or hermitage dedicated to Jesus the Saviour, in which he deposited her remains, and engraved both their names, and the cause of their arrival, on a rude monument which he erected to her memory.  He afterwards constructed a boat or canoe, which he hollowed out from the trunk of a large tree, in which he, and those of his companions who had been left on shore along with him, passed over to the opposite coast of Africa, without the aid of oars, sails, or rudder.  He was made prisoner by the Moors, who presented him to their king, by whom he was sent to the king of Castile.

Madeira, in the Portuguese language, or Madera in Spanish, signifies wood; and this island derived its name from the immense quantity of thick and tall trees with which it was covered when first discovered.  One of the two capitanias, or provinces, into which this island is divided, is named Machico, as is likewise the principal town of that district, supposed to have originated from the traditionary story of the misfortunes of Macham; the other capitania, with its principal town, the capital of the island, is named Funchal, from Funcho, the Portuguese term for Fennel, which abounds on the adjoining rocks.

[1] Astley, I. 11. and 586.  Clarke, Progress of Maritime Discovery, I. 167. 
    Although in our opinion a mere romance, we have inserted this story,
    because already admitted into other general collections.—­E.

[2] This work was printed in 1560, and was translated by Hakluyt:  There is
    an abstract of it in Purchas his Pilgrims, II. 1671, and it will be
    found at the commencement of the second part of this Collection.—­E.

[3] In small duodecimo and large print, under the title of Relation
    Historique de la Decouverte de l’Isle de Madere:  containing 185 pages,
    besides twelve pages of preface.—­Clarke.

[4] Clarke, Progress of Maritime Discovery, I. 167.

[5] In a note, Mr Clarke says the name of this lady has been supposed by
    some writers to have been Dorset, corrupted by a foreign orthography
    into D’Orset, and thence into D’Arfet.  It may have been D’ Arcy.—­E.

* * * * *

CHAP.  XXI.

Account of the Discovery and Conquest of the Canary Islands[1].

The island of Nivaria, and others mentioned by Pliny, as known to Juba king of Mauritania, were most probably Teneriffe and the other Canary Islands; for Pliny notices that the summit of Nivaria was generally covered with snow, which is frequently the case with the peak of Teneriffe, and from this circumstance the name of Nivaria is obviously derived.  They appear likewise to have been known in the middle ages to the Arabs of Morocco; as the Nubian geographer mentions two islands, under the names of Mastahan and Lacos, as among the six fortunate islands described by Ptolemy;