MADEIRA. 
( 
As we sailed along from its western end, we occasionally saw in 
these quiet and peaceful situations, small white-walled villages; each 
with its little church at the outlet of the gorges. We were particu- 
larly struck with that of the Camera de Lobos, a few miles to the 
westward of Santa Cruz hill. This is the largest and is the most 
interesting of any, from its having been the first point settled by 
Europeans. The high precipices were new to us Americans; so 
different from what we are accustomed to in the United States. 
The scene was still more striking, and our attention was more 
forcibly arrested when passing under cliffs of some sixteen hundred 
feet above us. We were so near them that the sound of the surf 
was distinctly heard. The whole effect of the view was much 
heightened by a glowing sunset in one of the finest climates in the 
world. 
Off the eastern cape of the island, many isolated rocks were 
seen separated from the land, with bold, abrupt sides and broken 
outlines. The character of these rocks is remarkable: they stand 
quite detached from the adjoining cliffs, and some of them rise to 
a great height in a slender form, with extremely rugged surfaces, 
and broken edges. Through some, the waters have worn arched 
ways of large dimensions, which afford a passage for the breaking 
surf, and would seem to threaten ere long their destruction. 
Similar needle-form rocks are seen off the northern Deserta, an 
island lying some miles east of Madeira. One of them is often 
mistaken for a ship under sail, to which when first seen it has a 
considerable resemblance. It stands like a slender broken column, 
several hundred feet in height on a base scarcely larger than its 
summit. 
Funchal has a very pleasing appearance from the sea, and its 
situation in a kind of amphitheatre formed by the mountains, adds 
to its beauty. The contrast of the white buildings and villas with 
the green mountains, forms a picture which is much heightened 
by the bold quadrangular Loo Rock with its embattled summit 
commanding the harbour in the foreground. 
The island throughout is rough and mountainous, but the steeps 
are clothed with rich and luxuriant verdure. Terraces are visible 
on every side, and every spot that the ingenuity of man could make 
available has been apparently turned to advantage, and is diligently 
cultivated. These spots form an interesting scene, particularly 
when contrasted with the broken and wild background, with the 
