The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1902-02-13

NOIu1Ilt- ttUl1GSS LII. n. v. Ouls
falo, n. Y.
steer it safely around street-corners;
and he has his hands full to do it. Now
he thrusts his goad under the runner:
now braces his shoulder against the
body of the caro-; and anon he runs
ahead and throws down under the run
ners a great bag Of grease, to make the
passage easier
A distinctive feature of Madeira are
these sledge-drivers, striding through
the streets and hurting good-natured
yells at their teams. Naturally they
are without coats, but the surprising
thing about their costume is that they
always wear disfguring vests above
their clean white shirts. Needless to
say, the ''shirt-waist-man'' has not yet
reached Made. ra-unless he comes oc-
casionally among American tourists.
As there are various kinds of car
riages between barouche and an open
buggy, SO there are sledgeS and sledges.
One variety, which holds two people. is
like a caro- cut in halves-a wicker
body on low runners, like the rockers
of chair, which project a little at
both ends and are rounded at the points
to prevent accidents. Two men guide
each sled by stout ropes extending
from the point OF each runner to the
hand OF the guide on either side. If
one Of those ropes should break on a
swift descent, with precipice perilous-
ly near, the coaster would probably az
rive at Glory 10y the shortest of routes
Mother Goose's melody, Sc dear to
childish hearts, about three children
Sliding on ice. all on a summers day" is
quite outdone i'll Madeira, where gen
tlemen coast down the mountain-sldes
every day, from their villas in the high
lands to their places of business III the
city-making two or three miles in from
five to ten minutes. Tobogganing i'll
Montreal is not to be compared to it,
AS we rode out of town on our way to
SAINT Ana i'll the warm, dry air which
gives one an unaccustomed feeling of
bouyancy and exhileration, we were
followed up the steep street by the
usual concourse of begging gamin. In
lazy Madeira even the beggars do not
exert themselves. They are never
importunate, like their kind in Spanish
cities, nor lay hold of your garments, as
i'll Africa, but are more like an hilarious
escort than anything else. To get rid
of the shouting company, whose clamor
arouses innumerable dogs to deafening
chorus of barks and yelps, you toss a
handful of yeis among them, (the
smallest Portuguese coin, of which a
pocketful is worth less than an Ameri-
can dime), and leave them scrambling,
The way to SAINT Ana leads through
a region of many quintas. Coffee trees
fill the spaces between the houses, and
every door-yard is fragrant with
camella-japonica and hedged with
fuscias, heliotrope and geranium. Plane
trees and gigantic willows droop over
head, and the splendid coral tree
mingles with scarlet hibiscus and the
snowy bells of the tulip tree. Present
ly the far-famed trellises begin, arched
from wall to wall above the roadway,
making leafy bower under which you
ride for many miles. Some of the
trellises are covered with great masses
of bougainville in full bloom; others
with squash vines, the enormous
! squashes upheld by straps; but most of
them support grape vines, the huge
clusters of purple and white fruit
dangling within easy reach. Some
times the tinkling of guitar is heard
overhead; and looking up you see a
dark-eyed senorita seated in little
rustic house which is elevated on stills
close behind the high wall, so that tn e
, family, screened within its vine-cover-
! ed lattice, may at all times see what is
happening on the highway; and, nine
times out Of ten, if the senorita be of
the peasant class, her small brother or
a servant will rush out of the quainta
gate and solicit few yeis from the
passer-by, with which the young wo-
man buys her modest finery.
Anon we Jared between tall hedges
of agave Americana, century plant).
whose blue-green bayonets bristle on
either side of the path; or eucalyptus
trees, trembling above banks sprawled
over by snaky cacti, known to us as
''prickly pear" Millions of honey-bees
and golden-winged insects rejoice in
the sun, but the traveller may console
himself if a bee now and then drops
down his back or goes on voyage of
exploration where angels fear to tread.
by the knowledge that tho haao aro