History of the World/History of the World (Bureau Development, Inc.)(1992).BIN/dp/0031/00312.txt

Text File | 1992-10-11 | 16KB | 269 lines

$Unique_ID{how00312}
$Pretitle{}
$Title{Australia And The Islands Of The Sea
Chapter XXV.  The Canary And Madeira Islands.}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Larkin, Dunton}
$Affiliation{}
$Subject{island
miles
hundred
islands
thousand
madeira
feet
mountain
side
teneriffe}
$Date{}
$Log{}
Title:       Australia And The Islands Of The Sea
Author:      Larkin, Dunton

Chapter XXV.  The Canary And Madeira Islands.

     About sixty miles from the west coast of Northern Africa is a group of
seven islands and several islets, known as the Canary Islands.  They have an
area of about three thousand square miles.  The capital is Santa Cruz,
situated on the northeast coast of Teneriffe, the largest island of the group.

     The coasts of these islands are rocky and abrupt.  Their formation is as
singular as it is interesting, consisting of a continuous series of volcanic
mountains, which rise from the coast in a circular form around a principal
crater.  The greater part of them are deeply indented, and in the form of a
cone reversed.  The surface of the ground is volcanic, presenting a succession
of mountains and plains, extinct craters and fertile valleys.  There are no
rivers, but numerous torrents.

     The tropical heat is moderated by the Atlantic breezes.  Winter is almost
unknown along the coasts.  In October, the hottest month, the thermometer
ranges from seventy-eight to eighty-seven degrees; and in January, the
coldest, from sixty to sixty-six near the sea.  The islands lie between
twenty-seven and twenty-nine degrees north latitude.

     They abound in caves, which, being cool in summer and sheltered in
winter, were used by the aborigines as the palaces of their kings and the
abodes of their rich and noble.  The interior of some of them presents large
square chambers, with stone benches running round them and niches cut in the
walls, the latter having been intended to receive jars of milk and water.

     The aborigines were in the habit of embalming their dead, and caves and
grottoes were also used as receptacles for the mummies.  One famous grotto was
found on the south side of Teneriffe.  It was entered through a very small
aperture, and the interior presented a large space, or hall, with several
compartments, in which over a thousand mummies had been deposited.  Very
recently good specimens have been discovered in a perfect state of
preservation in the island of Grand Canary.  The hair was red-brown, and the
teeth were of a beautiful whiteness.  At the beginning of this century a
cavern was discovered, whose catacombs are said to have furnished nearly all
the cabinets of Europe with specimens.  Caves are still used by the people as
dwelling places.

     The rainy season is from November to February, and the dry from April to
October.  Water is very scarce.  The camel is much used as a beast of burden
in the Canaries.  The chief productions are the cochineal insect, oil, grain,
potatoes, sugar cane, and fruits of all kinds.  The population numbers nearly
three hundred thousand people, and, though many European nations are
represented, the great majority are Spaniards, and the islands are under
Spanish rule.

     We will suppose ourselves on a tour of inspection.  Before we visit the
one point of general interest, the Peak of Teneriffe, let us stop at this farm
house, a good example of its class.  It stands on the side of a ravine, and is
built in rambling fashion.  The owner lives in a distant town, and his farm is
run by a fine, stalwart man, who dresses in the ancient costume of the
country.  After our camel has been relieved of its burden, and alms have been
distributed among the beggars who have gathered round, we are shown into a
large kitchen where supper is waiting.

     Two tables are spread, one long and narrow, the other small.  Our host
takes his seat at the head of the former, and the farm laborers, to the number
of twenty, range themselves along the sides, prepared to do ample justice to
the meal, which, though coarse in quality, is abundant in quantity.  We take
our seat at the small table with the hostess.

     An immense dish stands in the center of our table, and three others like
it stand at intervals on the other.  They are all filled with some kind of
pottage.  Each person is supplied with a wooden spoon, and, in company with
five or six others, dips his spoon into the dish nearest him. This mode of
partaking of food is certainly not the most agreeable, but it is best to
accommodate one's self to the custom of the country, and thus avoid giving
offense.

     After the meal is finished, all stand up and join with the host in a
thanksgiving.  Then the servants leave the apartment, going out in an orderly
manner, each one asking a blessing of the hostess and kissing her hand as he
passes.

     The kitchen is now lit up with pine torches stuck in the crevices of the
walls.  Dogs retire to the corners to gnaw the bones which have been given
them, and various other little animals, tamed by the kindness of the family,
come in to pick up whatever happens to fall in their way.  Our hostess is not
idle.  As soon as the supper is over her distaff is in her hands, and she
engages busily in spinning the flaxen thread.

