The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1902-02-13
A JAUNT IN MADEIRA.
costing on an Ox-sledge Down Paved
Roads. On the Way to Santa Ana.

liuuarN ). 100. Beautiful as II is
Fu0chal. it is by no means the best
H Madeira, but merely the gateway to
ter things. Having established
..u.-luarterS at the capital. one may
make delightful excursions to points
4.-un easy reach-a jaunt for every
... IN the wear and never 90 amiss of
Ghtful scenery. Nowhere in the
World are so many charming views
r,V0ed into so narrow a compass as
a thls small island whose two hun
ed and forty square miles of area are
silly set on edge. Wherever one
IS in the neighborhood of Funchal,
Path leads steeply up hill or down,
ne eceneryis continually changing.
Ir. hitherto undiscovered noun
-u lifts its bald head to the clouds:
.Ie a new cliff is disclosed, falling
.rt to the sea some thousands OF
beyond, an unsupported rayine
l~ darkly at Your feet But always
picture OF vIolet-tinted hills and
pie gorges is dominated by group
toud-capped mountains with their
lislte gradati0ns of llgit and shade
1estoons Of mist trailing from
0- to erag; and always. far below,
shining sea stretching to the hori-
~,~ctered all over the hills near
.u,sdI are the villas which the Portu-
aristoeracy call ''quintas In the
amel time all those WHO can afford
occupy their own estates retire to
-n. tor season of full enjoyment of
at proudly exclusive way of living
lch The Portuguese gentry affect. 1t
- lot excessive heat which drives them
m the city, for in Madeira, even at
-,5 eyel, the thermometer never rises
howe IS degrees. of course the cool
Of the atmosphere increases in
portion to the altitude reached. and
may regulate the temperature to
I'd himself by merely going little
Eher up or lower down. But a great
any of the best quintas are leased
cry year to wealthy foreigners who
me to pass the winter in the islands
lat the majority of them are English
ZEN may be inferred from the fact that
ullish money is as current here as the
atye coin and decidedly more plenti-
OF course the native money is
ltuguese. the same as in Brazil. with
- copper pieces heavy as paper
gifts, but Of inGnitesimal value
Wlng the financial depression caused
the failure of the grape crop a few
.a,> ago, the Madeirans subsisted al
'st entirely upon the gains from tenn
nIry visitors, without which many
.Ud have been reduced to absolute
lmy. So it has come about that
II many WeIl-to-do people rent their
eestrial halls during the season,
4 pIacards announcing the fact are
ommon Oh Nouse-tronts as in Wash
-tou u. C.. but with this great differ
-renely nigh. these are absurdly low.
.sl may get a furnished house here
a year for less money than would
demanded for month in our Va
4a Capital. Everything else is cor
tndIngly cheap provisions. ser
.t'S ilre, etc; and merely as a mat
ut economy | wonder why more
orleans do not spend their winters
'.Is paradise to which the glorious
1aate OF California" cannot hold
dDe.
We have been making a visit to
tt Ana. on the north side of the
md. The road thereto by the eel
-ated Torrinhas gorge, is consider
Il good Que i'll Madeira, but any
fAtre else most of it would be thought
p3ssable. As to the method of transit.
decided III favor of the familiar
uEey, but wisely took in tow a couple
Lammocks and their bearers for use
ase Of emergency. Most travellers
AXE all their island jaunts in ham
AckS, for the novelty of the thing;
q While that vehicle-if one may ap-
the word-borne on the shoulders
men, is very well for short excur-
uh, 1T is the most back aching contri-
'nce for an all-day's trip, unless you
IS nat on your back and miss the mag
ilcent views. Then there is the CAIRO,
bullock sledge, which the natives
--uerally use 1t is the oldest looking
arrlage imaginable, like two clumsy
-ighS, made of basket-work and
'.ned at their dasher ends. There is a
tile black wooden door on either side.
md on the door the number of the car
9 IS painted i'll great yellow figures.
his awkward body is mounted on low
"1Oden runners, with rounded ends. big
aud rudely fashioned The cushions
tr covered with turkey-red cotton, and
A non frame work supports the top,
INCH is of black enamelIed cloth
ortalnS of white cotton drape the
ont, back and sides of the basket, and
Ay be tied together with tapes, or
'.t to flap in -the breeze, as the occu-
|.lIt desires. Sometimes the ton is dis