A VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD.
25
1772.
August.
All the common domestic animals of Europe are likewise found at Madeira; and their mutton and beef, though small, is very well tasted. Their horses are small, but sure-footed; and with great agility climb the difficult paths, which are the only means of communication in the country. They have no wheel-carriages of any kind; but in the town they use a sort of drays or sledges, formed of two pieces of plank joined by cross pieces, which make an acute angle before; these are drawn by oxen, and are used to transport casks of wine, and other heavy goods, to and from the warehouses.
The animals of the feathered tribe, which live wild here, are more numerous than the wild quadrupeds; there being only the common grey rabbet here, as a representative of the last-mentioned class. We observed the sparrow-hawk, (falco nisus); several crows, (corvus corone); magpies, (corvus pica); sky and wood-larks, (alauda arvensis, & arborea); starlings, (sturnus vulgaris); yellow hammers, (emberiza citrinella); common and mountain sparrows, (fringilla domestica & montana), yellow wagtails and robin red-breasts, (motacilla flava & rubecula); and wild pigeons, of which we could not determine the species. We likewise saw the house-swallow and swift, (hirundo rustica & apus); and some gentlemen of the British factory assured us they had also seen the martin, (h. urbica). This last genus of birds lives here all the winter, and only disappears for a few
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