Title
A Voyage to the East Indies: Page 14
Description
The Island of Madeira lies in Lat. 32•20 N Long is about seventeen Leagues long & nine broad. It has seven Small Bays & Harbours but Ships generally lie in Funchal Roads, a very unsafe Place in some certain Seasons of the Year, when it blows hard upon the Land. The Island is mountainous and rocky having but a very superficial Station of Mould, yet is generally Cover’d with verdure. From the deficiency of Mould, the Island cannot be imagind to produce Grain in large Quantities, tho’ there are some Parts, different from the rest, which yield tolerable Crops of Wheat, Barley, Peases, Beans and a Kind of Lentil for the Cattle. But the principal production of the Island, & what alone renders it an Object of Attention is the very excellent Wine, which grows on every Part of it. True, Unadulterated Madeira Wine, is an excellent Cordial very far superior to any Wine produced in any of the Canary or Cape de Verd Islands. Contrary to almost all other Kinds of Wine it improves by Heat & and has been recovered after being Almost Vinegar by exposing the Cask to the Sun. None of the Merchants who sell it at Madeira possess plantations on the Island; it is produced in the Vineyards of poor People in small Quantities and brought to Town in dried Hog Skins. [end page 14]
