chap. I.] TURRETS. — SCENERY. 5 



the streets, save where palanquin-bearers convey the reveller 

 to or from some party, or the glare of the flambeau precedes 

 pedestrians bound on a similar errand. The town is par- 

 tially lighted with oil, when there is no moon. 



Almost every house is possessed of a turret, from which 

 a view is obtained over the town and harbour. This look- 

 out place is of use to the merchant, by enabling him early 

 to discern from it the approach of his vessels, which he 

 recognises by his private signals. In the town the ground- 

 floor of the merchants' houses is always occupied by wine, 

 and you have to ascend to reach the inhabited parts. There 

 is a great passion for building in Funchal ; as soon as a man 

 has accumulated a little money he frequently engages in 

 erecting a house, and finds himself obliged to borrow at an 

 exorbitant rate to complete what he has begun. One cause of 

 this, is the difficulty of investing money satisfactorily, where 

 there is no confidence in public securities. Amongst the 

 lower classes, gold ornaments and sometimes precious stones 

 are a favourite kind of investment. These are sold as 

 their wants call for the money, and bought again when 

 they have anything to spare. 



SCENERT. 



No artist's pencil has ever done full justice to the scenery 

 of Madeira ; what, then, can be expected from a bare descrip- 

 tion? There is an aerial magic in it which you must go thither 

 duly to appreciate. The various colours of the soil, with 

 mingled hues — black, yellow, red, and white — the vivid ver- 

 dure, and the everchanging shadows of the sky, give a warmth 

 of tint, and a diversity of effect, which is characteristic and 

 striking. Here is not the unintermitting blaze and eternal 



o - 



