Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 3.djvu/75

 with the whim of fashion and the vicissitudes of trade. But the strangers who pass the winter in Funchal may on an average be estimated at five hundred, mostly English, who spend about £100,000 in the country. Lying on the track of the Atlantic steamers plying along the West African seaboard, Madeira also benefits

by the constant arrival of numerous passengers, who land for a few hours or days on this fortunate island. Of late years Madeira has also become a health resort for European civilians, officials, and soldiers residing on the west coast of Africa, Senegambia, Sierra-Leone, or Liberia. They come to breathe the cool sea-breezes in the same island where men from the north bask in the warm mid-day sun.