MADEIRA. 
That Madeira derives its name from its woods, we have 
alfo the authority of Camoens: 
Nam’d from her woods, with fragrant bowers adorn’d, 
From fair Madeira’s purple coall we turn’d ; 
Cyprus and Paphos’ vales the finding loves 
Might leave with joy for fair Madeira’s groves; 
A (hore fo flowery, and fo fweet an air, 
Venus might build her dearell temple there. Lufiad, Canto 5. 
The firlt fight of the ifland is peculiarly magnificent to 
thofe who have never travelled beyond the Bntilh chan¬ 
nel. The entrance to the bay affords a molt beautiful 
profpett of the city of Funchal and of the furrounding 
country, which from every part of the coaff rifes fo tteep 
as to bring very diltant objects into a fore-ground, like 
a Ghinefe landfcape. As high as the temperature will ad¬ 
mit, the hills are ciothed w ith vines, in the midlt of which 
white manlions, at agreeable distances, are difcovered ; and 
on the higheft habitable part of the hill is an elegant cha¬ 
pel, dedicated to Our Lady of the Mount. To the left of 
this is a beautiful country-feat, with a fine hanging wood 
erected by tlie late conful, Mr. Murray, and fince pur- 
chafed >y a Portuguefe nobleman. Above this the moun¬ 
tain is covered with woods or verdure, as high as the fight 
can diltinguiih, and indeed in every part, excepting thofe 
columnar peaks, the foil of which has been waffled away 
by the violent rains to which thofe latitudes, and parti¬ 
cularly fuch elevated parts, are liable. The whole ifland 
is laid to be about forty miles in length, and eleven in its 
greatelt breadth. The altitude of Pico Ruivo, its highelt 
land, taken by the barometer and thermometer, according 
to M- de Luc, is eltiinated at 5068^ London feet. To 
Mr. Johnlon, called by the Portuguefe “the accomplifh- 
ed Englilhman,” we are indebted tor an accurate map of 
Madeira, and for many very valuable remarks. Though 
partner in a confiderable mercantile houle, he was a well- 
educated man, and always turned his acquirements to 
the benefit of others. His obfervations, confirmed, we be¬ 
lieve, oy the quadrant, eltiinated the peak fomewliat high¬ 
er. This is, however, nearly an Englilh mile, elevated 
on a furface of about five miles on each fide, which is 
enough to give an idea of the prodigious fteepnefs of every 
part of the ifland. From Pico Ruivo, fituated nearly at 
the eaftern extremity of the mountainous part, there is a 
kind of table-land, running weftward for more than twenty 
miles, in fome parts extremely narrow, and from its ele¬ 
vated fituation lo tempeffuous during the winter, that no 
habitations are found in its whole extent. This is called 
Paulo da Serra, and is faid to be level ground, a compa¬ 
rative term in the ifland, the furface of which is fo uni- 
verfally uneven. 
The foil of the ifland is clay on the furface, and 
large maffes of it as hard as brick are found underneath. 
Though there are not at prefent any exilting volca¬ 
noes in the ifland, yet the remains of two craters are 
to be feen, one on the ealtern, the other on the weltern, 
fide, the largeft being about a Portuguefe league, or four 
Englilh miles, in circumference. Every thing around 
wears marks of having futfered the aCtion of fire; and it 
has been imagined by fome authors, that the bay of Fun¬ 
chal is a fegment of a large crater, the exterior part of 
which has lunk into the fea : for, in the firlt place, the 
fhining blue ftones upon the beach are all of compact lava; 
fecondiy, tempeffuous weather always throws upon the 
lliore large maffes of the fame blue lava, and alfo a quan¬ 
tity of cellular fubftance, approaching to pumice-ltone in 
texture, but much heavier, and not fibrous ; and laftly, 
the rock of the Ilheo fort, and of the landing place oppo- 
ffte to it, to the weftward of Funchal bay, as well as that 
upon which fome of the other forts are conftruCted, are 
evidently perpendicular fragments of the edges of the cra¬ 
ter, which, though much worn by the violence of the furge, 
have hitherto relilted the aCtion of the fea, by having been 
better fupported, or having more clofely adhered toge¬ 
63; 
ther. They, moreover, bear not the leaft refemblance 
to the neighbouring rocks even a little within Ihore. It 
appeared to Dr. Gillan, who accompanied the earl of Ma¬ 
cartney’s embalfy, that there had been leveral craters in the 
ifland, and that eruptions had taken place from them at 
various and very diltant intervals. This, he fays, was 
particularly manifelt in a place at the ealt end of the 
ifland, where he found the crater of an extinCt volcano, at 
the bottom and round the (ides of which were fcattered 
fragments of lava. 
