VILLA GARDENS WEST OF FUNCHAL 29 



Some of the cabbage and date palms have at- 

 tained an immense size, and are a great ornament 

 to the landscape, and some fine groups of the 

 curious screw pine, Pandanus odoratissima ; it has 

 peculiar flat leaves and an uncouth flower, which 

 bears a strong resemblance to the body of a dead 

 rabbit hanging from the plant ! The grounds com- 

 mand fine views, and were laid out for the present 

 owner by an English landscape gardener. There is 

 a curious cave or grotto formed out of the natural 

 rock, clothed with ferns and mosses, which no 

 doubt remains cool and damp through the summer, 

 and forms a welcome retreat from the fierce heat 

 of the sun. 



Close by are the grounds of Quinta Stanford, or 

 Quinta Pitta, as it was originally called by its first 

 owner. The gardens have been very much enlarged 

 by their present owner ; banana plantations have 

 gradually vanished, and the grounds no longer 

 present the cramped appearance from which they 

 formerly suffered. New-comers to Madeira, as a 

 rule, express great surprise that the gardens are 

 not larger and generally only cover such a very 

 small piece of ground. The value of the land for 

 agricultural purposes formerly for growing vines, 

 then, possibly, for banana cultivation, and now for 



