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most of what is confumed by the inhabitants is imported. The mutton, pork, and beef are also very good; the beef in particular, which we took on board here, was univerfally allowed to be scarcely inferior to our own; the lean part was very like it, both in colour and grain, though the beasts are much smaller, but the fat is as white as the fat of mutton.

The town of Funchiale derives its name from Funcho, the Portuguese name for fennel, which grows in great plenty upon the neighbouring rocks, and, by the obfervation of Dr. Heberden, lies in the latitude of 32° 33′ 33′′ N. and longitude 16° 49′ W. It is fituated in the bottom of a bay, and though larger than the extent of the island feems to deserve, is very ill built; the houses of the principal inhabitants are large, those of the common people are small, the streets are narrow, and worse paved than any I ever faw. The churches are loaded with ornaments, among which are many pictures, and images of favourite faints, but the pictures are in general wretchedly painted, and the faints are dreffed in laced clothes. Some of the convents are in a better taste, especially that of the Francifcans, which is plain, fimple, and neat in the highest degree. The infirmary in particular drew our attention as a model which might be adopted in other countries with great advantage. It confifts of a long room, on one fide of which are the windows, and an altar for the convenience of adminiftering the facrament to the fick the other fide is divided into wards, each of which is just big enough to contain a bed, and neatly lined with gally-tiles; behind these wards, and parallel to the room in which they ftand, there runs a long gallery, with which each ward communicates by a door, so that the sick may be separately supplied with whatever they want without disturbing their neighbours. In this convent there is also a fingular curiofity of another kind; a fmall chapel, the whole lining of which, both fides and ceiling, is compofed of human fculls and thigh bones; the thigh bones are laid across each other, and a fcull is placed in each of the four angles. Among the fculls one is very remarkable ; the upper and the lower jaw, on one fide, perfe&ly and firmlycohere; howthe offification which unites themwas formed,

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1768. September.

1768. formed, it is not perhaps very easy to conceive, but it September. is certain that the patient, must have lived fome time

without opening his mouth: what nourishment he received was conveyed through a hole which we difcovered to have been made on the other fide, by forcing out fome of the teeth, in doing which the jaw also feems to have been injured.

We vifited the good Fathers of this convent on a Thurfday evening, juft before fupper-time, and they received us with great politenefs; "We will not ask

you (faid they) to fup with us, because we are not pre"pared; but if you will come to morrow, though it is a "faft with us, we will have a turkey roasted for you." This invitation, which fhewed a liberality of fentiment not to have been expected in a convent of Portuguese Friars at this place, gratified us much, though it was not in our power to accept it.

We vifited alfo a convent of nuns, dedicated to Santa Clara, and the Ladies did us the honour to exprefs a particular pleasure in seeing us there: they had heard that there were great philosophers among us, and not at all knowing what were the objects of philofophical knowlege, they asked us several questions that were abfurd and extravagant in the highest degree; one was, when it would thunder? And another, whether a spring of fresh water was to be found any where within the walls of their convent? of which it seems they were in great want. It will naturally be fuppofed that our anfwers to fuch questions were neither fatisfactory to the Ladies, nor, in their estimation, honourable to us; yet their disappointment did not in the leaft leffen their civility, and they talked, without ceafing, during the whole of our vifit, which lafted about half an hour.

The hills of this country are very high; the highest, Pico Ruivo, rifes 5,068 feet, near an English mile, perpendicularly from its bafe, which is much higher than any land that has been meafured in Great-Britain. The fides of thefe hills are covered with vines to a certain height, above which there are woods of chestnut and pine of an immenfe extent, and above them forefts of wild timber of various kinds not known in Europe; particularly two, called by the Portuguese Mirmulano

1

Mirmulano and Paobranco, the leaves of which, parti- 1768. cularly the Paobranco, are fo beautiful, that these trees September. would be a great ornament to the gardens of Europe.

The number of inhabitants in this ifland is fuppofed to be about 80,000, and the custom-house duties produce a revenue to the king of Portugal of 20,000 pounds a year, clear of all expences, which might eafily be doubled by the product of the island, exclusive of the vines, if advantage was taken of the excellence of the climate, and the amazing fertility of the foil; but this object is utterly neglected by the Portuguese. In the trade of the inhabitants of Madeira with Lisbon the balance is against them, fo that all the Portugufe money naturally going thither, the currency of the island is Spanish; there are indeed a few Portuguefe pieces of copper, but they are fo fcarce that we did not fee one of them the Spanish coin is of three denominations : Pistereens, worth about a shilling; Bitts, worth about fix pence; and Half-bitts, three pence.

