Impressions of Madeira / by William Longman.

William Longman

Date:: 1875

Credit: Impressions of Madeira / by William Longman. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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can take walks, and my answer is always that in the neighbourhood of Furichal, and with but few ex- ceptions elsewhere, it is impracti- cable. There is nowhere to walk, and the walking everywhere—if you should walk—is most disagreeable. Wheeled carriages aie practically unknown; there are three pony carriages in Funchal, but they are almost useless, and it is said that their owners intend to give them up. They can be used only in some few of the streets of Funchal, and along what is termed the New Road, which is a mixture of a Rotten Row for riding and a very fair road for carriages. It extends for about three miles from the western end of Funchal towards the village of Cama de Lobos. Tlie universal mode of getting about is either to ride on horseback or in a bullock-sledge on runners, or to be carried in a hammock. There is, however, a fourth mode of descending from the mountains for three or four miles on a few roads, and this is by sledges. A car, to hold either two or three persons, is placed on wooden run- ners and descends the steep, wall- enclosed roads principally by its own weight. At starting, and where the inclination is not great, it -is dragged down by two of the wonderfully active Madeira pea- sants, who run by its side at the rate of eight or nine miles an hour, each guiding it by a leathern thong at. tached to its front on either side. It requires but little or no exer- tion to draw it along, for the road is everywhere steep, and always smoothly paved with pebbles or long stones, to which additional smoothness and even polish, be- yond that produced by mere fric- tion, is given by the constant appli- cation of grease to the runners of the biillock-cars. When, however, the road becomes very steep, the men stand on the framework of the car with one foot, while with the other they guide or check it, and the car then shoots down by its own weight with a velocity that is not a little exciting, and, after the first dash oif, extremely agreeable. The speed is often more than twenty miles an hour. It is wonderful how the angular corners are turned, the car lurching up first towards one wall and then towards the other; with what ease speed is slackened or ar- rested, and how seldom any serious accident happens. Merchants liv- ing in their quintas often make use of these sledges to go to their count- ing-houses in the morning, return- ing in the afternoon usually on horseback. To invalids, for whom a bracing air is not required, the remarkable stability of the temperature is a great recommeudation. To men in health the utter ab- sence of any occupation or amuse- ment beyond that of visiting is wearisome. To those fond of scenery or of mountain exploration there are of course those additional sources of interest; but they are greatly lessened by the almost utter want of lodging accommodation. Out of Funchal, with the exception of the neighbouring seaside village of Santa Cruz—and this possesses only one small inn—there are but two places in the island where tra- vellers can find a lodging. Tne first is Santa Anna, where there is little fear of disappointment; the other Sao Vicente, where there are only three decent bedrooms, and whither it is veiydesirable to take food. The comfort of Miles's Hotel at Funchal,and the beauty of its garden must not be omitted among the re- commendations of Madeira. It is comparatively easy to get to the island, but not so easy to leave it. There are four different lines of steamers to Madeira. The first is the Union Steamship Company, whose vessels ply between Southampton and the Cape of Good Hope, and call regularly at Madeira

Impressions of Madeira / by William Longman.

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