eularly catches th e ' eye is the convent of Nossa Senhora do
Monte, our Lady o f the Mountain, which, being surrounded by
gardens and groves and avenues of chesnut-trees, appears
as if buried in the midst of a forest. The wide open bay
with the shipping at anchor, the numerous craft on the beach,
the Ilheo or Loo rock, a huge insulated mass of black lava,
surmounted with batteries, constitute a foreground that is
well suited to the grandeur of the scenery on shore. But the
annexed view of that part of the island immediately over the
town, reduced from a drawing taken by Mr. Daniell, on
board a ship at anchor in the bay, will recal to the recollection
of those, who may have viewed itfrom the same situation,
its general features as they appear from thence, better than
any description which I can pretend to give.
The bay of Funchal, at all times indifferent as a place of
anchorage for shipping, is considered as extremely dangerous
from the autumnal to the vernal equinox, when the strong
southerly winds cause a high and rolling swell of the sea to
be thrown in upon the shore. Poor Mackintosh, who commanded
the Hindostán, was in a state of constant alarm and
uneasiness while we remained here, having on a former visit
to this place lost his ship, when every soul on board perished;
he and his cook escaped the melancholy fate of their companions
by being on shore.
How deceitful are oftimes the fairest appearances; and
how frequently is the beauty of objects, when viewed from a
distance, converted into real deformity on a nearer approach!
After a difficult and disagreeable landing,: on account of the