     The peasantry in many parts of the islands are extremely ignorant, the
instances in which they are able to read and write being very rare. Neither
are they musically inclined.  A tambourine, rude pipes made of cane, and
guitars are generally the only instruments used on festive occasions.

     There are, however, many amusements peculiar to the islands.  One of
these consists of the marching of an illuminated procession by night through
the principal streets of the town.  All who take part in it are uniformly
dressed in white trowsers and shirts.  The greater number carry white paper
lanterns with lighted candles on their heads, and, attaching themselves at
equal distances to ropes, form two lines, which, marching down the street one
on each side, preserve the center free from spectators.  This center space is
occupied by those who carry immense figures made of white paper over a
framework of cane, representing grim giants as high as the housetops.  Besides
these, there are large figures of various other kinds of objects, - sun, moon,
camels, donkeys, ducks, and geese, all marching at a wonderfully quick pace.
A hole in the back of each figure admits of the entrance of the bearers.

     But we must take our way toward the Peak of Teneriffe, or, more properly,
Pico de Leyde, situated on the island of Teneriffe.  Its height is 12,182
feet.  On its summit is a crater half a league across, and sloping by an easy
descent to the depth of one hundred and sixty feet. This enormous peak is seen
piercing the clouds, and surrounded by a girdle, which gives it the appearance
of a fortified city.  Towns and villages, with their fields, gardens, and
vineyards, stretch along its base and for some distance up its sides.  These
are succeeded by a woody region, composed chiefly of chestnuts and oaks, with
an undergrowth of heaths and ferns.  Still higher is a wide barren plain
covered with pumice and blocks of lava, and inhabited only by a few rabbits
and wild goats.

     In ascending the mountain, the last five hundred feet have to be
accomplished on foot, and the treacherous looseness of the soil makes the
ascent extremely difficult.  As we press forward, we notice several jets of
steam and vapor issuing from among the stones and sand, and are told by our
guide that these are "the Peak's nostrils." We also detect a slight smell of
sulphur.  After a few halts, we attain the summit.  From this point we can see
Grand Canary almost due south of us.  Farther to the east is another of the
group, looking like a dark streak on the ocean.  As to the island of Teneriffe
itself, we can see over its whole surface, and trace its boundaries by the
fringe of white sea foam all around it.

     This mountain has been seen from a ship's deck one hundred and fifteen
miles distant, and Humboldt says it is visible from a cape one hundred and
fifty-three miles away.  But supposing we take the medium of one hundred and
thirty-five miles as the distance at which the horizon can be made out from
the summit of the Peak, then we can take in the astonishing circle of nearly
eight hundred miles of ocean, - an extent not equaled by the view from any
other mountain on the face of the earth.

     Madeira is the largest island of the Madeira group, which consists of two
islands and three islets.  Madeira lies in the Atlantic Ocean, about four
hundred and forty miles off the west coast of Morocco, near the thirty-second
degree of north latitude.  It is thirty-five miles long and twelve broad.  It
consists of a mass of volcanic rocks, whose highest peak reaches an altitude
of six thousand feet.  Through the west half of the island runs a central
ridge, about five thousand feet high, on which is an extensive plain called
Paul de Serra.  From the central mass, steep ridges extend to the coast, where
they form perpendicular precipices from one thousand to two thousand feet
high.

     The road leading round the island is, in many places, exceedingly
picturesque, passing between gigantic cliffs or along the front of precipices
facing the sea.  The mountain slopes of Madeira are clothed with unusually
luxuriant verdure.  Terraces are visible on all sides, and every available
spot is turned to advantage.

     Funchal Bay, on which Funchal, the capital, is situated, has been
compared to the Bay of Naples, although smaller in size.  There is the same
crescent shape, and the same azure sea.  The Loo Rock with its fort is much
like the rock on which the Castel del Ovo is built, and there lies the hilly
town with its background of mountain peaks.

     But a closer inspection of the town is not as pleasing as the view from a
distance.  The streets are crooked, narrow, and poorly paved, and few of them
have any sidewalks.  The houses are, generally, mean and unpretentious, and
irregular in construction, with stucco fronts, painted white, red, blue,
orange, or green.  It must be acknowledged, however, that these bright colors
are quite in keeping with the sunny landscape.