The rocks ot this ifland, in general, confilt of a blue 
ftone, called by the natives pedra viva, which iomewhat 
refembles the whin-ltone. In fome parts of the ifland, too, 
there is a kind of lime-ltone, or gypium, but at too great 
a diftance to be tiled in Funchal, which has its fupply 
from Porto Santo. There is alio in other parts another 
kind of (tone, which has much the appearance of grey 
marble, and, though little uied, takes a very fine polilh. 
Of free-ltone, there are here two kinds in common ufe; 
the one of a hard, the other of a foft, nature. Of the firft, 
there are two Ipecies, one white, the other grey, which 
receive a good polilh, and are much ufed in Funchal. Of 
the fecond, there are alfo two fpecies, one red, the other 
grey; which being, from the coarlenels of their grain, in¬ 
capable of receiving a good polilh, are lcIs in ule. 
From the Tides ot Pico Ruivo a rife three principal rivers, 
which traverfe the ifland in different directions. Belides 
thefe are two very confiderable fountains on the table-land, 
and various other tributary ftreams. This command of 
water at fuch a height is a molt munificent blefling of Pro¬ 
vidence in a country ufually free from rain for more than 
fix months of the year, the lteepnefs of which renders the 
rivers in their natural forms little better than cataraCts. By 
diverting the water to the fides of the mountains by regu¬ 
lations long eltablilhed among the colonilts, traCts of land 
are fertilized, which muff otherwife remain for ever un- 
produittive, or exhibit only trees and prickly pears (Cac¬ 
tus mamillaris), whole roots would often become bare by 
the torrents of the rainy feafons. 
The mode of producing a good crop of wheat, at a dif¬ 
tance from the town, is by a previous cultivation of the 
common broom. This is cut for fuel, and, after a time, 
grubbed up, and burnt on the foil. By thefe means, a 
crop of wheat is infured for a fuccellion of years, more or 
lefs, according to the foil; after which the lame procel's 
is again reforted to. For this purpofe, the feeds of the 
broom are collected, and generally bear the fame price by 
meafure as wheat. With all thefe afliltances, the quan¬ 
tity of wheat produced is faid not to equal a third or what 
is confumed, though maize is the principal food of the 
peafantry. Sugar is no longer cultivated' as an objeCt of 
traffic. Thofe fidalgos, who have plantations, (fill keep 
them up chiefly for their own ufe, and prelents for their 
friends. Immediately after the fugar-harveft, a fmall trade 
is carried on by manufacturing fomething like barley-fu- 
gar, called rapaduras, (probably rafpaduras, meaning the 
rafpings or ferapingsof the frefli fugar,) with which molt of 
the natives areaccultomed to regale themfelves and children 
at this feafon; but for common ufe, the ifland is fupplied 
with fugar from the Portuguefe fettiements in the Brazils. 
The grape, however, chiefly white, is the Itaple pro¬ 
duction of this ifland. The vine was introduced into Ma¬ 
deira from the ifland of Cyprus, but at what period it 
is difficult to learn. Chaptal relates that, “ in the year 
1420, feveral European fovereigns were defirous of obtain¬ 
ing wines from the juice of the grapes produced by their 
dominions. The Portuguefe had introduced in the ifland 
of Madeira plants from the vine of Cyprus, of which the 
wine was then reckoned the belt in the world; and their 
attempt fucceeded.” It is fomewhat to be doubted, how¬ 
ever, that it was introduced at fo early a period. Some time 
muff have elapfed before much land could be cleared or 
prepared for any purpofe; and it is natural to fuppofe that 
the land fo cleared would, in the firlt initance, fc>e appro- 
i p dated 
