J^otke of Madeira. 239 



bluff to consist of firm and compact basalt, while below were numer- 

 ous strata of tufa, red, yellowish, and dark, and of various degrees of 

 compactness. Near the water, was a stratum five or six feet in thick- 

 ness, of a dark blue color, and so loose as to fall to pieces in my 

 hand, as soon as it was wet. 



Soil, Vines and Grapes. 



The soil of the island is formed from these tufas, and to them, to- 

 gether with the uniform mildness of the climate, the peculiar char- 

 acter of Madeira wine is owing. The soil, as may be supposed 

 from all this, is by no means uniform. In a ride to the Corral, 

 along a road which led us for some miles about half way between 

 the mountainous district and the beach, we passed, one while, among 

 vineyards whose richness and beauty could not be any where ex- 

 celled ; at another, among naked, red hills, with here and there a 

 stunted pine; then, across deep ravines, wiih walls of naked basalt, 

 and here and there iDelow, a little field of yams or cane, and then we 

 suddenly emerged again into districts, where for miles were seen 

 only the rich clusters of the grape. The fruit was then beginning to 

 ripen, and hung in great profusion, from the cane trellis work, usu- 

 ally at a height of four or five feet from the ground. The vintage, 

 however, is not expected to be as productive this season as usual. 

 The crop had promised to be larger than customary, until about a 

 week before our arrival, when a hot wind from Africa, called the 

 Leste, to which this island is exposed, had blown upon it with great 

 violence for a few days, and a large portion of the grapes imme- 

 diately withered and dropped from the vines. The soil is naturally 

 very dry, but the numerous rapid streams from the mountains afford 

 the greatest facilities for irrigation : they accompanied us in the 

 course of our ride, usually in paved channels, formed along the 

 side of the road, and added much to the freshness and beauty 

 of the landscape. Great pains seem to be taken, not only to im- 

 part a proper degree of moisture, but where this is possible, to pro- 

 duce also a proper mixture of the soil. Three kinds are chiefly in 

 use — the Saibro,* the Pedra Molle (red and yellow Tufa) and a 



* The sai&ro was carefully analyzed in 1823, by an English traveller,the late 

 T. E. Bowdich, and was found to consist of silex 46.8 parts; alumine 9.1; oxide 

 of iron 27.3 ; soda 2.7 ; water 3.8 ; the loss, principally vegetable matter 10,3. 

 " The Pedra Molle seems to contain less soda as well as less iron than the saibro"— 

 Specific gravity, Saibro 1.75 ; Pedra Molle 1.95; Massepas 1.99; Casealta2.1. 



