The North Side 



precipitous cliffs everything not locally produced 

 has bred a race of porters unsurpassed for 

 strength and endurance in the world, porters 

 who take a very pride in the weight of their 

 loads, who will delight to carry not only your 

 luggage but yourself, who will make shift to 

 carry your grand piano if you have a fancy to 

 take it with you. Wherefore it is possible for 

 the modest traveller who is content with a 

 change of clothes, and some certainty of pro- 

 vision in the shape of a tinned tongue and a 

 little tea, who will ride or walk as occasion 

 serves, and if he or she knocks up be content 

 to be borne in a hammock by casual peasants — 

 they are all porters, more or less — it is possible 

 for such an one to journey with a light heart 

 and a single attendant. The less hardy may 

 think a second bearer for a camp bed and some 

 blankets not out of place ; the sybarite who 

 wants more had better stick to the hotels and 

 casino of Funchal. 



The roads or tracks which cross the central 

 range of mountains radiate from Funchal like 

 the sticks of a fan. They all lead the traveller 

 through mountain and sylvan scenery of great 

 beauty, especially on the northern watershed. 



207 



