A RAMBLE IN THE HIGHER ALTITUDES 85 



people, especially young girls and children, within 

 reach of Funchal gain a scanty and hard-earned 

 living by bringing daily into the town, often from 

 great distances, bundles of giesta, as the natives 

 call it, to be used for heating ovens and igniting 

 the larger firewood. Doubtless the species was 

 originally introduced into Madeira, though it is 

 proved to have existed there for over 150 years, 

 and now is so extensively diffused that it appears 

 to be perfectly naturalized ; in spring it floods the 

 mountain-sides for miles with seas of its golden 

 blossoms. The very fine and delicate basket-work 

 peculiar to Madeira is manufactured from the 

 slender peeled twigs of the broom. 



Gradually ascending to the higher altitude, those 

 who can tear their eyes away from the beautiful 

 view of the Bay of Funchal and the curiously 

 shaped hills above the villages of Santo Antonio 

 and Santo Amaro will notice that by the roadside, 

 in the moisture exuding from between the rocks, 

 the innumerable ferns and the common foxglove, 

 which at a lower altitude were so abundant, 

 will gradually vanish. The myrtles, formerly so 

 fine, are now unfortunately becoming almost 

 scarce, owing to their injudicious destruction for 

 ornamenting churches and adorning religious pro- 



