properly cultivated for a while on the island, will
acquire the properties of the renowned old
vineyards, always assuming that they are not assailed
by the disease. It is supposed that the first
vines were brought to Madeira from Cyprus
and Candia about the year 1425, and in time
acquired first-rate properties through the
character of the soil, and the magnificent climate.
If Madeira vines be now conveyed to Cyprus,
they produce for the first few years a wine
very like Madeira; but they gradually lose their
peculiar qualities, and eventually resemble the
vines which have been growing for centuries in
their native land.

Although the vine was naturalised in Madeira
a few years after the discovery of the island,
it was not cultivated to any extent till the
beginning of the sixteenth century. In those
days, we read further, the vintage usually
took place in September in the south, and
three or four weeks later in the north,
according to the situation of the vineyards and
their elevation above the sea. The rats and
lizards, which propagated in enormous numbers,
usually destroyed one-fifth of the crop; after the
grapes were gathered, they were thrown into a
clumsy wooden trough, and pressed by the
naked feet of the vintagers. This primitive
method of extracting the juice dates from a
very early period. The pictures of the ancient
Egyptians represent this process, and in the
Scriptures, as well as in several Latin poets,
passages are found which seem to prove that the
ancient Hebrews and the tribes of Italy adopted
this method.

When the first juice had been expressed, the
remaining mass was collected, tied together, and
pressed once more. The must (mosto), however,
was collected in a tub, transported to the cellars
in goat-skins, and placed there in casks, where the
process of fermentation went on for four or five
weeks, after which the wine was transferred
to other casks for the purpose of being fined
with eggs, bullocks' blood, or more frequently
gypsum. Previously, however, about ten bottles
of brandy were added to each pipe, in order to
prevent the formation of acetic acid: this brandy
was of home manufacture, being made of the
worst sorts of wine, such as São Vicente and
Porto Santo. A certain amount of water was
also added to the dregs, and a fearful beverage
called Agoapé (foot water) was thus produced,
held in great esteem by the lower classes.

The wines were kept in cellars of moderate
and settled temperature: the only exception
was the Tinta, presently to be mentioned.
The poorer sorts were submitted, for six
months after fermentation, to a temperature
of fifty to sixty degrees Centigrade: for the
heat was supposed to render any further laying
down unnecessary. By this violent process the
wine acquired a certain flavour of age, but with
it a dry and smoky taste, which could never be
entirely removed. The better sorts, however,
were laid by for years in the ordinary tempera-
ture. The best wines were produced along the
south coast, and were probably unrivalled in
the world for bouquet, softness, and flavour.
The reason why they have gradually sunk in
the esteem of English consumers, will be found
in the fact that, owing to the great demand for the
wines, and their high prices, especially during
the Napoleonic war, many merchants of Funchal
were tempted to sell inferior wines as first
class.

For the preceding remarks we are chiefly
indebted to a wine-merchant of Santa Cruz, who
has lived on the island nearly fifty years, has
acquired an immense fortune, and is universally
regarded as the authority on the subject.
According to this gentleman, the following sorts
were the most celebrated:

1. MALVAZIA, a bright- coloured heavy very
aromatic wine, made from the Malvazia Candida.
It is possible that the latter word is a corrup-
tion of Candia, the native land of this grape.
The berry is large, oval, and of a golden hue
when ripe. The finest wines of this class were
made at the Fazenda dos Padres, which formerly
belonged to the Jesuits, and at Paul do Mar,
both places west of Funchal. As this grape was
very delicate, and easily spoiled, it was the
dearest of all the wines: the pipe being put
aboard for from seventy-five to eighty-five
pounds, or nearly three shillings a bottle first
cost. This wine is no longer exported, and the
small stock still in existence fetches ten
shillings per bottle on the island.

2. SERCIAL. A dry, bright-coloured wine,
with a powerful bouquet, produced from the
Rhenish grape. It was not drunk till it was
eight years of age, but then it was considered
by connoisseurs the best and healthiest sort.
The young wine had an excessively disagreeable
taste, and the grape itself was so sour and
uneatable that even the lizards would not touch
it; which is saying a good deal. The cost price
was from seventy to eighty pounds per pipe.

3. TINTA, or Madeira- Burgundy. A dark
pleasantly-flavoured wine, made from the small
black Burgundy grape. Its almost black colour
emanated from the skins, which remained in the
wine during fermentation, and imparted to it
the astringent taste of port. It was usually
drunk during the first or second year. After
that period it gradually lost its delicate aroma
and bouquet. The pipe fetched from sixty to
seventy pounds.

4. BUAL. A pleasant wine, rather light,
made from a handsome round straw-coloured
grape, which had to be cut as soon as it ripened,
or it dried up and yielded but little juice. This
wine was equally good, whether young or old,
and fetched from seventy to eighty pounds per
pipe.

5. DRY MADEIRA— most made in the island,
and most extensively exported— was composed of
a mixture of various sorts. The best wine was
produced between Funchal and the village of
Campanario, especially in the districts of Cama de
Lobos and Estreito. It was supposed that this
wine was dried and improved by a voyage to the
East or West Indies; hence it reached the London
market under the name of " East or West India