘by Great Britain and its colonies, 
in exchange for various manufac. 
tures and provisions, amounting in 
Value to about 300,000/., making 
thus a balanceagainst us of 100,000/. 
_ America supplies the island with 
' lumber, staves, salt provisions, and 
grain, to the amount of 80,000/. 
_ annually, which is more than is im- 
ported into the island by Portugal 
from Europe, Brazil, and the 
Azores; and the whole amount 
of produce taken by the mother- 
_ country from Madeira does not ex- 
ceed 10,0001. ‘The total revenues 
of the island, consisting of one- 
_tenth of the produce and duties on 
import and export, are said to 
amount to about 100,000/., out of 
_ which, after paying the expences 
of the civil, military, and ecelesias- 
tical establishments, the crown is 
supposed to receive about 30,000/., 
_ although the old governor assured 
lord Macartney that the net sum 
_ Fecéived by the crown of Portugal 
- seldom exceeded eight or ten thou- 
sand pounds. 
It will appear extraordinary, and 
I shonld not have ventured to men- 
tion it had I not the authority for so 
“gp CHARACTERS. 
861 
doing, of a gentleman who has been 
thirty years on the island, that so 
large a quantity of wine should 
annually be sent to India, and con- 
sumed there, (for of this not 300 
pipes a year are returned to En. 
rope,) and so little imported into 
England. The latter weuld appear 
to be of less difficult explanation 
than the former ; for although it is 
supposed that the quantity consum- 
ed in Great Britain, under the name 
of Madeira, is, on the least calcula. 
tion, equal to the whole quantity 
that is exported from the island, or 
more than three times what is actu. 
ally imported, yet it is well known 
that a variety of mixtures pass for 
Madeira, some of which are com- 
pounded of wines that never grew 
on the island, as those of Teneriffe, 
Lisbon and Xeres. And with re- 
gard to India it may be observed, 
that although the number of English 
there is very limited, and few ofany 
other nation drink Madeira wine, 
yet this and claret are the only 
wines in general consumption at 
both the presidencies and in the 
army, the former of which is freely 
used during dinner, 
This wine is known to possess 
many extraordinary qualities. I 
have heard it asserted, that if pure 
genuine Madeira be exposed to frost 
until it is congealed into a solid mass 
of ice, and again thawed by the fire ; 
if heated to the boiling point, and 
then left to cool; if exposed to the 
sun for weeks together in open 
casks, or placed in damp cellars; it 
will not suffer the least injury by 
.Such great and violent changes, 
That part, however, which is con- 
sumed on the island is a raw meagre 
beverage, which, if compared with 
London particular, iss bad as smalt 
beer to fine ale. 
The 
