The herald., 1922-04-13

,Prepsred by the National Geographic So
ciety, Washington, ID. c.
Madeira, the island to which the
former emperor of Austria
and his wife have been banished, might
be said to lie in the Atlantic Ocean
and the Middle Ages. And most inter-
esting to Americans, perhaps, 1t was
once the home of Christopher Colum-
bus.
Once one has penetrated into the
country back OF Funchal, the only
town Of the island that may be called
a city, the simplest and most primitive
Of civilized conditions are found. Flows
are merely the wooden beams tipped
with a point Of iron that Roman peas
ants used; draft animals are oxen !;
grain is threshed by being trOdden out
on old-fashioned threshing floors; and
even In Funchal the most common
means Of conveyance is the sledge
dragged over cobbSd streets by slow
moving oxen.
But with all its primitiveness Ma
deira is a land of great beauty and
charm. II Is considered by many, In
deed, the modern version Of the
Islands Of the Blessed" 1t is situated
I'm the latitude Of Charleston, 5. c.,
and the Bermudas, and is about as far
southwest Of the Strait of Gibraltar as
the Bermudas are southeast of New
York Madeira. though, Is not a low
.1x,ipg islat huf uas opca a hupa VOL
canic peak, and has rugged mountain
scenery comparable to that of the vol
canic islands of the Pacific. In its rich
volcanic soil on the slopes Of its peaks,
and I'm the hot-house-like air Of some
of its deep valleys, almost every known
type Of plant can be grown. The island
has become a great botanical garden
1t Is only necessary to climb its slopes
to pass from the growth Of the semi
tropics to that Of the temperate zone
Bananas and apples. tree-ferns ant
oaks, oranges and pears flourish with
in a stones throw of one another
Above three thousand feet where mos
Of the cultivation stops the crests Of
the hills and mountains are covered
with laurel and pine. Once Madeirs
supported dense forests Of large trees
fact which won 1t its name, meaning
wood But the early settlers firet
the forests to clear the land and thu
later growth was for the most par
Of smaller trees and shrubs.
Scenery 10 Magnificent.
The scenery Of Madeira is on a mag
nificent scale out Of proportion to tn,
thirty-mile island.
One ridge rises to more than 600
feet, and one valley especially, Curra
das Frelras, has the luxuriance ant
charm more to be expected Of the trop
ical islands OF the East. Steep rugged
cliffs mark the greater part Of tn,
coast; and on the low ground about
the occasional bays and widened can
yons that open to the sea huddle tin!
towns.
Possibly MADEIRA and the few small
islands which make up the group wer
known to the Phoenicians and later [,
thc %hONhc anu thC NNhOtStt pul III
records OF their existence-unles
vague legends be considered-had beel
psf by the beginning of the Fifteenth
entury. In 141S or 1419 storms drov
Portuguese mariners to the island
and they were therefore the first o
the numerous small Atlantic islands {
be discovered or rediscovered. Strange
ly enough II was little Porto SantC
not the relatively large Madeira, tina
was found. A colony was founded o.
the islet and remained many month
before Madeira, only % miles away
was discovered.
Unlike the nearby Canary Island
where the native Guanches had al
tanned a considerable civilization. tn
Madeiras apparently had never bee
inhabited before their discovery il
1910. The islands were. in fact, give
over almost solely to vegetation. n
mammals or quadrupeds were foun,
except a few bats and a species Of ra,
The only other living creatures tina