Funchal

“ CHAPTER XVIII CATHEWE ADVISES AND THE ADMIRAL DISCLOSES One day they dropped anchor in the sapphire bay of Funchal, in the summer calm, hot and glaring; Funchal, with its dense tropical growth, its cloud-wreathed mountains, its amethystine sisters in the faded southeast. And for two days, while Captain Flanagan recoaled, they played like children, jolting round in the low bullock-carts, climbing the mountains or bumping down the corduroy road. It was the strangest treasure hunt that ever left a home port. ”

“ The charms of beautiful walks, and a most enchanting neighbourhood, enhance the pleasantness of the climate of Funchal so much resorted to by invalids. In the interior of the town, not far from the sea-shore, splendid avenues of magnificent planes, large-flowered magnolias, and massive oaks, form delightful promenades, and afford repose and shade on numerous seats under the dense foliage of their wide-spreading branches. ”

“ For half an hour we skirted along the coast, seeing no other signs of human habitation than an occasional hut among the boulders on the cliffs, until, rounding a point, we came suddenly upon the beautiful village of Funchal, which is built on the beach of a romantic bay, with the verdant hills rising in grassy terraces in every direction. ”

“ Seated on a gently-ambling steed, one may reach most pleasantly the summits of those lofty mountains, which rise close to Funchal, where a balmy fragrance perfumes the air, and the eye roams with delight in all directions over scenery of the most striking description. ”

“ Funchal has been a thousand times described, and is well worthy of it. Lying as it does in a long curve with the whole town visible from the sea, as the houses grow fewer and fewer upon the slopes of the lofty mountain background, it is curiously theatrical and scenic in effect. ”

“ Funchal was a little Paradise on the waters, such flowers and fruits, he wished he could send some of its wines to the Marquis. The stars were magnificent, and the southern constellations daily growing more splendid, and more brilliant than dwellers in the northern zone could imagine. He ended by tenderest love to his Florence and the Countess, and best remembrances to the Earl, saying he hoped to bring home the sword he had given him hacked like a saw in many a stiff encounter. ”

“ Immediately after passing Brazen Head, the Bay of Funchal opened before us, and a more beautiful sight cannot well be conceived, the hills towering to a considerable altitude, dotted a long way up with pretty-looking villas and well cultivated gardens, until, reaching the town, these become merged in its compact mass. Funchal, which contains a population of some 20,000 inhabitants, bears the usual Portuguese characteristics of white or fancifully-coloured houses, many being lofty, with look-outs to the sea, forts, churches, &c. ”

“ Our ship rides gently at her anchor. The Loo rock rises fifty feet perpendicular from the water, at so short a distance, that we can hear the drum beat tattoo in the small, inaccessible castle, on its summit. This rock is the outpost of the city of Funchal. The city stretches along the narrow strip of level ground, near the shore, with vine-clad hills rising steeply behind. On the slopes of these eminences are many large houses, surrounded with splendid gardens, and occupied by wealthy inhabitants, chiefly Englishmen, who have retired upon their fortunes, or are still engaged in business. ”

“ The town of Funchal is placed at the foot of a mountain, which projects from the great central ridge; and the houses being mostly white, they form a strong, but agreeable contrast with the back land. At different elevations up the side of the mountain, are scattered the country houses of the richer inhabitants, placed amongst groups of trees and surrounded with vines. ”

“ Funchal is the emporium of the island; it contains about twenty thousand inhabitants, (the population of the whole island is one hundred thousand souls,) and is the residence of a governor, bishop, corrigidor, juiz da fora and other public functionaries. It is a very irregular built town; the streets are generally narrow and crooked, having no foot paths, and are badly paved ”

“ We saw no suggestion of modern architecture or European innovation—no blot anywhere, except a single motor-car—the only one, I believe, in Funchal. There is but one fly in the ointment of Madeira comfort—the beggars. They begin to beg before they can walk, and they call, "Penny! Penny!" before they can lisp the sacred name of "Mamma." However, one good thing has come of our experience with them. They have prepared us for beggars elsewhere. We are hardened, now—at least, we think we are. The savor of pity has gone out of us. ”

