12 Cruise of the "Alert" 



from his long experience and constant observation, was most 

 valuable. He pointed out to us a considerable tract of land in 

 the vicinity of the town which used to be thickly planted with 

 vines, but which is now only devoted to the cultivation of sweet 

 potatoes. During the last seven years the vine crops have been 

 steadily decreasing, owing to the ravages of the Phylloxera 

 vastatrix, and wine-making is now at a low ebb. The number 

 of trees in the island was also rapidly diminishing, owing to 

 the demand for fuel ; and although efforts are made, by the 

 cultivation of pine forests, to supply that want, the demand yet 

 exceeds the supply. In a few years Madeira will no longer be, 

 as its name implies, a land of wood. Although so late in the 

 season, numbers of flowers were still in full bloom ; the Bougain- 

 villea with its dark -red bracts, and the yellow jasmine adorning 

 the trellis-work ; further up the hill the belladonna lily attracted 

 attention, and on the heights were the old familiar furze blossoms, 

 reminding us of the land we had left behind us. 



On October I2th we weighed anchor, and proceeded to the 

 southward. All that night and the following day we steamed 

 quietly along in smooth water, with a long, shallow ground swell 

 (of which, however, the old craft took advantage to display her 

 extraordinary rolling powers), and late in the afternoon, just 

 before dark, caught sight of Palmas, one of the Canary Islands, 

 whose peak, 7,000 feet high, loomed conspicuously through a 

 light bank of clouds. It was distant seventy miles. On the 

 morning of the I5th we experienced for the first time the 

 influence of the north-east trade wind, which wafted us along 

 pleasantly at the rate of about seven knots. Up to this the only 

 sign of animal life had been a solitary storm petrel, but on the 

 following day a shoal of flying fish (Exocetns Tolitans] appeared, 

 to pay their respects and greet us on our approach to the tropical 

 zone. During the night, the wind, which had hitherto only 

 behaved tolerably, fell light; and as the morning of the i;th 

 dawned, we found ourselves flapping about in almost a ccrrplete 



