MADEIRA 



on board the Relief under Lieutenant Long. Our squad- 

 ron has been increased by the two pilot-boats which were 

 purchased at New York, and we are now ready for sea. 

 We shall probably sail to-morrow." 



~ TO EDWARD C. HERRICK 



" Rio JANEIRO, Nov. 22, 1838. 



" Our passage to Madeira was of thirty days' length. 

 On the morning of the i/th of September we first had a 

 view of her rocky heights. They appeared to rise on all 

 sides directly from the water's edge, and reached their 

 greatest altitude, about 6000 feet, a little to the east of 

 the centre of the island. The distant view, though grand 

 and imposing, is peculiarly dark and gloomy, and not till 

 we had made our way close under the land could we dis- 

 cover the green patches which are everywhere scattered 

 over the dark soil, even to the tops of the highest peaks. 

 The mountain verdure was afterwards found to be due to 

 groves of heath and broom, which instead of the low shrub 

 of Europe aspire to the stature of forest trees, for the 

 broom was observed with a height of fifteen feet, and the 

 heath attained fully double that height and a diameter of 

 two and a half feet. In addition to these groves, the 

 terraced acclivities covered with a luxuriant vegetation, 

 in some places running almost to the tops of the moun- 

 tains, change its distant barren aspect into one of extreme 

 fertility and beauty. The most striking peculiarity of 

 the mountain scenery consists in the jagged outline of 

 the ridges, the rudely shaped towers and sharp, angular 

 pyramids of rock which appear elevated on the sides and 

 tops of the highest peaks, and the deep, precipitous gorges 

 which cut through the highest mountains almost to their 

 bases. The whole is quite in character with the volcanic 

 nature of the rocks. I amused myself with rambling 

 among these rocks during a short stay of a week at the 

 island and found much that was interesting in its geology 

 and magnificent in its scenery. The island is certainly 

 deserving of all the encomiums that have been bestowed 

 on it. I will not trouble you any further with descrip- 

 tions, as you will find them in the numerous volumes of 

 travellers who have visited the island. We left Madeira 

 on the 24th, and on the 5th of October made the islands 



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