18 MADEIRA. 



cathedral has been recently repaired, and makes a fine dis- 

 play ; its steeple is the most conspicuous of any in the town. 



The other public buildings are hardly deserving of no- 

 tice. The Governor's palace is situated near the water, 

 and has a commanding view of the harbor, but its archi- 

 tecture is clumsy and tasteless. A few yards from the 

 cathedral is the Praca Constituicas, a very pleasant prome- 

 nade, 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 inhabitants 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 

 government, 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 conse- 

 quently 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 his- 

 tory Coleridge has imparted such interest, still lives in the 

 convent of St. Clara, among some forty of her sisterhood. 

 She is now somewhat advanced in life, and few, if any, 

 traces remain of that beauty which the poet so warmly 

 described. These nuns support thems«3lves chiefly by the 



