MADEIRA. 
35 
The Caldeira de Sette Citades possesses features even more remarkable than the Val de 
Furnas. As we stood on the brink of the precipice by which it is surrounded, and looked out 
upon the extensive prospect of lake and fertile valley spread out a thousand feet below, it was 
more like the creation of a fanciful dream than sober reality. 
On our return from the Caldeira we were just in time to witness a religious procession. 
The whole population had gathered in the streets of Ponta Delgada to follow a sacred image 
and to pray for rain. Old and young, rich and poor, soldiers and civilians, the governor 
and the governed, all joined in this ceremony. The spectacle of an orderly multitude 
actuated by the same motive is always imposing; but to a traveller from northern latitudes, 
where sacred symbols are rarely seen in the streets, there was something novel and refreshing 
in the sight of a populace united in an act of public worship. The robes of the priests 
and lay-brethren, the rich canopies and silken standards, the smoking censers and jewelled 
crosses flashing in the rays of the afternoon sun—the whole procession, as it moved slowly 
through the streets amidst the low murmur of prayer and the clear notes of the singers, looked 
singularly impressive. 
When we reached the landing-place, the “ Challenger ” was already moving in the 
offing, steam up; but a quick pull and a scramble up the ship’s side soon restored us to the 
deck of our floating home. A few days previous to our departure, 
the expedition was honoured by a visit from His Excellency the 
Governor of the Azores. 
The costume, especially the head-dress, of the inhabitants 
is peculiar. The women wear a dark-blue cloak which descends 
to their feet, and to which is added an enormous hood almost 
completely concealing their features. The men cover their head 
with a round cap, having a peak projecting far over the face, and surmounted by a piece of 
cloth which falls over the neck and shoulders. Both head-dresses, though far from elegant, 
no doubt afford efficient protection against sun and rain. 
MADEIRA. 
The ioth of July was spent between San Miguel and Santa Maria, the most easterly 
island of the group, and the next and following days we were engaged in fathoming the broad 
and deep channel which flows between the latter and Madeira. The 16th found us a second 
time at anchor off the Loo Rock in the roads of Funchal, but alas! since our former visit the 
dreaded epidemic which had barred our landing at Horta had seized upon fair Madeira, and 
we were fain to content ourselves with a distant view of the flowery glens and mighty chasms 
which we had hoped to explore. 
After receiving letters from home, we turned our face southwards on the 17th. On 
the 19th Palma once more rose in sight, but this time to the eastward ; and on the 21st we 
dredged on the same bank—probably a south-westerly prolongation of the submarine plateau 
HEAD-DRESSES AT SAN MIGUEL. 
