s this permission was obtained, we went on shore
at Funchiale, the capital of the island, and proceeded directly to the
house of Mr Cheap, the English consul there, and one of the most
considerable merchants of the place. This gentleman received us with the
kindness of a brother, and the liberality of a prince; he insisted upon
our taking possession of his house, in which he famished us with every
possible accommodation during our stay upon the island: He procured
leave for Mr Banks and Dr Solander to search the island for such natural
curiosities as they should think worth their notice; employed persons to
take fish and gather shells, which time would not have permitted them to
collect for themselves; and be provided horses and guides to take them
to any part of the country which they should chuse to visit. With all
these advantages, however, their excursions were seldom pushed farther
than three miles from the town, as they were only five days on shore;
one of which they spent at home, in receiving the honour of a visit from
the governor. The season was the worst in the year for their purpose, as
it was neither that of plants nor insects; a few of the plants, however,
were procured in flower, by the kind attention of Dr Heberden, the chief
physician of the island, and brother to Dr Heberden of London, who also
gave them such specimens as he had in his possession, and a copy of his
Botanical Observations; containing, among other things, a particular
description of the trees of the island. Mr Banks enquired after the wood
which has been imported into England for cabinet-work, and is here
called Madeira mahogany: He learnt that no wood was exported from the
island under that name, but he found a tree called by the natives
Vigniatico, the _Laurus indicus_ of Linnaeus, the wood of which cannot
easily be distinguished from mahogany. Dr Heberden had a book-case in
which the vigniatico and mahogany were mixed, and they were no
otherwise to be known from each other than by the colour, which, upon a
nice examination, appears to be somewhat less brown in the vigniatico
than the mahogany; it is therefore in the highest degree probable, that
the wood known in England by the name of Madeira mahogany, is the
vigniatico.

There is great reason to suppose that this whole island was, at some
remote period, thrown up by the explosion of subterraneous fire, as
every stone, whether whole or in fragments, that we saw upon it,
appeared to h