laurel by Willdenow or Persoon, the oil of which serves for
burning, is the I. glauca ; but it does not answer to the characters
of the laurel used in Madeira for the same purpose, which is
much more like the I. persea, were it not for the size of the fruit,
which is that of an olive, rather than a pear ; it has a very fragrant
smell, but without a better specimen I cannot decide it ; perhaps
its umbellate bunches may refer it to the I. umbellata of Persoon.
The taxus baccata grows bn the sides of the Coural, to a sufficient
size to admit of its being made into tables and chairs. The cedar
of Madeira®, is ¡the juniperus drupacea, which had only hitherto
been found (by Labilliardiere) on Mount Cassius in Syria'. Two
pennyweight,' The vinh'atico bore 361 pounds, and weighed'eight ounces : it is an
excellent substitute for mahogany. The chestnut (fagus castanea), which is always
preferred for such works as are exposed to the Weather, weighed fire ounces and bore
264 pounds. 'See an account of similar experiments on the strength of the timber
used in Bengal-, in the : Transactions o f the American Philosophical Society, hy which
it appears, that a similar prism of the soahcky bore 593 pounds, and weighed fifteen
and a quarter ounces. The teak bearing 449 pounds, and weighed eleven ounces.
The same bulk of pure water, weigh 13f. It would seem from the experiments there
recorded, as well as the three I have made, that the strength of tfrd wood increases
with its gravity. Firs full of resin, however, such as the Baltic red fir, weighs a
fraction, and bears a few pounds less, than those (such as thé Nepaul fir) which are
not. A prism of the heath (erica driorea), which is of à yellowish rose cdlolir, but
brittle to work, weighed fourteen ounces?' of the cactm opuntia, (which remains
f l e x i b l e until dry, and then becomes brittle and shrinks up to one half oS itsoriginal
dimensions) three ounces six pennyweights ; .of the dracaim draco, 8.96 ;. (he prism
of heath wood was cut from a trunk three and a half feet in circumference ; that of
the cactus was two and a half feet.
« Cadamosto had justly designated it as “ muito cheiroso e semelhante ao cypreste
the indigenous species of cypress is new. Cupressus Madeirensis foliis multifariam,
imbriccctis, altemis, ramis pendulis, strobilis globosis, squamis, muarffnatis, quadrilor
cularis,polyspermis. flor. ignotis.
f The Camera have, within these few y e a rs, strictly forbidden the cutting, down of
the cedar-tree, having remarked, that the springs which they sheltered, disappeared,
and that in a very short time afterwards ; the physiciens of the island, still obstinately
attached to those systems which are everywhere else forgotten, insist, that these
varieties of thè African Banana have been naturalized, but confine
themselves to the lower parts of thè island ; when cultivated,
however, they grow at a considerable height, and the leaves
(before they are fully developed) are now found by the coopers
to be very superior to the rushes formerly imported from Lisbon,
for the headings of the wine casks. The Guinea grass is cultivated
and thrives well ; X have not beèn ablê to find a good description
of it: therefore, after dissecting and examining a great many;
locusta, I have given the results8.
To complete the idea of that happy medium and variety of
climate, which makes Madeira preferable even to Tenerifte, for a
garden of naturalization ; the pfumix dactylifera flourishes and
bears fruit ; pine-apples ( bromelia ananas), and custard apples
( annona squamosa), are grown in the open air; the arrow-root
(maranta indica) succeeds perfectly weH, the dahlias flourish and
produce seed, thè arctotis angustifolia becomes a shrub, the camellia
japonica astonishes us as a considerable tree, the fuchsia cocdnea
and the pélargonia form thick hedges many feet high, the ricinus
communis becomes a tree, the papa/m (carica papaya) and the
streams are kept up by attraction, and will not hear of the sheltering of the soil from
the powerful action of the sun, after the heavy rains, and the consequent diminution
of evaporation as an.adequate explanation. The first.Governor, Zarco, entailed this
inconvenience, which might have amounted to a calamity, on aU future .g estio n s,
when he indiscriminately set fire to the thick woods which covered the flanks mid
tops of the mountains. AU the colonists, men, w;omenV and chfldremwqfo compelled
to fly into the sea to avoid its fury, where th ^ reniained twpr% a and' t^pnjghts, up
to the neck in water,, and without food : it is said to have continued burning upwards
of six years. Cotleqaqdelioticias, p. 9. .. •
! Panicum polygamum, (Guinea grass.) Invoke, parvum, vai vis simile spatfræ.
Flores polygames. Gluma biflora, 2-valvis. Calyx 2-valvïs ovatis, aouminatis, In
florem hermaphroditum, ovarium parvum. Styli. duo, piumosi, rubri. Stamen unicum.
In florem masculum, stamina tria. Flores laxè pamicuîâtî. , Articutationes. villosa-.
Folia glabra, lanceolata, acuminata.