“ Nothing could be lovelier than the weather as we crossed the deluging Martinianez Fiumara; struck the coast-road westward, and then, bending to the south-west, made for the 'Gate of Taoro,' a gap in the Cañáda-wall. From the higher level truly charming was the aspect of Orotava: it was Funchal many times improved. Beyond the terraced foreground of rich deep yellow clay, growing potatoes, wheat, and the favourite chochos (lupines) , with apple and chestnut trees, the latter of two kinds, and the lower fields marked out by huge agaves, lay the Happy Valley. ”

“ Here one looks down upon the numerous quintas and cottages of the suburbs embosomed in gardens and vineyards, the orange groves and clumps of chestnut trees, the snow-white houses of Funchal with its churches and public buildings, the citadel frowning over the town, the calm waters of the bay with the vessels at anchor gently heaving to and fro on the long westerly swell, the Ilheo rock and batteries, the bold headlands, and the dim outline of the distant Desertas. Some of the streets are pleasantly shaded by rows of plane-trees (Platanus occidentalis) . ”

“ Gradually ascending to the higher altitude, those who can tear their eyes away from the beautiful view of the Bay of Funchal and the curiously shaped hills above the villages of Santo Antonio and Santo Amaro will notice that by the roadside, in the moisture exuding from between the rocks, the innumerable ferns and the common foxglove, which at a lower altitude were so abundant, will gradually vanish. ”

“ Beyond the Squire's is the hotel, approached by a shady avenue: it is the most comfortable in the island after the four of Funchal.
[11]
Santa Cruz has a regular spring-season; and the few residents of the capital frequent it to enjoy the sea-breeze, which to-day (April 23) blows a trifle too fresh.
We then pass the Ponta da Queimada, whose layers of basalt are deeply caverned, and we open the Bay of Machico. The site, a broad, green and riant valley, with a high background, is softer and gayer than that of Funchal. ”

“ I never saw the true criminal face, and many of the knick-knacks bought in Madeira are the work of these starving wretches. The Funchal Club gives periodically a subscription ball, 'to ameliorate, if possible, the condition of the prisoners at the Funchal jail'—asking strangers, in fact, to do the work of Government. The Praça da Rainha, a dwarf walk facing the huge yellow Government House, alias Palacio de São Lourenço, has been grown with mulberries intended for sericulture. ”

“ Mild sunshine, gentle ocean breezes, and protection from harsh winds by mountains, give to Funchal throughout the whole year the temperature of England in the month of May.
"'The island is very mountainous, gashed with many deep gorges which extend in from the sea. The streets in the city are paved, but the roads in the country are impassable for wagons. Merchandise is carried on pack mules or in ox-drags. Horses are rarely seen and carriages are few. Quaint vehicles are used in their stead for the conveyance of passengers.'
"How odd these vehicles are we shall find out when we land. ”

“ The following morning we returned to Funchal, accompanied by a troop of ragged and diseased natives, pertinaciously appealing to our charity. Plenteous alms were given them, for where Nature is so prodigal of her gifts, the human mind becomes more sensitive and liberal. At noon, we again reached the beautiful terrace of Nossa Senhora de Monte, and here the excursion was wound up by a diversion of quite a peculiar character ”

“ FROM MADEIRA--TOWARDS THE CAPE
On quitting Funchal Road, we were taken aback, at two o'clock, by the east-north-east wind, about two miles off Brazen Head. It blew so strong as to make it necessary to clew down all the sails; and until next morning [SATURDAY AUGUST 8] , nothing above close-reefed top sails could be carried with safety. At noon, the log gave 162 miles from Funchal; but the cloudy weather did not admit of taking observations.
SUNDAY 9 AUGUST 1801
At daybreak of the 9th the island Palma was in sight, bearing S. 72° E. ten or twelve leagues. ”

