Note (return) — Chapter XIV · VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD, BY CAPTAIN GEORGE ANSON, IN THE YEARS 1740-1744.1

The island of Madeira, where we now arrived, is famous through all our American settlements for its excellent wines, which seem designed by Providence for the refreshment of the inhabitants of the torrid zone. It is situated in a fine climate, in lat. 32° 27' N. and long. from London 18° 30' to 19° 30' W. by our different reckonings, though laid down in the charts in 47°.1 The whole island is composed of one continued hill of considerable height, extending from east to west; the declivity of which, on the south side, is cultivated and interspersed with vineyards. In the middle of this slope the merchants have their country seats, which contribute to form a very agreeable prospect. There is but one considerable town, named Fonchiale, on the south part of the island, situated at the bottom of a large bay. Towards the sea it is defended by a high wall with a battery of cannon, besides a castle on the Loo, which is a rock standing in the water at a small distance from the shore. Tonchiale is the only place of trade, and indeed the only place where it is possible for a boat to land; and even there the beach is so covered with great stones, and so violent a surf beats continually upon it, that the commodore did not care to venture the long-boats of our ships in fetching off water, and therefore ordered the captains to employ Portuguese boats on that service.