VILLA GARDENS EAST OF FUNCHAL 41 



and called forth the admiration of untold numbers 

 of tourists through successive winters, as they make 

 their noisy descent in the basket sledges or running 

 cars from the mount. 



In a few weeks the road is turned into a golden 

 road. The poinsettias and aloes will have shed 

 their blossoms, and are soon forgotten, as the 

 brilliant orange bignonia clothes many a wall and 

 corridor, and in its turn attracts all attention. By 

 April the wistaria takes its place, and the road 

 becomes all mauve, as nowhere in the whole of 

 Funchal are there so many beautiful wistarias 

 collected together; all along this road they seem 

 to have been planted with a lavish hand. Possibly 

 the soil is especially suited to them in this district, 

 as I have often heard owners of gardens in other 

 parts of Funchal regret that they have never been 

 able to establish this most beautiful of all creepers 

 in their gardens. 



It is small wonder that the sight of these flower - 

 clad walls fills many a visitor to the island with a 

 longing to see the gardens they enclose. 



The palm must be given to the garden of Santa 

 Luzia, as not only does it cover a much larger 

 expanse of ground than any other, but the owner 

 takes so much individual interest in almost every 



6 



