THE ISLAND OF MADEIRA.
From a late account of that Island published in London.
The climate of the island is excellent, being between the extremes of heat and cold; indeed the climate and soil are such, that the fruits of the earth are yielded with very little trouble in their cultivation, which, from the negligence of the inhabitants, is highly essential.
Nearly every kind of European vegetable production is to be met with here, to which may be added the sweet potato and yam. The same may be said of fruits, and with care might be produced most of the tropical ones. The oranges, lemons, and figs, are remarkably fine: peaches, nectarines, apricots &c. are very abundant.
The hills are covered with very large chesnut and walnut trees; the former producing the finest fruit of its kind in the world, and forming one source of sustenance to the hardy peasantry.
The island is formed of one immense hill or mountain, running from east to west, affording views beautifully romantic, abounding with fine springs of the purest water in the universe; while verdure and fertility cover the most unpromising situations. Pico Ruivo is five thousand one hundred feet high.
The city of Funchal is very delightfully situated at the foot of this lofty range of mountains, on the south side of the island; which forms a kind of amphitheatre, and has a beautiful appearance from the shipping as you approach it, the environs abounding with vineyards, generally in the most luxuriant state; and in the midst of the green foliage of the vine, orange, lemon, pomegranate, bannanas, myrtle, cypress, cedar, &c. are numerous villas belonging to the gentry, or to the British merchants, which, being quite white, add greatly to the beauty of the scene.
Funchal is the emporium of the island; it contains about twenty thousand inhabitants, (the population of the whole island is one hundred thousand souls,) and is the residence of a governor, bishop, corrigidor, juiz da fora and other public functionaries. It is a very irregular built town; the streets are generally narrow and crooked, having no foot paths, and are badly paved; but it is quite the reverse of Lisbon, being extremely clean. The old houses are ill built; but they have lately much improved in architecture, for the modern buildings are generally handsome, and are invariably built with stone, plastered over and whitewashed: most of the houses of the gentry are stuccoed inside, many of them are very elegant, and they are for the most part handsomely furnished in the English style.
The residence of the governor is called the palace of Fort St. Lawrence; it is a large ancient building: a few years since, it was greatly improved by the addition of a new suit of apartments, built under the direction of an English gentlemen, which are elegant and commodious.