Beautiful Madeira
Improvement Era, vol. 18, no. 6, April 1915, pp. 493 to 498
Frank J. Hewlett
Beautiful Madeira
BY FRANK J. HEWLETT, FORMERLY PRESIDENT OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MISSION
After fourteen days of gentle sailing on the North Atlantic, which on this trip was to us like a sea of painted glass, with just a few ripples to remind us that we were sailing over the ocean blue, we obtained our first vision of beautiful Madeira, a Portu- guese island, 360 miles from the coast of Africa, with a land area of 313 square miles. We are nearing the land on a charming autumn morning in November. Steaming close to the coast, for several miles, we saw
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VIEW OF THE BAY AND TOWN OF FUNCHAL, MADEIRA, AS SEEN FROM THE RAILWAY.
a glorious panorama comprising almost all the varied features of the island —a rocky coast line, beetling cliffs, tall peaks, slopes clad with verdure, valleys and ravines piercing the interior, and little villages nestling slightly on the edge of the sea then Fun- ;
chal, the peer of them all. We have seen many beautiful cities in our travels, but Fun- chal, the capital of Madeira, may well be compared with Honolulu, the paradise of the Pacific, or with any of the land jewels that dot the inland seas of Japan.
494 IMPROVEMENT ERA It is difficult to describe Funchal as it appeared to us that morning, in all its pristine beauty. The Bay at Funchal is about six miles wide. It is surrounded by lofty hills, whose steep sides are tenaced like the circle of a great amphitheatre, and clad in luxuriant sub-tropical verdure in which are dotted picturesquely, white-sided and red-roofed houses. Here and there the hillside is cleft by ravines down which tiny shining rivers find their way to the sea. On one bold eminence is a castle-like structure, Fort De Pico, or peak fort; several sim- ilar points of vantage have been seized upon for hotel sites. Nearer the town, which crowds upon the foreshore, is the gover- nor's palace. All these striking features reveal themselves clearly in the morning sunlight. In the immediate foreground, on the blue waters of the bay, lie the busy, innumerable sailboats. As the s. s. Armadale Castle churned her way slowly to anchorage, we noticed many large vessels preparing to sail for Australia, South Africa, and England. Some of them were seen with coal
GENERAL VIEW OF FUNCHAL
hulks alongside, from which they were filling depleted bunkers. The island of Madeira, so richly endowed by nature with scenery of unrivaled beauty, rich cultivation, and fruits natural to both tropical and temperate regions, is about thirty nautical miles in length, the greatest breadth being nearly sixteen miles.' The islancHs traversed by a central mountain ridge, the highest peaks of which reaches 6,000 feet. The population, composed mostly of Portuguese, is about one hundred and sixty thousand. Next to the Portuguese in numbers
BEAUTIFUL MADEIRA 495
are the English, in Funchal, who are not merely visitors and ship- ping people, but residents. The English language is, therefore, understood in most of the streets and shops. So also is English money; not English sovereigns alone, which are current the world over, but shillings and pennies. Th Madeiraites absolutely refused to take our African money, sovereigns and shillings, with sturdy Oom Paul Kruger engraved on it. So it was agreed, as a last resort, to use it for
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AN OX CARRO THE CARRIAGE OF MADEIRA
the stewards as tips on shipboard and for other current expenses. It was gladly taken at par value there.
Like most tropical and semi-tropical countries, there was a sur- plus of beggars in Funchal and "Penny, please," constantly rang ;
in our ears. Even the well-clad and obviously well-fed men and women do not feel any loss of self-respect in asking for coppers, and it was common for mere babes in mothers' arms to do so. One of the singular institutions in Funchal is the town prison. It is located on one of the principal streets, facing one of the leading squares. Portuguese soldiers, dressed in brilliant uni- forms, stand sentry at its doors. As one passes down the street beside it, a strange din greets the ear. Looking up, one sees faces peering from grated openings in the thick walls ; and through the bars are thrust long poles, with small trays or cups at one end, on which the stranger is implored to put a penny or a cake. "Me six months," said one bold rascal, calling out to ns in
4% IMPROVEMENT ERA plain English. This extraordinary clamor goes on unheeded and unchecked by the authorities though, so far as we observed, it ;
seldom received any response. We went through this house of detention, and while the place was somewhat musty, having evi- dently been built at a remote period, the prisoners were not appar- ently so badly off. We learned, however, that they were not des- perate characters, but offenders of the milder type. But let us forget the shadows of Madeira, and take a glimpse of the typical scenes of this island, which we have read and talked so much about during our sixteen days at sea. .
