CHAPTER VI. 



ON THE NATURAL HISTORY AND GEOLOGY OF MADEIRA. 



" Sweet contemplation elevates my sense, 

 While I survey the works of Providence. 

 O could the Muse in loftier strains rehearse 

 The glorious Author of the Universe, 

 My soul should overflow in songs of praise, 

 And my Creator's name inspire my lays!" 



Gay. 



Fire on the south of the island. — Forests on the north side. — Dragon tree. 

 — Urze. — Palm trees. — Opuntia. — Fruits and Vegetables. — Flowers. — 

 Plants peculiar to Madeira. — Birds. — Reptiles. — Insects. — Fishes. — 

 Turtles. — Corals. — Medusae Luminosity of the ocean. — Geology. 



So many exotics have been introduced into Madeira, into a 

 soil and climate favourable to a great range of vegetation, 

 tbat it is now difficult to draw any line between those which 

 are really indigenous and others. 



FIRE ON THE SOUTH OF THE ISLAND. 



On the south side, the woods have never raised their heads 

 since the great fire which destroyed them on the first coloniza- 

 tion of the island. In the north, the forests still retain a 

 great deal of their pristine grandeur, though the axe, ruthless 

 as the flame, is as surely, though more slowly, doing the work 

 of destruction*. 



* There is a regulation, which, if attended to, would be productive of very 

 beneficial results, that no one shall cut down a tree on the Serras, without 

 permission from the municipal authorities of the district ; and furthermore, 

 all trees growing within a radius of one hundred paces of any fountain, are 



