The North Side 



island, their trunks and the moss-clad rocks 

 around them affording harbour for a surprising 

 wealth of fern. Looking upwards through 

 their branches, we catch glimpses of the crags 

 and pinnacles above. There is no lack of 

 water ; the " liquid lapse of murmuring streams" 

 suggests the reason of this abounding vegetation. 

 Up one of the slopes our path finds a way of 

 interminable zigzags till we reach the level of 

 the pass, nearly five thousand feet above the 

 sea. A comparatively level stretch bordered 

 here and there by great smooth rocks of un- 

 usual form and affording views of the vale 

 below, which fill us with awe and admiration, 

 leads to the Torrinhas Pass itself. We hasten 

 through a narrow opening in the jagged summit, 

 and a different world lies at our feet. We 

 are at the head of the greatest valley of the 

 southern side, the Curral das Freiras, known 

 to the tourists who visit its lower end from 

 Funchal as the Grand Curral ; and beyond it 

 stretches the Southern ocean. The general 

 aspect of the two sides of the island is almost 

 startling in its contrasts. Behind us is an 

 amazing wealth of greenery ; in front the slopes 

 are almost treeless, and their prevailing tint is 



223 



