CHAPTER V 



VILLA GARDENS TO THE EAST OF FUNCHAL 



(continued) 



THE Quinta do Til is one of the oldest villas in 

 Funchal, and a description of it is to be found in 

 " Rambles in Madeira and Portugal," published 

 anonymously in the early part of 1826, in which 

 the writer says : " The Til is a villa in the Italian 

 style, and possesses much more architectural pre- 

 tensions than any I have seen here ; but it has never 

 been finished, and what has, bears evident symptoms 

 of neglect. The name comes from a remarkably 

 fine til, one of the indigenous forest trees of the 

 island, which stands in the garden, ingens arbos 

 faciemque simillima lauro : it is, I believe, of the 

 laurel tribe. In the court, too, is an enormous 

 old chestnut, the second largest in the island." 



The effect of the garden never having been 

 finished is due to the fact that the balustrade 

 of the lower terrace still remains carried out in 

 wood instead of stone, or at least cement and 



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