ave been burnt, and even the sand itself to be nothing more
than ashes: We did not, indeed, see much of the country, but the people
informed us that what we did see was a very exact specimen of the
rest.[62]

[Footnote 62: This opinion about the volcanic origin of the island of
Madeira, has found several advocates since the publication of this work.
The following quotation from a paper by the Hon. H.G. Bennet, contained
in the first volume of the Geological Society Transactions, may famish
the inquisitive reader with a short summary of the principal appearances
on which this opinion rests. "To my mind, the most interesting
geological facts, are, 1. The intersection of the lava, by dikes at
right angles with the strata.--2. The rapid dips which the strata make,
particularly the overlaying of that of the Brazen Head to the eastward
of Funchial, where the blue, grey, and red lavas are rolled up in one
mass, as if they had slipped together from an upper stratum.--3. The
columnar form of the lava itself, reposing on, and covered by beds of
scoria, ashes, and pumice, which affords a strong argument for the
volcanic origin of the columns themselves. And, 4. The veins of
carbonate of lime and zeolite, which are not found here in solitary
pieces, as in the vicinity of AEtna and Vesuvius, but are amid the lavas
and in the strata of pumice and tufa, and are diffused on the lava
itself, and occasionally crystallized in its cavities."--E.]

The only article of trade in this island is wine, and the manner in
which it is made is so simple, that it might have been used by Noah, who
is said to have planted the first vineyard after the flood: The grapes
are put into a square wooden vessel, the dimensions of which are
proportioned to the size of the vineyard to which it belongs; the
servants then, having taken off their stockings and jackets, get into
it, and with their feet and elbows, press out as much of the juice as
they can: The stalks are afterwards collected, and being tied together
with a rope, are put under a square piece of wood, which is pressed down
upon them by a lever with a stone tied to the end of it.

It was with great difficulty that the people of Madeira were persuaded
to engraft their vines, and some of them still obstinately refused to
adopt the practice, though a whole vintage is very often spoiled by the
number of bad grapes which are mixed in the vat, and which they will not
throw out, because they increase the q