62 FLOWERS AND GARDENS OF MADEIRA 



ness, while the interior space forms a ' leafy 

 labyrinth,' in which trees and shrubs, flowers and 

 fruits of every clime are here crowded into a 

 wilderness of shade and beauty. The higher part 

 of the ground, upon which stands the house, is 

 elevated considerably above the rest, and is divided 

 from it by a terrace of considerable height. This 

 circumstance is of very happy effect for the beauty 

 of the garden : it in a manner doubles its extent, 

 and multiplies its variety ; while the wall of the 

 terrace, in some parts nearly twenty feet high, 

 affords an admirable field for every species of 

 tropical creeper, to luxuriate, as it were, at full 

 length, and to put forth its leaves and blossoms 

 to the sun, in all the fearlessness which such a 

 climate and aspect justify. 



" Above the house the ground rises another step, 

 and the boundary of the garden here is a wall of 

 native rock, which is already half veiled with the 

 trees and trailing plants interposed to relieve its 

 ruggedness. The freshness of the scene is com- 

 pleted by the tanks, always copiously supplied 

 with running water, and which a little trouble 

 might, I think, bring into play as fountains." 



Across the ravine, but at a very much higher 

 altitude, stands the Achada, in a commanding 



