Cape Verde Islands

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. The sea round Madeira is very deep, and the shores as a rule are steep, with the exception of occasional small beaches. The north coast has a peculiarly bold and precipitous line of cliffs with a sheer drop of nearly ft., but the loftiest cliff of all, Cape Girao, is on the south coast. Funchal Bay, at the head of which is the port of Funchal, is about 5 miles wide, but pene trates the island very little. Camara de Lobos, farther west, affords an excellent harbour for fishing boats. At the east end of the island is the promontory of San Lourenco, a narrow, irregular, rocky peninsula about a mile long; a dangerous channel, about two hundred yards wide, parts it from Fora Island. There are no considerable rivers in the island, but a large number of small streams run north and south from the principal mountain range, some Of which, like the Metade, flow through precipitous gorges of extreme beauty. They are liable to flood.