To The Gold Coast for Gold: A Personal Narrative. Vol. I — John Shaqi
To The Gold Coast for Gold: A Personal Narrative. Vol. IBurton, Richard Francis, Sir
History
To The Gold Coast for Gold: A Personal Narrative. Vol. I
Burton, Richard Francis, Sir
Ghana -- Description and travel; Gold mines and mining -- Ghana
It would hardly be fair to leave Madeira without a visit to Machico, the
scene of Machim's apocryphal death. The realists derive the name from
Algarvan Monchique. I have made it on foot, on horseback, and by boat,
but never so comfortably as when on board the steam-tug
_Falcão_. Garajáo, whose ruddy rocks of volcanic tufa, embedding
bits of lava, probably entitled it 'Brazenhead,' is worth inspecting
from the sea. Possibly the classic term 'Purple Islands' may have arisen
from the fiery red hue of the volcanic cliffs seen at the sunset
hour. Like Girão, the middle block of Tern Point is horizontally
stratified, while the western abutment slopes to the water. Eastward,
however, there has been immense degradation; half the dome has been
shaken down and washed away; while a succession of upheavals and
earthquakes has contorted the strata in the strangest manner. Seen from
Funchal, the profile of Garajáo is that of an elephant's head, the
mahaut sitting behind it in the shape of a red-brown boss, the expanded
head of a double dyke seaming the tufas of the eastern face. We
distinguish on the brow two 'dragons,' puny descendants of the
aboriginal monsters. Beyond Garajáo the shore falls flat, and the upland
soil is red as that of Devonshire. It is broken by the Ponta da
Oliveira, where there is ne'er an olive-tree, and by the grim ravine of
Porto de Caniço o Bispo, the 'bishop' being a basaltic pillar with mitre
and pontifical robes sitting in a cave of the same material. I find a
better _episkopos_ at Ponta da Atalaia, 'Sentinel Point.' Head,
profile, and shoulders are well defined; the hands rest upon the knees,
and the plaited folds of the dress are well expressed by the basaltic
columns of the central upheaval. Beyond Porto Novo do Cal, with its old
fort and its limekiln, is the chapel of São Pedro, famous for its
_romeiro_, 'pattern' or pilgrimage for St. Peter's Day. June 29 is
kept even at Funchal by water-excursions; it is homage enough to pay a
penny and to go round the ships.
We anchored and screamed abominably off Santa Cruz, the capital of its
'comarca.' The townlet lies on the left of a large ravine, whose upper
bed contains the Madre d'Agoa, or water-reservoir. The settlement,
fronted by its line of trees, the Alameda, and by its broad beach
strewed with boats, consists of white, red, and yellow houses, one-,
two-, and three-storied; of a white-steepled church and of a new
market-place. East of it, and facing south, lies the large house of 'the
Squire' (Mr. H. B. Blandy), a villa whose feet are washed by the waves;
the garden shows the lovely union, here common, of pine and palm. The
latter, however, promises much and performs little, refusing, like the
olive, to bear ripe fruit. 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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account