Land and Sea 



irises are throwing up buds, freesias and 

 daffodils will not be long behind them. The 

 garden has been much neglected, and the box 

 hedges have grown into straggling bushes five 

 feet high. Innumerable seedlings of the incense 

 tree are blocking all the banks, and have 

 rendered some of the garden paths quite im- 

 passible. Our first care is to hack a way through 

 these, and to open up vistas of the hills and 

 sea. It is too late to do much in the way of 

 planting for this season, but we can make 

 preparations for next year. There is no such 

 thing as a nursery-garden in Madeira — an 

 opening awaits an enterprising man. If it is 

 known that you are in want of plants, casual 

 persons will probably arrive with some for sale ; 

 but, unless you wish to be a receiver of stolen 

 goods, you will be chary of buying them, as it 

 is quite likely that they have been removed 

 from your neighbour's garden. There is very 

 little serious crime in the island ; aggravated 

 offences against the person appear to be almost 

 unknown, and robbery on a large scale, " flat 

 burglary," is rare. You never hear of any one 

 being molested in the town or suburbs, and 

 you may tramp the wildest mountains and most 



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