MADEIRA, ma-dere (Port. ni-da'e-rii), a group of Atlantic islands belonging to Portugal, opposite to and about 360 wiles dis tant from Morocco, on .the west coast of Africa and about 535 miles southwest of Lisbon. Madeira, the principal island, and the islets of Porto Santo, Dezerta Grande and Bugio, com prise the group with an area of 314 square miles, and a population of about 169,783. The main island (area, 300 square miles) consists of a collection of mountains of volcanic origin, the most elevated of which is upward of 6,000 feet high. Through the west half of the island runs a central ridge about 5,000 feet high, on which is an extensive plain called Paul de Serra. The east portion of the island, though elevated, is less so than the west. From the central mass steep ridges extend to the coast, where they form perpendicular precipices of from 1,000 to 2,000 feet high. These cliffs are indented by a few small bays, where a richly cultivated valley approaches the water between abrupt precipices or surrounded by an amphi theatre of rugged hills. These narrow bays are the sites of the villages of Madeira. The most striking peculiarity in the mountain scenery of the island is the jagged outline of the ridges and the deep precipitous gorges which cut through the highest mountains almost to their very base. The road round the island is in many places exceedingly picturesque, being led often between lofty cliffs or along the front of precipices overhanging the sea. The Madieras were known to the Romans under the name of Purpurarke Insulce. They were rediscovered by
the Portuguese in 1420, and the name Madeira was given to the principal island from the mag nificent forests of building timber (in Portu guese niadeira) which then covered it. It was settled by the Portuguese in 1431. From 1580 to 1640 the islands, with Portugal itself, were under Spanish rule, and have twice (1801, 1807— 14) been under the British flag. Funchal, the capital (pop. 24,687), is an episcopal see. The inhabitants are devout Roman 'Catholics. The mean annual temperature of Madeira is 65° and the climate, from its constant and temperate warmth, is well known for its favorable effects on those suffering from pulmonary and other complaints, which renders the island a favorite resort of invalids from Great Britain and else where. Large and well-appointed hotels exist at Funchal. The islands are connected with Great Britain, France and Belgium, and with the United States, by steamship lines. The staple product of Madeira is wine, the quantity of which in good years prior to the appearance of the One disease in 1852 amounted to 2,750, 000 gallons. The annual export is now about 700,000 gallons. Sugar-cane, and the cactus for the rearing of cochineal, are cultivated, fruit and vegetables are grown, fisheries are actively engaged in, linen, woolens, leather, straw hats, baskets, soap, sugar, spirits, butter, etc., are manufactured. The chief import is coal, the most important of the others being wheat, rice, Indian corn and dry goods.