Page 56 - The Pirate Coast (By Sir Charles Belgrave)

ground, covered with myrtle and wild geraniums, until they
arrived at the heights of the south-eastern shoulder of the island.
From there, they looked down on Funchal, and the broad, blue
Atlantic. To the north, the high mountains of Madeira seemed
to rise into the clouds. A road bordered with trees and prickly
pear bushes led them to the gate of the garden which they had
come to see; the sight inside the gate was a striking contrast to the
rugged ground which they had traversed. A road through groves
of lemon and orange trees led to a formal garden, laid out with
good taste, and very well kept. The beds under the trees were
gay with flowers and, along the paths, there were many kinds of
flowering shrubs. There was a summer house in the centre of
the garden, close to two ornamental pools ‘which in England
would have seemed out of place, but in that warm climate they
were delightful’. A fountain played over beasts and birds carved
in stone, into a pool below, and the rippling and dripping of the
water added to the pleasure of the shade from the rows of tall trees
on each side of the pools which formed a screen from the hot,
noonday sun. From a terrace, covered in climbing geraniums,
beyond the two pieces of water, there was a view across the sea
to the distant, rocky islands known as the Dcsertas. Loch and his
friends stayed in the garden until the evening, regaled with deli­
cious oranges, and then they set off on their return journey, down
the steep mountain paths to Funchal.
Almost at once the pony on which Loch was riding became
troublesome. It began to kick and lash out with its hooves,
which caused great amusement to Loch’s companions. However,
he kept his seat. When he arrived at the Consul’s house, he dis­
covered the cause of the trouble; one of the Consul’s servants, who
was with the party, thinking that he would have some fun at
seeing a sailor unhorsed, stuck a pin in the front part of the saddle,
so that, when going downhill it pricked the animal’s back and
irritated it. Loch docs not say what happened to the man who
played this trick. Although it was an age when practical jokes
were fashionable, such things would not be smiled on, if they were
perpetrated by social inferiors. That evening, Loch and his party
dined with the Consul, who gave them some of each of the many
different kinds of wine which were produced on the island. After
this libation, they spent the night in the Consul’s house.
Next day, the same party, with the Captain riding the pony,
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