guava (psydium pyriferum) attain a large size, and produce good
fruith, and the melia azedarach flourishes in great beauty*.
h The gooseberry hushes do not bear good fruit under a height of 2000 feet : the
mulberries are singularly fine, and there is a standard nectarine-tree in Mr. Veitch s
garden upwards of thirty feet high.
1 It stands the frosts of the higher parts of the island. In India, this tree is valued
for its wood, which is white and durable, and much used for household furniture.
Ainslie’s Materia Mèdica o f Hindostán. An oil may be extracted from its berry
which defies the approach of insects ; a small piece of cotton dipped in it, and tied to
the leg of a table, will even prevent the smallér reptiles, such as lizards, from coming
near it, and the Only drawback on this valuable: property is its disagreeable smell.
M. Decandolle mentions, that the m. azedarach has withstood a cold of 23 - Fahrenheit,
on the lake of Geneva ; there is no doubt, therefore, that so useful a tree might be
naturalized in most parts of Europe ; and its beauty and fragrant bunches of flowers
would adoni our-shrubberies. The Portuguese consider the myrtle to be the hardest
wood, and thére aré now standing, trees of it nearly three feet in circumference. They
do not seem to be aware of the extraordinary durability of the vine, which Pliny
asserts, (1- 14. c. 1,) instancing a statue of Jupiter , at Populonium, formed out of an
entire piece of that wood, which had existed many ages, and was still free from any
trace of decay. I do not think they have ever been able to cut any planks from the
vine, (although there is said to be one on the north side of the island, so large as to-
produce apipe of wine) whereas, we know that the great doors of the Cathedral of
Ravenna are made of vine wood, and that the planks are more than thirteen feet
long, and nearly one and a quarter wide. The largest tree I have seen in the island
is a sweet chestnut, twenty-five feet in circumference.
In 1815 the population of Madeira amounted to 90,916; it is supposed to be
upwards of 100,000 at present. It has evidently sprung from several mixed sources.
A m o n g the Arabic documents in the Torre de Tombo, there is a letter from the
Moors of Cafy to (King Manuel, dated 1509, complaining, that the new Portuguese
Governor, Diogo de Azambrya, after entering into their town, “ with a cane in his
hand, and some sweet basil in his mouth,” and giving every pledge of his future
prudence and justice, suddenly seized several Moorish and Jewish merchants, and
sold them to the brother of the Governor of Madeira, who happened to be there at the
time with troops. Documentos Arabicos} copiacfos dos Ongaes da Torre de Tdmbo,
Lisboa, 1790, p. 11—24. *
CHAPTER V.
Zoological, Meteorological, and Barometrical Observations—Flood
of Madeira.
C o u l d I have afforded to have invited the fishermen and
peasantry to bring me specimens of all the fishes, birds, <fc., they
knew, or might, meet with, promising a fair price, I might have
done much more for zoology in general. A traveller who has
only his own slender means to depend on for every expense of his
enterprise, can do hut little for zoology ; hut, even as it was, I had
frequent occasion to lament the necessity of throwing away new
and interesting objects, especially fishes, because no museum had
furnished me with spirits and cases to preserve them in. It is
not fair to impose this expense on the zeal of the traveller who
contributes his services gratuitously. I have a few more zoological
notices to submit, however, and expect to add some new
fishes to the 2500 already known and described.
I shall endeavour to follow the ichthyological system of Cuvier,
the most natural,al though the most difficult to class by . Dr.
Hamilton acknowledges its superiority, when he writes, if I mistake
not, that had he been acquainted with it, when he undertook
1 “ La classe des poissons est de toutes, celle qui offre le plus de difficultés quand
on veut la subdiviser en ordres, d’après des caractères fixes et sensibles. Après bein
des efforts, je me suis déterminé pour la distribution suivante, qui dans quelques cas
pêche contre la précision, mais qui a l’avantage de ne point couper les familles
naturelles.’’ C u v i e r , Règne Animal, Tome II. p. 110. R