Leaves from a Madeira Garden 



ago this rate was more or less maintained. 

 Then the rei began to decline in value, until in 

 1898 as many as 8700 reis were obtainable for 

 an English sovereign. Some mysterious 

 operations for the improvement of Portuguese 

 finances were then undertaken, and the exchange 

 declined in the course of the next ten years to 

 nearly par. It has since risen again. As we 

 pay the wages of our servants, gardeners and 

 labourers, and for everything produced locally, 

 in Portuguese currency, the number of reis we 

 get for each of our sovereigns becomes a matter 

 of interest. To the exporter, of wine for 

 instance, it must be a consideration of the 

 greatest moment. He buys his raw material, 

 his grape juice and his spirit, and pays for his 

 labour in the local currency ; his finished 

 product he sells in the markets of Europe for 

 sovereigns or francs or marks, without reference 

 to the state of the Portuguese exchange. It is 

 a wonder if he sleeps o' nights. 



Madeira has had more than one narrow 

 escape of becoming part of the British Empire. 

 When negotiations were proceeding for the 

 marriage of Catharine of Braganza with 

 Charles II., it is said that the Queen-Mother, 



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