powerful, and the honey which we got in the island was strongly
flavoured with it. But I forgot; we are not on shore yet. How bright,
and beautiful, and rich, and fertile, and romantic everything looked!
What charming white-washed cottages! What lovely villas, surrounded by
gardens filled with flowers of every hue! What a pretty town stretching
away round the shores of the bay! How clean, and neat, and comfortable
all the dwellings! and how grand the churches and public buildings.
Gerard and I agreed that we should like to come back there some day
after we had done our wanderings, and take up our abode for the rest of
our days.

"Stay till you have been on shore and seen the inside as well as the
outside of things," observed Cousin Silas, who had overheard us. We
thought he was in what we used to call one of his grumpy humours, and
did not heed him. We sailed on, and dropped our anchor opposite to the
city of Funchal. A health-boat came off, but as no one was sick on
board, the people in her did not trouble us much. When she went away,
we were surrounded with other boats pulled by swarthy, muscular, little
men with gay caps and sashes, and white shirt sleeves, who bawled, and
hallooed, and jabbered, in the vain hope of making us comprehend what
they said. We shouted and hallooed in return, as if each party were
deaf; and it was not till after a considerable expenditure of breath,
that we discovered that we did not understand a word of each other's
language; so at last we took to making signs, by which means we got on
much better. There was no great difficulty in this, as they had an
abundance of fruit to sell, which we were equally anxious to buy.

The captain had, I found, touched here chiefly to get a supply of fruit,
vegetables, fresh meat, and water, as he knew that the health of a crew
is maintained without difficulty when there is an abundance of these
necessaries. He had also another reason for coming here. It was to
obtain information, which the Portuguese authorities were able to
supply, regarding certain places he proposed visiting. As, however, the
whole plan of our proceedings was to be kept secret, I will not touch on
that subject. Gerard and I were all anxiety to go on shore, so the
captain gave us leave to accompany Mr Brand, with strict charges to him
to keep us out of mischief. "Not an easy job!" muttered Silas,
preparing to accompany us into a boat. For the first time in my life I
sto