Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 3.djvu/70

 undergone but slight changes, as shown by Oswald Heer's researches on the fossil plants of Mount Sam-Jorge in the north of Madeira. At that time the tree-fern, the myrtle, and allied species were as characteristic of the island as at present. An extremely remarkable botanical phenomenon is the curious contrast presented by the larger island to Porto-Santo and the Desertas, where are found African, Asiatic, and American varieties not occurring in Madeira proper.

Here great changes have taken place, thousands of new plants having been introduced, while some of the indigenous species have probably disappeared. The clearing of the forests began with the very first arrivals, and Gonçales Zarco, to

whom the Funchal district had been assigned as a fief, fired the woods covering the site of the future capital. The conflagration spread far and wide, threatening even to devour those by whom it had been kindled. Aloys de Codamosto tells us that in order to escape from the flames the settlers had to take refuge in their boats or to cast themselves into the sea, where they remained without food for two days and nights, immersed to the shoulders in water. For years the fire continued to creep from hill to hill, and the new plants that sprang up no longer resembled those of the primeval forests. Porto-Santo also, formerly covered with large timber, and especially with the draconas used for building boats, was even more wasted than