10 MADEIRA. 



enter warmly into our plans and pleasures, and evinced a great desire 

 to do us service. 



Colonel Rebello was one of the proscribed during the reign of 

 terror of Don Miguel, and was concealed for four years, all of which 

 time our consular flag afforded him protection. During this whole 

 period he did not leave the apartment he occupied, or even approach 

 the window. 



The streets of the town are very narrow, without sidewalks, and 

 to our view like alleys, but their narrowness produces no inconve- 

 nience. They are well paved, and wheel-carriages are unknown. 

 The only vehicle, if so it may be called, is a sledge, of some six 

 feet in length, about twenty inches wide, and only six or eight inches 

 high, on which are transported the pipes of wine. Two strips of hard 

 wood are fastened together for runners. 



This sledge is dragged by two very small oxen, and slips easily 

 on the pavement, which is occasionally wet with a cloth. It is no 

 doubt the best mode of transportation in Funchal, for their wine, on 

 account of the great steepness of their streets. Smaller burthens are 

 transported on men's shoulders, or in hampers and baskets on the 

 backs of donkeys. 



The middle gutters are now for the most part closed, and made 

 subterranean, no longer the stranger's nuisance. Funchal may 

 compare with most places for the cleanliness of its streets. Little 

 improvement has as yet taken place in the cleanliness and discipline 

 of its prisons. 



I was surprised to learn that all misdemeanours are referred for 

 trial to Portugal, and that persons having committed small crimes are 

 kept for years without any disposition being made of them by those 

 in authority. They are maintained at the expense of the complainant, 

 consequently crime is scarcely noticed or complained of. On the 

 one hand it makes the punishment very severe, and on the other, 

 persons are inclined to take the law into their own hands against 

 petty thefts. It is impossible to avoid many painful sights in passing 

 the prisons. Taps on sticks are thrust through the iron gratings. °nd 

 requests are made for alms, first in beseeching tones, and afterwards, 