The tides at this place flow, at the full and change of the moon, north and fouth; the spring tides rise seven feet perpendicular, and the neap tides four. By Dr. Heberden's obfervation, the variation of the compafs here is now 15° 30' Weft, and decreasing; but I have fome doubt whether he is not mistaken with refpect to its decrease: we found that the North point of the dipping needle belonging to the Royal Society dipped 77° 18".

The refreshments to be had here, are water, wine, fruit of several sorts, onions in plenty, and fome fweetmeats; fresh meat and poultry are not to be had without leave from the governor, and the payment of a very high price.

We took in 270lb. of fresh beef, and a live bullock, charged at 61 3lb. 3,032 gallons of water, and ten tuns

of wine; and in the night, between Sunday the 18th Sunday 18. and Monday the 19th of September, we fet fail in Monday 19.. profecution of our voyage.

When Funchiale bore North, 13 East, at the distance

of 76 miles, the variation appeared by feveral azimuths to be 16° 30' West,

С НА Р.

1768. September.

Wednef.21.

Friday 23.

Satur. 24.

CHA P. II.

The Paffage from Madeira to Rio de Janeiro, with fome Account of the Country, and the Incidents that bappened there.

ON

N the 21ft of September we saw the islands called the Salvages, to the north of the Canaries ; when the principal of these hore S. W. at the distance of about 5 leagues, we found the variation of the compafs by an azimuth to be 17° 50'. I make these islands to lie in latitude 30° 11' North, and distant 58 leagues from Funchiale in Madeira, in the direction of S. 16 E.

On Friday the 23d we faw the Peak of Teneriffe, bearing W. by S. S. and found the variation of the compafs to be from 17° 22' to 16° 30'. The height of this mountain, from which I took a new departure, has been determined by Dr. Heberden, who has been upon it, to be 15,396 feet, which is but 148 yards lefs than three miles, reckoning the mile at 1760 yards. Its appearance at sunset was very striking; when the fun was below the horizon, and the reft of the island appeared of a deep black, the mountain ftill reflected his rays, and glowed with a warmth of colour which no painting can exprefs. There is no eruption of visible fire from it, but a heat issues from the chinks near the top, too strong to be borne by the hand when it is held near them. We received from Dr. Heberden, among other favours, fome falt which he collected on the top of the mountain, where it is found in large quantities, and which he supposes to be the true natrum or nitrum of the antients: he gave us alfo fome native fulphur exceedingly pure, which he had likewife found upon the furface in great plenty.

On the next day, Saturday the 24th, we came into Friday 30 the north-eaft trade wind, and on Friday the 30th faw Bona Vista, one of the Cape de Verd Islands; we ranged the eaft fide of it, at the distance of three or four miles from the fhore, till we were obliged to haul off to avoid a ledge of rocks which stretch out S. W. by W. from the body, or S. E. point of the ifland,

to

to the extent of a league and an half. Bona Vista by our observation lies in latitude 16 N. and longitude 210 51' West.

1768.

October:

On the first of October, in latitude 14o 6′ N. and Saturday 1. longitude 22° 10' W. we found the variation by a very good azimuth to be 10° 37′ W. and the next morning Sunday 2. it appeared to be 10°. This day we found the ship five miles a-head of the log, and the next day seven. On the third hoisted out the boat to discover whether Monday 3: there was a current, and found one to the eastward, at the rate of three quarters of a mile an hour.

During our course from Teneriffe to Bona Vista we faw great numbers of flying fish, which from the cabin windows appear beautiful beyond imagination, their fides having the colour and brightness of burnished silver; when they are seen from the deck they do not appear to fo much advantage, because their backs are of a dark colour. We also took a fhark, which proved to be the Squalus Charearias of Linnæus.

Having loft the trade wind on the third, in latitude 120 14 and longitude 22° 10', the wind became fomewhat variable, and we had light airs and calms by

turns.

On the feventh, Mr. Banks went out in the boat, Friday 7. and took what the feamen call a Portuguese man of war; it is the Holothuria Phyfalis of Linnæus, and a fpecies of the Mellufca. It confifted of a small bladder about seven inches long, very much refembling the airbladder of fishes, from the bottom of which defcended a number of strings, of a bright blue and red, fome of them three or four feet in length, which upon being touched fting like a nettle, but with much more force. On the top of the bladder is a membrance which is used as a fail, and turned fo as to receive the wind which foever it blows: this membrane is marked in fine pink coloured veins, and the animal is in every refpe&t an object exquifitely curious and beautiful.

way

We also took several of the fhell-fishes, or teftaceous animals which are always found floating upon the water, particularly the Helix Fanthina and Violacea: they are about the fize of a fnail, and are fupported upon the surface of the water by a small clusterof bubbles, which are filled with air, and confift of a tenaceous flimy

fubftance,

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