MADEIRA. 19 



manufacture and sale of artificial flowers and fruits, with 

 a few other ornamental productions. The former are made 

 of dyed feathers and the fruit of wax, and are prized by 

 many visitors as affording a pleasing remembrance of their 

 sojourn in the island. 



The dwellings are from one to two stories high, and the 

 apartments are large and well lighted, but owing to the 

 material of which they are constructed — stone, and the iron- 

 grated windows of the ground-floor — they have a gloomy, 

 cheerless aspect. Nearly every house has a kind of turret 

 on the top, from which can be had a fine view of the harbor. 

 The principal object of these is, for the inhabitants to look 

 out for vessels ; the first thing to be done in the morning 

 being to mount the turret to see if any strange vessel had 

 arrived in the course of the night. 



The streets are narrow, and in some parts very steep, but 

 they are kept clean. In the principal streets are some very 

 good stores, kept by Englishmen, who are by far the most 

 numerous of the foreigners that reside on the island. 



The market is very good. Beef of good quality can be 

 had for eight cents per lb. ; fowls for thirty-seven cents ; 

 eggs for eight cents per dozen ; vegetables and fruits of 

 every description are also abundant. Clothing is as cheap 

 as with us, and boots and shoes considerably cheaj:>er ; and 

 I may here add, that this is the case with everything which 

 is made on the island, and is to be attributed to the cheap- 

 ness of labor, the highest wages commanded by mechanics 

 not exceeding twelve dollars per month. 



In passing through the streets of Funchal, you. meet with 

 many of the country people, who have come either to trade 

 or to obtain employment. They are a hardy, athletic race, 

 and to all appearance remarkably polite and kind-hearted. 

 Whenever we met them, they invariably saluted us. They 