Among them were the means of locomotion. One of the first things we observed, was the absence, with one exception, of wheeled vehicles. There are no wagons, carts, bicycles or horses. The carriage of Madeira is a carro, a basket-worked chariot, with a canopy, curtains and cushioned seats. It moves not on wheels, but on a wooden, sledge-like frame. It is not drawn by horses,
HAULING FREIGHT ON A BULLOCK SLEDGE.
but by a sleek, well-fed yoke of oxen. The drivers are often pic- turesquely garbed, and run beside the oxen, guiding them with a long pole. They not infrequently encourage or chide their oxen with strange, uncouth shouts. The oxen plod patiently over the stones, and though the carro is not a swift mode of conveyance, it is very comfortable, quaint and romantic, so much so that one
hopes that it may long survive. A few automobiles have invaded the town, and thev convey
BEAUTIFUL MAUJil KA 497
the tourists to a neighboring- village along the only macadamized road in the island. Autos are out of place, however, in the nar-. row, winding streets, where they seem entirely out of harmony with their surroundings. Tourists who have any sense of the fitness of things in Ma- deira, will rigidly boycott these modern inventions, and do their sight-seeing leisurely in the native ox-drawn chariots. Merchandise and wine (the most famous wine in the world), as well as passengers, are conveyed on bullock-sledges and in- ;
deed there is no other mode of conveyance up the steep hill paths except on mules, or on the heads of the buxom, brightly-clad Portuguese women. The women often carry very heavy burdens on their heads, and it is astonishing how carefully they balance them. The rustic sledge is peculiarly suitable to Maderia. There is delightful coasting, without the unknown quantities, ice and snow. Substitutes are pebbles, by which the typical roads and pathways are paved. These are completely covered with pebble stones, and, bv constant wear, probably for centuries, the flint-like pebbles, being set close together upon edge, form an uncommonly slippery surface. Once, therefore, a sledge has gained some degree of momentum, it glides easily along and as there is prac- ;
tically no level ground, the suitability of this sledge, and method of locomotion is ob- vious. On the downward grade it merely requires start- ing and it will run well while ;
on the up grade, the slipperi- ness of the pebbles is counter- acted, both for man and beast, by the formation of the pave- ment, which is laid in ridges or waves, instead of having a plain surface. The upper por- tion of each ridge furnishes, in fact, a slightly raised step ,>r stair. A favorite excursion visitors is to travel up the mountain, behind the town, by A SLEDGE FROM THE MOUNTAIN' the cog-wheel railroad to a height of nearly four thousand feet, and then rapidly down, to- boggan-fashion. The experience is a thrilling one. The tobog- gan does not, as may be imagined, jump from ridge to ridge, be- cause it is always borne by two of the ridges, and hence glides comparatively smoothly down the slope. But soon it gathers
498 [MPR< (VEMENT ERA
speed, and if it were uncontrolled, it would ily down the hill like an auto without brakes. There are many sharp curves, which would furnish a hard spill in such an event. But two natives, in fantastic garb, sure-footed as goats, run beside or behind the car, holding to the ropes which are fastened to the car's front, and check or guide its progress. If absolutely necessary, in an emer- gency, they have a thick piece of folded burlap, which they would
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then cast in front of the polished runners. Nevertheless, there are some points on the journey where it is not wise to reflect too much upon what would happen if one of the men should fall or a check-rope snap. Our toboggan trip was the climax to a charming excursion which impressed us with a sense of the lavish luxuriance with which nature has endowed this fortunate island. As the little cog- wheeled train climbed the steep, we had glimpses of lovely gar- dens and splendid vineyards. Roses of all colors gleamed in rich piofusion, camellias, azaleas, pinks, and many variegated flowers which lacked names, as far as we were concerned. Near the summit, the mountain was embowered with a mass of trees and foliage, from which peeped the magnificent Portuguese villas. On the lower slopes were the sugar cane, the banana, and other fruit trees, loaded with a luxuriance of luscious fruit. But time is pressing, and the Armadale Castle is sending forth blast after blast from the brass throat of its siren, the warning that we know so well — time and tide wait for no man,