1890 THE CANAKIES 155 



4 Marlborough Place, 

 May 18, 1890. 



My dear Hooker — Hcw-'s a' wi' you ? My boy and 

 I came back from Madeira yesterday in great feather. 

 As for myself, riding about on mules, or borses, for six to 

 ten hours at a stretch — burning in sun or soaking in rain 

 — over the most entirely breakneck roads and tracks I 

 have ever made acquaintance with, except perhaps in 

 Morocco — has proved a most excellent tonic, cathartic, and 

 alterative all in one. Existence of heart and stomach are 

 matters of faith, not of knowledge, with me at present. 

 I hope it may last, and I have had such a sickener of 

 invalidism that my intention is to keep severely out of 

 all imprudences. 



But what is a man to do if his friends take advantage 

 of his absence, and go giving him gold medals behind his 

 back ? That you have been an accomplice in this nefarious 

 plot — mine own familiar friend whom I trusted and 

 trust — is not to be denied. Well, it is very pleasant to 

 have toil that is now all ancient history remembered, 

 and I shall go to the meeting and the dinner and make 

 my speech in spite of as many possible devils of dyspepsia 

 as there are plates and dishes on the table. 



We were lucky in getting in for nothing worse than 

 heavy rolling, either out or in. Teneriffe is well worth 

 seeing. The Canadas is something quite by itself, a bit 

 of Egypt 6000 feet up with a bare volcanic cone, or 

 rather long barrow sticking up 6000 feet in the middle 

 of it. 



Otherwise, Madeira is vastly superior. I rode across 

 from Funchal to Sao Vicente, up to Paul da Serra, then 

 along the coast to Santa Anna, and back from Sta. Anna 

 to FunchaL I have seen nothing comparable except in 

 Mauritius, nor anything anywhere like the road by the 

 cliffs from Sao Vicente to Sta. Anna. Lucky for me 

 that my ancient nautical habit of sticking on to a horse 



