44 DELUGES. — EAINY SEASON. Tchap. hi. 



year, in Funchal it rains but 73 days *. The seasons in 

 which the least rain falls in winter are not those that are 

 considered the most healthy ; such winters are often followed 

 by wet springs ; the earth having been thoroughly baked and 

 heated by the previous drought yields a copious evaporation 

 when the rain comes, and this is presumed to render the 

 atmosphere more trying to delicate subjects. 



DELUGES. 



About once in every twenty-five years the island is subject 

 to deluges, which do great damage to the country. In 1803 

 there was a flood of this nature : the water came down with 

 so much violence as to give rise to the conjecture that a 

 water-spout had broken over the mountains. Whole houses 

 were washed into the sea with their inmates, and upwards of 

 five hundred souls were said to have perished in Funchal 

 alone. The church of N. S. do Calhao was swept away, and 

 the damage done to property was very great. Those who 

 were in the mountains fled to the city, aud those in the 

 city fled to the mountains : dismay was on every countenance, 

 and the inhabitants thought the end of the world was surely 

 come. On such occasions the water rolls down the ravines 

 in torrents, carrying in its course vast masses of rock that no 

 other power could move, short of an earthquake ; the noise is 

 so tremendous, that, standing near these rapids, you cannot 

 hear your neighbour speak, even if he puts his mouth to 

 your ear. 



KAINY SEASON. 



What is called the rainy season occurs generally in the 

 autumn and early spring, and lasts about three weeks ; even 



* Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, Oct., 1840. 



