chap. I.] EXPEDITION TO CAPE GIEAO. — CAMERA DE LOBOS. 13 



ascend a winding path which runs down the east flauk of 

 Pico Grande, and so return home by the Jardirn. 



EXPEDITION TO CAPE GIRAO. 



There are numerous other points which are frequently se- 

 lected as the objects of these excursions. Cape Girao is less 

 distant than Pico Grande, the road is good the whole way, 

 and you get over the ground much faster. Riding along the 

 sea-side, at the expiration of an hour and a half you find 

 yourself at the picturesque little village of 



CAMERA DE LOBOS. 



The inhabitants are all fishermen, and supply the Funchal 

 market. The village is curiously situated, built on and ex- 

 cavated into a rock that stands prominently out in the bay. 



Ascending the hill on the other side of the village, you 

 pass through a country which grows some of the best wine in 

 the island. With the sun on your back, you toil up this hill, 

 and are thankful when you at last reach the venda of Cape 

 Girao, after a ride of about two hours and a half : here most 

 people prefer to get off and trust to their own legs rather than 

 their horses' ; the party now proceeds to look down the pre- 

 cipice. The first sensation on looking straight down a 

 height of two thousand feet, is a slight quiver through your 

 frame ; the sea looks so small dashing against the rocks be- 

 low, and you cannot help rejoicing when you have got safely 

 away. 



Groups of peasants soon collect together, and hurl frag- 

 ments of rock down the cliff to show you how long they are in 

 reaching the bottom. There are patches of cultivated 

 ground by the sea-side below, and one cannot but fancy that 

 this practice of stone-rolling might be attended with results 



