18 KABACAL. [chap. i. 



construct a rickety pathway for the animals, which with some 

 coaxing you persuade them to pass, and proceed on your 

 journey exulting in your success. The first view of S a .° 

 Vincente is very striking as you look down upon it from 

 the heights. The town is composed of several huts and a 

 few better houses, amongst which may he distinguished that 

 of S° r Manoel Joaquim da Costa Andrade, whose hospitable 

 door has been so often opened to the English traveller*. 

 These are built on a ribeiro that assumes a fork-like shape as 

 it approaches the sea. At the extremity of this fork is situated 

 a small rock which has been hollowed out and turned into a 

 chapel ; mass is celebrated in it once a year. From this point 

 you obtain a good view of the coast as far as Porto Moniz ; the 

 north here outdoes itself in rugged steepness. From S a .° 

 Vincente you can either proceed to the east or west ; if you 

 take the western side, you ascend first the Paul da Serra by 

 a very steep road, covered with loose stones. 



EABACAL. 



J 



We next come to that great work, the levada of the 

 Kabacal. The difficulties to be overcome in constructing this 

 watercourse were enormous. There is here a vast perpen- 

 dicular rock, 1000 feet high, the water from the summit 

 of which fell over the slightly-projecting edge, and was lost 

 in the ravine below. The object of the proposer of the work 

 was to catch this stream in its descent, where it struck upon 

 the face of the rock, and, carrying it off by a levada, to apply 

 it to the irrigation and fertilizing of a comparatively barren 

 tract. To effect this it was necessary to make a course in 

 the hard and high rock, mid-way betwixt the top and the 

 base. The engineer had a crate constructed, in which the 



* An inn has lately been established at S'}° Vincente. 



