Dreams of yesterdays (in the Orient) . he bay ofFunchal, with its white and yellow cottages andred-tiled roofs, the balmy air, and the flower-cov-ered hill crests, were very attractive. CHAPTER II FUNCHAL, MADEIRA ISLANDS EFORE dinner a bulletin announcingthe program for sightseeing on thefolloiwing day was always posted insome conspicuous place, and every-body read it with interest, and wereprepared, at the time stated, to de-scend the fifty steps of the swinging ladder. Webreakfasted early next morning, but long beforethis pandemonium reigned outside, for many smallboats had arrived, and the
Dreams of yesterdays (in the Orient) . he bay ofFunchal, with its white and yellow cottages andred-tiled roofs, the balmy air, and the flower-cov-ered hill crests, were very attractive. CHAPTER II FUNCHAL, MADEIRA ISLANDS EFORE dinner a bulletin announcingthe program for sightseeing on thefolloiwing day was always posted insome conspicuous place, and every-body read it with interest, and wereprepared, at the time stated, to de-scend the fifty steps of the swinging ladder. Webreakfasted early next morning, but long beforethis pandemonium reigned outside, for many smallboats had arrived, and the boatmen were scream-ing and gesticulating, all wishing to be first totake somebody ashore. There was always oneor more of the boatmen who wore a bright redjersey, with the word Cooks across the breastin large white letters, also a flag in one end of theboat bearing the same motto, and woe to the per-son who took a boat without these distinguishingmarks. We landed at the wharf where a hun-dred low, lumbering sleds called Cairo, with 4. FUNCHAL, MADEIRA ISLANDS 5 canopy tops and curtains of red, or red and yel-low, with cushioned seat, and drawn by oxen in-stead of horses, were in waiting, and a singularappearance we made as we started off to see thetown. These equipages have one and sometimestwo attendants; we had two, a driver and a foot-man, if you please. The driver goes ahead anddirects the oxen, and the footman walks still fur-ther in the van and smears the cobblestones with abunch of greasy rags, which they keep throwingunder the runners to make the sliding easier. Asa result the streets are filthy and sticky, not par-ticularly pleasant to the olfactory nerve. Anotherconveyance used by the Madeirans is a sled with-out the canopy top, and drawn by the natives;another is called a rede and is something like ahammock hanging to a pole and carried by thenatives, one at each end of the pole, while theytrot or walk in unison, and it is said that the mo-tion is not unpleasant to
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookiddreamsofyest, bookyear1908
