Leaves from a Madeira Garden 



To the east, a mist almost lilac in hue, envel- 

 opes without concealing the Desertas. When 

 we emerge from the pine-woods, at an altitude 

 of nearly four thousand feet, we enter a bleak 

 moorland region with great heaths and bilberry- 

 bushes. There is an agreeable haze in the 

 sky to prevent the sun from being too hot ; 

 at this altitude the air is very fresh but 

 not cold. Our enjoyment and exhilaration 

 there is naught to mar. I expect, from past 

 experience, that we may find the northern 

 valleys filled with cloud ; but we are in luck, 

 and they prove to be as clear as the southern 

 slope. Liability to disappointment from this 

 cause is a risk of Madeira travel. Our uphill 

 journey ends at a shelter-hut on the top of the 

 pass, where the northern ocean comes into 

 view. Thirty miles off, on the horizon, lies the 

 mountainous island of Porto Santo, and to our 

 left the highest peaks of Madeira, Ruivo and 

 Arriero. Hence we begin the descent across 

 another moorland tract, the mountain views 

 becoming at every step grander and better 

 defined. From the moor we reach the valley 

 by a road of steep zigzags, in woods of laurel, 

 with an undergrowth of fern. Through this 



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