We dropped our anchor in the bay of Funchal at about twelve o’clock, and before breakfast was over found ourselves surrounded by a perfect flotilla of boats, though none of them dared approach very near until the health-officer had come alongside and pronounced us free from infection.  At this moment all are complaining much of the heat, which since yesterday has been very great, and is caused by the wind called ‘Este,’ blowing direct from the African deserts.  It was 79 deg. in the coolest place on board, and 84 deg. on shore in the shade, in the middle of the day.

The African mail steamer, ‘Ethiopia,’ last from Bonny, West Coast of Africa, whence she arrived the day before yesterday, was lying in the bay, and the children went on board with some of our party to see her cargo of monkeys, parrots, and pineapples.  The result was an importation of five parrots on board the ‘Sunbeam;’ but the monkeys were too big for us.  Captain Dane, who paid us a return visit, said that the temperature here appeared quite cool to him, as for the last few weeks his thermometer had varied from 82 deg. to 96 deg. in the shade.

We had service at 4 p.m., and at 5 p.m. went ashore in a native boat, furnished with bilge pieces, to keep her straight when beached, and to avoid the surf, for it was too rough for our own boats.  At the water’s edge a curious sort of double sleigh, drawn by two oxen, was waiting.  Into this we stepped, setting off with considerable rapidity up the steep shingly beach, under a beautiful row of trees, to the ‘Praca,’ where the greater portion of the population were walking up and down, or sitting under the shade of the magnolias.  These plants here attain the size of forest-trees, and their large white wax-like flowers shed a most delightful fragrance on the evening air.  There were graceful pepper vines too, and a great variety of trees only known to us in England in the form of small shrubs.  This being a festival day, the streets were crowded with people from town and country, in their holiday attire.  The door-posts and balconies of the houses were wreathed with flowers, the designs in many cases being very pretty.  One arcade in particular was quite lovely, with arches made of double red geranium, mixed with the feathery-looking pepper leaves, while the uprights were covered with amaryllis and white arum lilies.  The streets were strewn with roses and branches of myrtle, which, bruised by the feet of the passers-by and the runners of the bullock sleigh, emitted a delicious aromatic odour.

The trellises in the gardens seem overgrown with stephanotis, mauve and purple passion-flowers, and all kinds of rare creepers, the purple and white hibiscus shoots up some fourteen to sixteen feet in height; bananas, full of fruit and flower, strelitzias, heliotrope, geraniums, and pelargoniums, bloom all around in large shrubs, mixed with palms and mimosas of every variety; and the whole formed such an enchanting picture that we were loth to tear ourselves away.