The North Side 



seas of golden blossoms." The late Rev. R. T. 

 Lowe, author of " A Manual Flora of Madeira," 

 states that though not indigenous to the island 

 it has been during the last hundred years so 

 widely diffused, both by culture and self-pro- 

 pagation, as to appear so. It is sown exten- 

 sively on the mountains to be cut down for 

 firing, or to be burnt on the spot every five 

 or six years to fertilize the ground and prepare 

 it for a crop of corn or potatoes. The twigs 

 and more slender branches are employed as 

 withs for binding bundles of faggots or brush- 

 wood ; and numbers of the country people, 

 especially women and girls, living within reach 

 of Funchal earn a scanty livelihood by bringing 

 into town bundles of giesla to be used for 

 heating ovens, and similar purposes. In some 

 places the broom is being completely superseded 

 by the common gorse, which was introduced 

 about one hundred years ago, and has spread 

 over the whole island. It is used as in England 

 for clipped fences, and occasionally as brushwood 

 for firing. 



Passing from the slopes of the lower hills, 

 the traveller enters a sylvan region, and 

 emerges from it to arrive at the pleasant 



209 p 



