Funchal. Velocity of waves. 



MADEIRA. 



Camera de Lobos. 



hundred and twenty feet in length, and fourteen 

 feet in circumference at the height of five feet 

 above the roots. It had been a long time in the 

 water, was full of barnacles, and much eaten by 

 the teredo navalis. Great quantities of fish were 

 about it, consisting of dolphins, sharks, &c. We 

 did not, however, succeed in taking any. In rough 

 weather it might easily have been mistaken for a 

 rock, particularly if passed in twilight, or at night. 



In consequence of the wind being from the 

 southward and westward, I was compelled, after 

 making the Peak of Pico, to go to the northward 

 of St. Michael's. I am satisfied, however, it is 

 much better to keep to the southward, as the wind 

 will be found more steady and stronger. Besides, 

 the current, at that season of the year, sets to the 

 westward among the islands. 



As we passed St. Michael's, we amused ourselves 

 by a view, through our glasses, of its villas, groves, 

 and cultivated fields. 



On the night of the 13th of September we laid 

 by, just after passing the north end of St. Michael's, 

 in order to examine the position of the Tullock 

 Reef by daylight. We passed within a mile and a 

 half of its reported position, but saw nothing of it, 

 although the sea was running sufficiently high to 

 have made a heavy break on it, if it did exist. 



On the 15th, as we were making sail, George 

 Porter, one of our maintop-men, in loosing the top- 

 gallant sail, was caught by the buntline, and dragged 

 over the yard, where he was seen to hang, as it 

 were quite lifeless, swinging to and fro by the 

 neck. 



On the alarm being given, two men ran aloft to 

 his assistance. It now became doubtful on deck 

 whether they would not be all dragged over by the 

 weight of his body, until several others gave as- 

 sistance and relieved them. It caused a breathless 

 anxiety to us all to see a fellow-being in the mo- 

 mentary expectation that he would be dashed to 

 the deck. He was fortunately rescued and brought 

 below yet living. Here he speedily came to his 

 senses, and recollecting that the drum had rolled 

 to grog just before his accident, he, sailor-like, 

 asked for his portion of it. It was truly a provi- 

 dential escape. This young man died on our way 

 home, in the China seas, oi an inflammatory fever. 



On the 16th we made the island of Madeira, and 

 having a strong westerly wind, I determined to 

 pass to Fuuchal, on its southern side. This may 

 be done at this season, but vessels bound to that 

 port usually prefer going round the eastern point 

 of the island. When off the western point of 

 Madeira we experienced a very long heavy swell, 

 which gave me an opportunity of trying the velo- 

 city of the waves, by noting the time the same 

 wave was passing between the vessels. The result 

 gave twenty-three miles per hour, but I was not 

 altogether satisfied with it. It was difficult to 

 measure the correct angle subtended by the Por- 

 poise's masts for the distance, on account of the 

 motion of both vessels. The measurement of the 

 height of the waves I found still more difficult, and 

 the results varied too much to place confidence in 

 them, principally owing to each succeeding swell 

 or wave being less than the preceding one. The 

 different observations gave from twenty-five to 

 fourteen feet; the width of the wave, from the 

 same causes, was equally variable, and each suc- 

 cessive result varied from that which preceded it. 



Before sunset we cast anchor in company with 

 the Porpoise and Sea-Gull, and were the next 

 morning joined by the Peacock and Flying-Fish. 



Shortly after coining to anchor, we were boarded 

 by the health officer, with the captain of the port, 

 who, on being assured of our good health, gave us 

 permission to land. The United States' consul, 

 Henry John Burden, esq., also came on board, and 

 kindly offered us all the attention that lay in his 

 power. 



The first appearance of Madeira did not come 

 up to the idea we had formed of its beauties from 

 the glowing description of travellers. It exhibited 

 nothing to the distant view but a bare and broken 

 rock, of huge dimensions, which, though grand and 

 imposing, is peculiarly dark and gloomy, and it was 

 not until we had made our way close under the 

 land, that we could discover the green patches which 

 are every where scattered over its dark red soil, 

 even to the tops of the highest peaks. 



The mountain verdure was afterwards discovered 

 to be owing to groves of heath and broom, which 

 grow to an extraordinary height, aspiring to the 

 stature of forest trees. In addition to these groves, 

 the terraced acclivities, covered with a luxuriant 

 tropical vegetation, change on a closer approach its 

 distant barren aspect into one of extreme beauty 

 and fertility. 



The most striking peculiarity in the mountain 

 scenery is the jagged outline of the ridge, the rudely- 

 shaped towei-s and sharp pyramids of rock, which 

 appear elevated on the tops and sides of the high- 

 est peaks as well as on the lower elevations, and 

 the deep precipitous gorges, which cut through 

 the highest mountains almost to their very base. 



The shores of the island are mostly lofty cliffs, 

 occasionally facing the water with a perpendicular 

 front one or two thousand feet in height. The 

 cliffs are interrupted by a few small bays, where a 

 richly cultivated valley approaches the water be- 

 tween abrupt precipices, or surrounded by an am- 

 phitheatre of rugged hills. These narrow bays are 

 the sites of the villages of Madeira. 



As we sailed along from its western end, we oc- 

 casionally saw, in these quiet and peaceful situations, 

 small white-walled villages, each with its little 

 church at the outlet of the gorges. We were par- 

 ticularly struck with that of the Camera de Lobos, 

 a few miles to the westward of Santa Cruz hill. 

 This is the largest, and is the most interesting of 

 any, from its having been the first point settled by 

 Europeans. The high precipices were new to us 

 Americans : so different from what we are accus- 

 tomed to in the United States. The scene was still 

 more striking, and our attention was more forcibly 

 arrested, when passing under cliffs of some sixteen 

 hundred feet above us. We were so near them that 

 the sound of the surf was distinctly heard. The i 

 whole effect of the view was much heightened by a 

 glowing sunset in one of the finest climates in the 

 world. 



Off the eastern cape of the island, many isolated 

 rocks were seen separated from the land, with bold, 

 abrupt sides and broken outlines. The character 

 of these rocks is remarkable; they stand quite de- 

 tached from the adjoining cliffs, and some of them 

 rise to a great height in a slender form, with, ex- 

 tremely rugged surfaces, and broken edges. Through 

 some the waters have worn arched ways of large 

 dimensions, which afford a passage for the breaking 



