| Show i 9 c a It I II II I I L t s r y t r t r t tf f k kt b r t py ki kis s J Jt J t r rt t y 3 v i tr Madeira Girls Girl In Gala Dress Dreu Prepared by the National Geographic So 80 D. D C- C C. C Madeira the Island to which the former fonner emperor of ot Hungary Austria-Hungary nn and his wife JUl b been n banished might t be e said to lie In the Atlantic Ocean Ocean- und and the Middle Ages And most Interesting Inter esting t to Americans perhaps It was once the home of ot Christopher Colum bus Once one has hils penetrated Into the country back of ot Funchal the tha only town of ot the Island that may be called a city the simplest t and most primitive of ot civilized conditions are found Plows Plow are re merely the wooden beams ms tI tipped with a point of ot iron that Roman peasants peasants peasants peas peas- ants u ue used d draft animals are oxen grain aln is threshed by being trodden out outon outon outon on old fashioned threshing floors and even en In Funchal the most meet common g means o of conveyance Is Js the sledge dragged over oyer cobbled bled streets by slow slow- moving oxen But with all aU Its primitiveness Madeira Ma Mn- delra deira Is a land land of ot great beauty bERuty and charm It Is 18 considered by many Indeed indeed in In- deed the modern modem version erston of or the Islands of ot th the Blessed Jt It Is situated In Ln the latitude of or Charleston S. S CL C. and the Bermudas Bermuda and 1 Is about as liS far southwest of the Strait of or OI Gibraltar as the Bermudas Bermudas' are southeast of ot New York Tork Madeira though is not a low- low lying Ising islet leJet but was once a R hu huge e volcanic volcanic vol vol- canic peak and has rugged mountain seener scenery comparable to that of ot the volcanic vol canic clinic la islands of ot the Pacific In Its rich volcanic soil soH on the slopes slope of or Its peaks and in the hot like hothouse air of ot some t of Its deep valleys almost every known type of ot III plant ant can enn be grown The island has hns become a great e eat botanical garden It is only n necessary ry to climb its slopes to pass s f froth from the growth of ot the s semi semi- tropics to that of the temperate zone Bananas and aDd apples tree ferns and oaks oranges anti and pears flourish within with with- in a stones stone's throw of one another Above three thousand feet teet where here most of the cultivation atlon stops the crests of the hills hilts and mountains are covered with laurel and pine Once Madeira supported d dense forests of ot large trees a fact which won on It Its name meaning wood But the early settlers fired the forests to clear dear the land and nOlI the later growth was f for the most part of smaller tree trees and shrubs Scenery n ry l I Is Magnificent The 6 scenery enery of ot Madeira Is on a ft magnificent magnificent mag mag- scale out of ot proportion to the thirty-mile thirty Island an d. d One rl rises to more than feet teet and o Ol one e valley especially Curral das des Freiras has bas the luxuriance and charm more to b be expected of ot the tropical tropIcal trop trop- ical Ica Islands of the East ERst Steep rugged cliffs murk the greater p part rt of or tho the coast and on th the low ground Wd about the he occasional and widened bays canons canyons can can- ons that open to the soa sea huddle tiny towns l ty and the few mall islands M which m mate make e up the th group were known wa to the Phoenicians Idan and later to tot t the Me fra ard the t. but alt all records of T existence I. I legends be had considered considered ered had been abet Joet by fh the beginning of the Fifteenth century 7 th Pt 1418 Idle et er 1419 lUt storms drove marfo n to tit the tho islands and tb- tb they y were Wee therefore the first Om of the small mall Atlantic Islands to tobe tobe be tre discovered Onre d rediscovered dl er or t Strangely Strange Strange- I ly enough 2 it was Ras little Porto Santo not n-et the relatively large Madeira that was WitS found A A. colony was founded on the tb islet and remained many months before Madeira only ony 23 miles mUes away was WIlS discovered Unlike the n nearby rby Canary Islands where the native had hod attained attained at nt- a considerable civilization the Madeiras r apparently had never been before their discovery discover In 1419 IUD The islands were in fact given gl oVir over almost solely to vegetation No mammals or quadrupeds were found ex