6 
MADEIRA. 
surge, which breaks with violence on a rough pebbled bcachj 
the passenger enters directly into the irregular and meanly 
bujlL town of Funchal, whose streets are narrow, crooked, and 
dirty, some paved with small pointed pebbles, that seeui to 
pierce through the soles of the shoes at every step, and others 
without any pavement but-the ridges of schistose lava breaking 
through the surface, whose points are not less sharp than the for- 
mer. The mountain rills trickle through some of the streets in 
their passage to the bay; but, instead of contributing to the 
cleanliness of the town, these little streamlets are productive 
of every kind of nuisance. Here the inhabitants wash their 
clothes, clean their fish, deposit the offals of butchers' shops, 
empty the contents of their niglit-machines, and, in short, 
bring together all the filthy and offensive materials that are 
collected or generated in the town. The number of ho2;s that 
are attracted by this plentiful supply of 'provender, and that 
are suffcied to run loose about the streets, is another source 
of anno3'ance to the passenger ; for these four-legged gentry 
are so familiar, that he who happens to walk the length of a 
street without being gently brushed by some of them may 
consider himself as being in great luck. 
The few good dwelling-houses that are found in the town 
are those which are occupied b}" the British merchants, who 
have established themselves here in the wine trade ; these 
houses are in general sufficiently spacious, but neither com- 
modious nor comfortable. These and a few others ex- 
cepted, all the rest have rather a mean appearance. Their roofs 
are chieliy covered with tiles, on which large loose stones are 
laid to prevent their being carried away by the blasts of 
