MADEIRA. 



11 



very courteously, but, from the unfurnished 

 state of his residence, to which he had only 

 come the day before, he was unable to offer 

 the British minister and his friends any hos- 

 pitality. The Hamiltons have been invited by 

 Mr. Phelps, to live with him at Funchal, 

 during our stay at Madeira ; but the Captain 

 and myself have accepted Mr. Veitch's invi- 

 tation to the consulate. The consul's garden 

 is full of tropical fruit-trees and flowers, and I 

 am struck with the brilliancy of the Hibiscus, 

 and the size of the Verbena shrub, — which 

 latter has much broader leaves than I ever 

 saw in England. The Papau-tree offers a 

 curious contrast to the trees of our northern 

 region. It resembles a little the cocoa-nut. 



10th. — We were invited to dine to-day with 

 a Portuguese gentleman, who had a large party 

 of Pedroites, to meet Captain Bertrand. During 



