i 
MADEIRA. $ 
cularly catches the ej'^e is the convent of Nossa Senhora do 
Monte, our Lady of the Mountain, which, being surrounded by 
gardens and groves and avenues of chesnut-trees, appears 
as if buried in the midst of a forest. The wide open bay 
with the shipping at anchor, the numerous craft on the beach, 
the Ilheo or Loo rock, a huge insulated mass of black lava, 
surmounted with batteries, constitute a foreground that is 
well suited to the grandeur of the scenery on shore. But the 
annexed view of that part of the island immediately over the 
town, reduced from a drawing taken by Mr. Daniel!, on 
board a ship at anchor in the bay, will recal to the recollec- 
tion of those, who may have viewed it from the same situation, 
its general features as they appear from thence, better than 
any description which I can pretend to give. 
The bay of Funchal, at all times indifferent as a place of 
anchorage for shipping, is considered as extremely dangerous 
from the autumnal to the vernal equinox, when the strong 
southerly winds cause a high and rolling swell of the sea to 
be thrown in upon the shore. Poor Mackintosh, who com- 
manded the Hindostan, was in a state of constant alarm and 
uneasiness while we remained here, having on a former visit 
to this place lost his ship, when every soul on board perished ; 
he and his cook escaped the melancholy fate of their compa- 
nions by being on shore. 
How deceitful are oftimes the fairest appearances ; and 
how frequently is the beauty of objects, when viewed from a 
distance, converted into real deformity on a nearer approach ! 
After a difficult and disagreeable landing, on account of the 
