46 



EIGHT STONES MADEIRA. 



Jan. 



On the 3d of January we were occupied in looking for 

 the " Eight Stones but nothing was seen to indicate either 

 rocks, or shoals, or even shallow water. The sun was shining 

 brightly on a deep blue sea, of one uniform colour : no sound- 

 ings could be obtained ; and had there been a shoal or rock 

 within seven miles of us at any hour of that day, it could not 

 have been passed unnoticed. So many vessels have searched, 

 in vain, for this alleged group of rocks, that their existence 

 can now hardly be thought possible. 



At day-light, on the 4th, the rocky high islet of Porto 

 Santo was seen looming through haze and clouds which hung 

 around it. We steered between Porto Santo and the Desertas, 

 intending to anchor in Funchal Roads ; but the wind drew 

 round to south-west, with such strong squalls, that I abandoned 

 my intention, and at once steered for TenerifFe. The roadstead 

 I have just mentioned is well known to be unsafe in south- 

 west gales ; and there can be no doubt that the most prudent 

 plan is to keep at sea while they last : but I have been told by 

 old traders to Madeira, that ships sometimes remain at anchor, 

 about half a mile from the Loo rock, and ride out south-west 

 gales without difficulty : the ' under-tow' being so considerable 

 that their cables are little strained. 



In fine weather, and it is fine at Madeira nine months in the 

 year, the view of this steep and lofty island,* covered with bright 

 verdure, and enlivened by numerous scattered houses, as white 

 as snow, is very striking to a stranger who arrives from the low, 

 and tame-looking shores of the south coast of England. 



Seamen are often deceived, when about to anchor in Funchal 

 Roads, in consequence of the sudden transition which they 

 have probably made from a low shelving coast to an abrupt 

 and high mountain-side : for the bottom of the anchorage slopes 

 away as suddenly as the heights overlooking it, and the anchor 

 must indeed be let go upon the side of a mountain. Hence 

 ships seldom go close enough, unless guided by a person who 

 knows the place ; and many a chain cable ran out to the clinch, 

 when chains were first used, owing to an incorrect estimate of 

 * About five thousand feet high. 



