88 THE VOYAGE : PASSING IMPKESSIONS 



tops of the Mts. more sub-divided into conical peaks than 

 the Scotch hills and covered with grass ' : the mingled tropical 

 and temperate fruits growing in the island : the joy of the 

 crews on arrival when ' all hands were busy spreading Bananas 

 on our bread instead of butter and relishing grapes .more 

 than tea ' : though he found little in his diligent search for 

 Alpines on the extremely dry and barren rocks of the Curral, 

 for ' Neither the season nor place were favourable to botanising.' 



Here he received the warmest of Scotch welcomes from a 

 Mr. Muir, formerly a Glasgow merchant, and a great friend of 

 his grandfather, ' who had charged me particularly to call 

 upon him,' finding his house by the help of a passing English- 

 man, after his enquiries, couched in Dog-Latin with Portuguese 

 terminations, had produced no effect on the natives. 



Though unable to accept Mr. Muir's instant invitation 

 to stay at his Quinta as long as the ships lay off Funchal, he 

 was constantly there, and notes with special pleasure, in the 

 little parties got up to meet him, the absence of ceremony 

 among the British families living there. Indeed there were so 

 many Scotch and Glasgow acquaintances dining one night 

 with another friend, that 'the conversation was wholly upon 

 Glasgow or Britain, and Mr. Shortridge had a long discussion 

 with me concerning the respective merits of Mr. Almond and Mr. 

 Montgomery [two Glasgow ministers] ; distance lent energy 

 to the cause, and I supported the former with much more 

 warmth than I should have done at home perhaps.' 



A party from the ships now carried out a long cherished 

 plan of visiting the famous mountain glen known as the Curral. 

 On the way, Hooker's unceasing interest in the practical side 

 of economic botany, already stirred by the discovery that the 

 coffee served him at dinner was home grown, made him pay 

 special attention to the * Jardine,' a tea plantation among the 

 chestnut woods some 2000 feet above the sea, belonging to the 

 late British Consul, Mr. Veitch. In this temperate region, 

 with a soil composed of a fine vegetable mould over volcanic 

 detritus, he notes that * neither bananas, coffee, nor dates will 

 grow here, but the climate seems peculiarly well adapted to 

 the cultivation of Chinese plants ; Camellias flourish, including 