     There are few shops worthy of the name, the larger number being nothing
but "poky little dens," with little or no window space.  They are generally
crowded to overflowing with a curious assortment of wares.  Many of them,
especially those belonging to cabinet-makers, shoemakers, and those of similar
craft, have no front wall, and, consequently, as one passes along the street,
there is nothing to obstruct a view of the interior, where artificers sit and
chatter over their work as they busily ply the awl or chisel.

     There are three good markets in Funchal, one for fish, another for meat,
and a third for fruit.  These markets are always crowded with animated buyers
and sellers, forming a picturesque scene, and that is the great charm of the
place.

     The public garden is one of the prettiest places in Funchal.  It is not
large, but it contains a wealth of tropical vegetation which has been brought
to absolute perfection.  Just beyond, we come to an iron bridge which spans
one of the three rivers that flow through the town.  On crossing the bridge we
enter upon the Rua Bella Vista, where the garden walls on each side of the
street are covered with a countless variety of beautiful flowers.  Some
distance up on the left is the Portuguese Cemetery, a true "God's Acre."
"Palms and tree ferns rear their feathery fronds above the tombs; trees of
many kinds find a home, and are things of beauty in it; whilst all the place
is full of the scents of myriads of flowers that are growing in such rich
profusion everywhere, and the songs of birds that are fluttering about; and on
every side are the signs of a loving care for the last resting places of the
honored dead."

     In traveling in Madeira, recourse must be had to the carro, the hammock,
or the horse.  The carro is the Funchal cab.  It is an iron-shod sledge with
awnings and curtains, and is drawn by a team of oxen.  It seats four persons.
A boy walks at the head of the oxen to direct them in the way, and this he
accomplishes by tugging at a piece of stout cord fastened to their horns.  The
driver proper walks alongside armed with a goad, with which he prods the poor
beasts whenever he wishes to accelerate their pace.  Each prod is accompanied
with a yell.  The speed with which this peculiar vehicle moves is really
astonishing, amounting to fully one and a half miles per hour.  The sledge, or
carro, is used in place of wheeled vehicles, as the latter would be utterly
useless on account of the steepness of the roads.  The only two-wheeled
vehicles kept in the town are regarded as great curiosities, and are displayed
only on notable occasions.

     The carrinho is a modification of the carro, and is used for descending
the steep mountain roads.  No power of propulsion is needed for this vehicle,
but, on the contrary, force is required to check its downward career.  So
ropes are attached to the four corners, and a stalwart Madeiran grasps hold of
each rope, prepared to hold back instead of to pull.  In this conveyance one
or two travelers can safely and comfortably descend the steepest slopes.  It
is a sort of controlled toboggan.

     The hammock, or rede, is a combination of stout cord and canvas, covered
with gayly colored cloths and fitted with a kind of hood to protect the
traveler from the rays of the sun.  It accommodates one person.  A loop at the
head of the hammock, and one at the foot, admits of its being suspended from a
pole which is carried on the shoulders of bearers.  These men are strong, wiry
fellows, capable of traveling twenty or thirty miles a day over the worst sort
of roads and under the intense heat of a tropical sun.  A ride in a hammock
must be indulged in to be properly appreciated.  It is one of the most
delightful ways of traveling.

     The huts of the peasantry contain only one poor room, usually with no
window, and no flooring except the bare ground.  Oxen tread out the corn on
the threshing floors just as they did in olden times.  The implements of
agriculture are few and rude.  Parents and children are alike dirty, and the
latter are innocent of all clothing except such articles as are absolutely
necessary.  In one thing alone they excel, and that is politeness.  They run
to the roadside to look at a stranger, but they invariably remove their hats
and salute him as he passes.  Should he speak to one of them, the villager
remains with his head uncovered as long as the conversation lasts.  If a
villager desires to speak with a stranger, he remains hat in hand, and calmly
awaits the request to make his business known.

     The products of Madeira are those of both the tropic and temperate
climes.  In the lower portions of the island, groves of orange and lemon are
mingled with the vineyards; higher up bananas, figs, pomegranates, and similar
fruits thrive and grow.  And still higher, apples, peaches, pears, currants,
and other fruits of the temperate zone are found; some wheat, rye, barley, and
Indian corn are raised, but not sufficient for home consumption.  Coffee and
arrowroot of excellent quality are also grown. The richest vine district, and
the part where the famous Malmsey grape grows, is the valley of the Cama de
Lobos on the south side of the island. In good years the quantity of wine
produced is twenty-five thousand pipes. In recent years it has been reduced to
fifteen thousand pipes, and, in 1852, a disease having destroyed the vines,
the quantity was reduced to four hundred pipes.  The island belongs to
Portugal.