Lenha

The firewood used for burning in Funchal and in the other important settlements of the island generally comes from the maritime pine, and the logs or pieces of this tree are often sold by the hundred or by the 'talha'. Each hundred has 1400 logs, and each 'talha' has 56 logs; a hundred of 100 logs is called a small hundred by the firewood sellers. The price of firewood skyrocketed during the war, due to the consumption of it by coastal steamers and factories, and today a hundred of firewood costs six times more than in 1914, still due to the same causes and the appreciation of all the products of the land. A regular hundred of firewood that cost 12 to 13 escudos ten years ago now costs between 70 and 80 escudos. (1921) The inhabitants of some parishes usually go to the mountains to fetch firewood, causing great devastation to the trees in order to obtain the fuel they need for domestic use.