“ But, luckily, we were blessed with favouring winds and made a good passage, picking up the North-East Trades shortly after we said “good-bye” to Funchal, with its pretty white villas nestling on the hillside amid a background of greenery ”

“ Nearly all the cottages in the island are inhabited by a simple people, many of whom have never left their native villages, even to look at the magnificent view from the top of the surrounding mountains, or to gaze on the sea, by which they are encompassed.
We dropped our anchor in the bay of Funchal at about twelve o'clock, and before breakfast was over found ourselves surrounded by a perfect flotilla of boats, though none of them dared approach very near until the health-officer had come alongside and pronounced us free from infection. ”

“ Although meteorological observations have been taken almost exclusively in the specially favoured district of Funchal, situated on the south coast and well sheltered from the north, the whole archipelago may be said to enjoy a remarkably, equable climate. The mean temperature of Funchal is naturally somewhat higher than that of Ponta-Delgada and Fayal in the Azores, which lie five degrees farther north, but the annual extremes are considerably less, the heat being greater in winter and less sultry in summer. ”

“ It is still the fashion, as at Lisbon, to look somewhat boudeuse when abroad, by way of hint that man must not expect too much; yet these cross faces at home or with intimates are those of bonnes enfants. Lastly, the dark complexions and the irregular features do not contrast well with the charming faces and figures of Tenerife, who mingle the beauty of Guanchedom with that of Spain and Ireland.
The list of public amusements at Funchal is not extensive. Years ago the theatre was converted into a grain-store, and now it is a wine-store. ”

“ This smattering of Portuguese I found more useful still in Madeira, or at Funchal—its capital—for I stayed in native hotels. It is the only possible way of learning anything about the people in a short visit. Moreover, the English hotels are full of invalids. It is curious to note the present prevalence of consumption among the natives of Funchal. It is a good enough proof on the first face of it that consumption is catching. There is a large hospital here for Portuguese patients, though the disease was unknown before the English made a health resort of it. ”

“ The hills are covered with vineyards, bordered with banian trees: in short every thing is combined to render Madeira one of the most beautiful islands of Africa. Its soil is only a vegetable sand, mixed with an ash, which gives it astonishing fertility; it shews every where nothing but the remains of a volcanised earth, the colour of which is that of the element, by which it was long consumed. Funchal, the capital town of the islands is situated in long. ”

“ But there is nothing to do in Funchal save eat and swim or ride. The climate is enervating, and when the east wind blows from the African coast it is impossible to move save in the most spiritless and languid way. It may make an invalid comparatively strong, but I am sure it might reduce a strong man to a [Pg 30] state of confirmed laziness little removed from actual illness. I was glad one day to get horses, in company with an acquaintance, and ride over the mountains to Fayal, on the north side of the island. ”

“ Madeira also possesses several charming home-industries, producing embroidery, lace, silk shawls, basket-work, inlaid laurel-wood, and feather-flowers. Funchal, the only considerable harbour in the island, is an important coaling and provisioning station for steamers bound for S. Africa and for America. The heavy customs-dues, which render living dear, the over-population of the island, and the poverty of the peasantry cause a considerable emigration, chiefly to S. America. ”

“ At Funchal the cable lands north of Fort São Thiago Minor, where ships are requested not to anchor. It is used chiefly for signalling arrivals from north and south; and there is talk of extending it to the Porto da Cruz, a bay on the north-eastern side. It would be of great advantage to Madeira if steamers could here land their mails when prevented from touching at Funchal by the south winds, which often last a week. ”

“ English money seems to be quite the medium of currency at Funchal, and English is spoken by the enterprising islanders while you wait (or until your last shilling is spent) . Even a tea-garden sort of place is dignified by the name of "Earl's Court," to attract and solace the homesick Londoner. ”

“ A more desirable spot for the asthmatic or consumptive, uniting such numerous advantages cannot be found; the town of Funchal being situated in a valley open only to the south, while it is completely defended by the mountains rising behind, from those northern blasts, which in other situations too often prove fatal in cases of decline ”