exa except pt a n few bats and a species p cles of ot rat The lie only ony other living creatures that existed In this Island paradise were afew a afew few tev birds Through colonization Madeira Madeira Ma Ma- deira delra and Porto Santo were noon oon peopled and today the former has a density of or population nearly three times that of ot the mother country Portugal Then began the pouring into Madeira of the floral good things of ol the earth a procedure which has made It t a wonderland won wonderland for tor botanists Of 01 primary economic Importance was th the Introduction of or sugar cane from Sicily Soon a very cry Important sugar Industry had b been n built up Grapes GrapE's were brou brought ht In from Crete and by the time of ot the American Revolution the famous fa moos Madeira wine had shouldered sugar ug r from Its Ita place of ot Importance Not a Prosperous People In spite of ot the tile wonderful climate and find sots soil of ot Madeira lra its inhabitants inhabitant are ore not very prosperous This fact is probably chiefly due to the marked density of ot the pop population latIon to the lack of an adequate quate educational system and ond to the brake applied to initiative by some of Qt the governmental and fiscal fis fis- cal enl regulations Because of the pressure pressure pres- pres sure of ot population many of the young people plo have ave emigrated during the p past st few de decades ades Illiteracy la le widespread The people of Madeira have many strains ns in n their blood Italians Jews Jewa Moors negro slaves sla and English have ull all contributed elements but the Portuguese have always been Incomparably Incomparably the tIle most Important factor und and the thc resulting men IDen and women are undeniably lurk duck swarthy sons an any and daughters of ot Portugal Members of the thc upper classes are courtesy Itself After wine production Madeiras Madeira's most Important Industry Is Its tour tour- 1st lat traffic For or more than half halt a century century century cen cen- tury the island has been the sun parlor of ot the English the white officials from the African colonies and anil numerous Europeans But nut to most of the thc tourIsts tourists tourists tour tour- Madeira Is la Fu Funchal the little city ef of population which nestles gleaming white In a big amphitheater ter on the south side of or the Island and ond which has many of ot the modern facilities ties which the outside world expects Funchal's harbor is only a 8 roadstead but It Is le never deserted for the city lies at nt an nn ocean roads cross-roads of the routes that lead lend between en the Strait of Gibraltar and the West Indies and South America and between South Africa and England And It had In war pre-war days lines that plied directly to England the Canaries Canan the Azores and Portugal The precipitous streets ts of Funchal compelled the use of ot sledges Instead of vehicles In the early days and these quaint and primitive vehicles vehicles vehicles ve- ve ve ve- are still in use The motive power pow er Is usually supplied by oxen and some of the sled sledges es are luxuriously fitted out oat with elaborate canopies A thrill con can be gotten from Funchal primitive vehicles not surpassed b by that from rom the racing automobile foi for forit it s la s customary in d descending from the hills to coast const down over th tit the cob b- b on small sleds with greased runners One of the regular excursions tons starts for tor tourists in Funchal eves though they stay In the Island but a afew few hours honra Is la a trip to an aft elevation of ot 2000 feet teet above the harbor by bT a cog railroad and an slide Ude down Walkers Walker climbing the be hills 1 about the city dt regularly arrange to have Drive livery sleds eleda meet them at nt certain aln points on on the heights that they may coast const back to the lower levels Funchal's Funchal cog railroad glees gives access to several se level Je roads which wind Ind about the faces of the hills hUls back ck of ot the city affording excellent views ot of the city and roadstead below heloW Opening Open Open- lag ing upon these and farther up near the tho terminus of ot the railroad are the sh show showplaces showplaces w places of ot tho the city In some Borne of these villa estates are to be found gardens garden of lowers flowers and shrubs and trees whose beauty Is probably Un any any- where in to the world |
