316 



departure from Gravesend. The evening sun is now 

 very brilliant, and shines full upon the island, the 

 rocks of which are finely broken ; the height of the 

 mountains cause their tops to be lost in the clouds; 

 the sides are covered with plantations of vines and 

 forests of cedars; and the white edifices of Funchal, 

 built upon the very edge of the shore, have a truly 

 picturesque appearance. We are now riding be- 

 tween the island and an isolated group of inacces- 

 sible rocks called " the Deserters;*" and the effect 

 of the scene altogether is beautiful in the extreme. 



December 25. (Christmas-day.) 

 A light breeze sprang up in the night, and this 

 morning Madeira was no longer visible. 



December 31. (Wednesday.) 



We are now in the latitudes commonly known 

 by the name of " the Horse Latitudes." During 

 the union of America and Great Britain, great 

 numbers of horses used to be exported from the 

 latter ; and the winds in these latitudes are so capri- 

 cious, squally, and troublesome in every respect, — 

 now a gale, and then a dead calm — now a fair 

 wind, and the next moment a foul one, — that more 

 horses used to die in this portion of the passage 

 than during all the remainder of it. These lati- 

 tudes from thence obtained their present appella- 

 tion, and extend from 29° to 25° or 24^°. 



* The Dezertas. 



