excerpt from the book...Passion for Travelling--Author's peculiar Situation--Motives for goingAbroad--Resources for the Blind--Embark in the Eden, Capt. Owen, forSierra Leone--Lord High Admiral at Plymouth--Cape Finisterre--Arrivalat Madeira--Town of Funchal--Wines of Madeira--Cultivation of theGrape--Table of Exports--Seizure of Gin--Fruits and Vegetables--Climate--Coffee, Tea, and Sugar Cultivation--Palanquin Travelling--Departurefrom MadeiraCHAP. II.Teneriffe--Town of Santa Cruz--Female Costume--Incident at a Ball--BadRoads--Climate--Productions--Population of the Canary Islands--Importsand Exports--Various Qualities of the Wines--Fishery--Leave SantaCruz--Crossing the Tropic of Cancer--Shaving and Ducking--GeneralRemarks--Make St. Jago--Anchor at Porto Praya--Sickly Season--Death ofthe Consul and his Wife--Consul's Sister--Governor's Garden andWatering-place--Population of the Island--Produce--The Orchilla Weed,its growth, uses, and varieties--Cause of Fever--Departure for SierraLeone