Leaves from a Madeira Garden 



effects of the ignorance and idleness of country 

 esquires, who do not know what to do with 

 their time, but people of sense and knowledge 

 never give in to those illiberal amusements." 

 The poor country esquire is now constrained to 

 let his sporting rights to " people of sense and 

 knowledge" — great lawyers, "captains of in- 

 dustry," and even distinguished men of letters. 

 And however much an Englishman may delight 

 in these mountain solitudes, however highly he 

 may appreciate the contrast of the stern rocks 

 above and the sylvan shades below, he will 

 generally regret the absence of something to kill. 

 The uninhabited islands, the Desertas, which 

 are such a prominent object in the view from 

 Funchal and the hills above it, are free from 

 this reproach. They contain a race of wild 

 goats, descendants, it is said, of domestic goats 

 placed on them by Columbus. Columbus is, 

 of course, the magnet to which local traditions 

 attach themselves, like Homer in ancient 

 Greece, and Jowett in modern Oxford. These 

 goats are fine big fellows, carrying grand heads, 

 and often nearly black in colour. The islands 

 are private property and the shooting is pre- 

 served, a fairly easy matter considering the 



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