18 MADEIRA. 



meet over the centre of the channel. The cathedral has been j 

 recently repaired, and makes a fine display ; its steeple is the i 

 most conspicuous of any in the town. 



The other public buildings are hardly deserving of notice. 

 The Governor's palace is situated near the water, and has a 

 commanding view of the harbor, but its architecture is clumsy 

 and tasteless. A few yards from the cathedral is the Praca 

 Constituicas, a very pleasant promenade, shaded by three or 

 four rows of trees, and provided with benches for the repose 

 of the weary. The military band usually plays here during 

 the afternoon of Sundays, and " festas." The native inhabi- 

 tants then appear in all their finery, listening to the airs 

 discoursed by the band. Beyond the Plaza is the market- 

 place, which is very clean, and regularly laid out in streets 

 and stalls. 



Many of the convents are large and beautifully located, but 

 in consequence of their being neglected by the present govern- 

 ment, they have in a great measure become deserted, and their 

 walls are crumbling down piecemeal. The monks are out of 

 favor with the Queen's government ; the zeal with which they 

 supported the claims of Don Miguel to the throne of Portugal 

 has not been forgotten, and consequently they are looked upon 

 with a suspicious eye, both by the government and the people. 

 During the short reign of the Constitutional Government in 

 Madeira, the nuns were permitted to leave their convents, and 

 a few availed themselves for a time of the privilege, but 

 returned again to their cloisters, after a short enjoyment of 

 the world's gayety. The celebrated Maria Clementina, to 

 whose history Coleridge has imparted such interest, still lives 

 in the convent of St. Clara, among some forty of her sister- 

 hood. She is now somewhat advanced in life, and few, if 

 any, traces remain of that beauty which the poet so warmly 



