VILLA GARDENS WEST OF FUNCHAL 21 



or repose. It is only fair to say, however, that the 

 landscape gardener has had many difficulties to 

 contend with. The natural slope of the ground 

 is, as a rule, extremely steep, especially in gardens 

 situated on the east side of the town. But the 

 ground by no means necessarily falls away only 

 in front of the house. It as often as not falls to 

 one side as well, which makes terracing a very 

 difficult and serious undertaking. To move earth 

 by means of small baskets carried on men's backs 

 is a sufficiently serious matter in the East, where 

 coolies are employed at a very low rate of wages, 

 and are accustomed to this method. But in 

 Madeira, where wages are by no means low, this 

 procedure, which is absolutely necessary, has an 

 important financial aspect when laying out a 

 garden. The result is to give the gardens the 

 effect of having been added to bit by bit, and 

 many of them are broken by slanting terraces 

 without any particular meaning. In common 

 with all foreign gardens, they lack the beauty 

 of English turf, as the finer grasses will not with- 

 stand the heat and dryness of a Madeira summer. 

 Natal grass, which grows from very small tubers, 

 is the most common substitute for turf, as it is 

 hardy and can be mown fairly close. Some of 



