12 MADEIRA. 
none have since been allowed to take the veil, they will soon 
decrease. 
The rides in Madeira are beautiful. The roads are well made, 
easily and safely travelled on a Madeira pony, with a pony-boy or 
burroquerro. One is at a loss to which to impute the most strength 
of mind and endurance, the pony or the boy. These boys keep 
constantly near the rider, at times holding on to the tail of the pony, 
then bestowing repeated blows with their long sticks, and ever and 
anon urging it on with their singular tones of voice, so that the rider 
is compelled to allow himself to be carried along, contented with 
passing safely over so novel and (to him) apparently so impassable a 
roadway. 
On proceeding out of Funchal, fruits, flowers, and vegetables 
seem crowding upon the sight; in the lower portions, groves of 
orange and lemon trees are mingled with the vineyards ; the trees 
are loaded with fruit; then, as one mounts higher, bananas, figs, 
pomegranates, &,c, are seen, and again still higher, the fruits of 
the tropics are interspersed with those of the temperate zone, viz., 
apples, currants, pears, and peaches, while the ground is covered 
with melons, tomatoes, egg-plant, &c. Farther beyond, the highest 
point of cultivation is reached, where the potatoe alone flourishes. 
The whole lower portion is spread before the eye. Vineyards, 
occupying every spot that is susceptible of improvement, and one 
rides through paths hedged in with geraniums, roses, myrtles, and 
hydrangeas. These plants, which we had been accustomed to con- 
sider as the inhabitants of our parlours and green-houses, are here 
met with in gigantic forms, and as different from our small, sickly 
specimens as can well be imagined. For those unacquainted with 
the luxuriance of the tropical vegetation, it would be diflicult to 
conceive an idea of this favoured spot. Many of the terraces on 
which the vines are grown, are cut on the sides of the hills, and the 
visiter cannot but admire the labour expended on the stone walls that 
support them. The road at times leads through small villages, the 
houses of which are built of blocks of lava, without plaster, about 
six feet high, with a thatched roof of broom brought up to a pole in 
the centre for its support, and of a moderate pitch. 
Every one who visits Madeira should see the Curral. It is a 
very remarkable spot, and it is difficult, if not impossible, to give 
an idea of its beauty and grandeur. This place is approached by 
the usual ascent from Funchal, through the narrow roads, or paths 
