94 CULTIVATION OF THE SUGAR-CAKE AND VINE. [chap. v. 



to the accounts transmitted to us, this fire smouldered on for 

 near seven years *; the consequence was, that the soil was so 

 enriched hy the vast quantity of wood ashes as to acquire an 

 extraordinary degree of fertility f. A vicious system of agri- 

 culture, or rather a total absence of any system, soon ex- 

 hausted the soil of this exuberance J. 



CULTIVATION OF THE SUGAR-CANE. 



The early abandonment of the manufacture of sugar in 

 Madeira has been attributed by some to a blight which is said 

 to have attacked the canes. It is probable, however, that the 

 Portuguese, finding this plant could be grown with more profit 

 elsewhere, transferred it to the island of St. Thomas, on the 

 west coast of Africa, from whence it found its way to the 

 West Indies. There are now but four sugar mills left in 

 Madeira ; the wheels are worked by oxen, and the process of 

 crushing the cane is worth seeing. The juice is carried off 

 by a pipe into coppers, where it is boiled, fermented, and 

 converted into rum and molasses. The cane is also chewed 

 by the natives for food. 



CULTIVATION OF THE VINE. 



The staple of the agriculture of Madeira, and the principal 

 object which occupies its population, is the vine. Vines were 



* J. Be Barros, dec. i. 



T " The woods which gave name to the island were fired, and burnt so 

 furiously, that the people were forced to go some space into the sea from the 

 violent heat, which caused such a fatness to the soil that at first it yielded 

 threescore fold ; since, half so much." (Purchases Pilgrims, 1626, b. 7, 

 chap. xii. p. 784.) A. Oadamosto says, that the vines brought forth more 

 clusters of grapes than leaves, and that the produce of the island in corn 

 amounted to 30,000 Venetian measures called Stares, each being equal to 

 133 lbs. 



+ Ovington, p. 10. 



