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MADEIRA
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See also:Emery See also: See also:Geology.—All the islands of the group are of volcanic origin. They are the summits of very lofty mountains which have their bases in an abyssal ocean. The greater See also:part of what is now visible in Madeira is of subaerial formation, consisting of basaltic and trachytic lavas, beds of See also:tuff and other ejectamenta, the result of a long and complicated See also:series of eruptions from innumerable vents. Besides this See also:building up by the emission of See also:matter from craters and clefts, a certain amount of upheaval in See also:mass has taken See also:place, for at a spot about 1200 ft. above the See also:sea in the See also:northern valley of Sao See also:Vicente, and again at about the same height in Porto Santo, there have been found fragments of See also:limestone accompanied by tuffs containing marine shells and echinoderms of the See also:Miocene See also:Tertiary See also:epoch. We have here See also:proof that during or since that epoch portions at least of these islands have been bodily uplifted more than woo ft. The fossils are sufficiently well preserved to admit of their genera, and in many instances even their See also:species, being made out. There were pauses of considerable duration whilst the island of Madeira was being increased in height. The See also:leaf See also:bed and the accompanying carbonaceous matter, frequently termed See also:lignite, although it displays no trace of structure, which See also:lie under 1200 ft. cf lavas in the valley of Sao Jorge, afford proof that there had been sufficient See also:time for the growth of a vegetation of high See also:order, many of the leaf impressions belonging to species of trees and shrubs which still exist on the island. Moreover, great alterations and dislocations had taken place in the rocks of various localities before other lavas and tuffs had been thrown upon them. There are no data for determining when volcanic See also:action began in this locality, but looking at the enormous See also:depth of the surrounding sea it is clear that a vast See also:period of time must have elapsed to allow of a great See also:mountain reaching the See also:surface and then rising several thousand feet. Again, considering the comparatively feeble agents for effecting the See also:work of denudation (neither glaciers nor thick accumulations of alpine See also:snow being found here), and then the enormous erosion that has actually taken place, the inference is inevitable that a very great See also:lapse of time was required to excavate the deep and wide ravines that everywhere intersect the island. Nor is anything known as to the period of the cessation of volcanic action. At the See also:present See also:day there are no live craters or smoking crevices, as at the Canaries and Cape Verdes, nor any hot springs, as at the See also:Azores. In one of the northern ravines of Madeira by Porto da Cruz some masses of a coarsely crystalline Essexite are exposed to view; this See also:rock is evidently the deep-seated representative of the Trachydoleritic and See also:Nepheline See also:basalt lavas. Fragments of a See also:sodalite-See also:syenite have also been found at Soca in the same neighbourhood. In the eastern part of the island several small See also:crater rings are to be seen; their rims are formed of spheroidal basalt, while within the craters themselves masses of See also:bauxite are found accompanied by evidences of fumerolic action. In the sections afforded by the ravines, which strike See also:north and See also:south from the central See also:ridge of Madeira to the sea, the See also:nucleus of the island is seen to consist of a confused mass of more or less stratified rock, upon which See also:rest beds of tuff, scoriae and See also:lava, in the shape of basalt, See also:trap and See also:trachyte, the whole traversed by dykes. These beds are thinnest near the central See also:axis; as they approach the See also:coast they become thicker and less intersected by dykes. In various parts are elevated tracts of comparatively level ground. These are supposed to have been formed by the See also:meeting of numerous streams of lava flowing from cones and points of eruption in See also:close proximity, various ejectamenta assisting at the same time to fill up inequalities. Deep down in some of the lateral ravines may be seen See also:ancient cones of eruption which have been overwhelmed by streams of melted matter issuing from the central region, and after-wards exposed to view by the same causes that excavated the ravines. These ravines may be regarded as having been formed at first by subterranean movements, both See also:gradual and violent, which dislocated the rocks and cut clefts through which streams flowed to the sea. In course of time the See also:waters, periodically swollen by melted snows and the copious rains of See also:winter, would cut deeper and deeper into the See also:heart of the mountains, and would undermine the lateral cliffs, until the valleys became as large as we now find them. Even the Curral, which from its rounded shape and its position in the centre of the island has been usually deemed the ruins of a crater, is thought to be nothing more than a valley scooped out in the way described. The rarity of crateriform cavities in Madeira is very remarkable. There exists, however, to the See also:east of See also:Funchal, on a See also:tract 2000 ft. high, the Lagoa, a small but perfect crater, 500 ft. in See also:diameter, and with a depth of 150 ft.; and there is another, which is a See also:double one, in the See also:district known as Fanal, in the north-west of Madeira, nearly 5000 ft. above the sea. The basalt, of which much of the See also:outer part of the island is composed, is of a dark See also:colour and a tough texture, with small disseminated crystals of See also:olivine and See also:augite. It is sometimes full of vesicular cavities, formed by the expansion of imprisoned gases. A rudely columnar structure is very often seen in the basalt, but there is nothing so perfect as the columns of See also:Staffa or the See also:Giant's See also:Causeway. The trachytic rocks are small in quantity compared with those of the basaltic class. The tufa is soft and friable, and generally of a yellow colour; but where it has been overflowed by a hot stream of lava it has assumed a red colour. See also:Black ashes and fragments of See also:pumice are sometimes found in the tufaceous strata.
There are no metallic ores, nor has any See also:sulphur been found; but a little See also:iron See also:pyrites and specular iron are occasionally met with. The basalt yields an excellent building-See also: The older series contains See also:corals and shells (also of the Miocene Tertiary epoch), with See also:water-worn pebbles, cemented together by carbonate of See also:lime, the whole appearing to have been a See also:coral See also:reef near an ancient See also:beach. The calcareous rock is taken in large quantities to Funchal, to be burnt into lime for building purposes.
See also:Climate.—Observations taken at Funchal See also:Observatory (8o ft. above sea-level) in the last twenty years of the 19th See also:century showed that the mean See also:annual temperature is about 65° F. The mean minimum for the coldest part of the See also:year (See also:October to May inclusive) does not fall below 55°, and the See also:average daily variation of temperature in the same period does not exceed to°. Madeira thus has a remarkably mild climate, though it liestonly toe north of the Tropic of See also:Cancer. This mildness is due to the surrounding ocean, from which the See also:atmosphere obtains a large See also:supply of watery vapour. The mean humidity of the See also:air is about 75 (saturation =100). The prevalent winds are from the north or from a few points east or west of north, but these winds are much mitigated on the south coast by the central range of mountains. The west See also:wind usually brings See also:rain. That from the east is a dry wind. A hot and dry wind, the See also:leste of the natives, occasionally blows from the east-south-east, the direction of the See also:Sahara, and causes the See also: As the thermometer has never been known to fall as See also:low as 46° at Funchal, See also:frost and snow are there wholly unknown; but snow falls on the mountains once or twice during the winter, very seldom, however, below the See also:altitude of 2000 ft. Thunderstorms are rare, and scarcely ever violent.
Madeira has long had a high reputation as a sanatory resort for persons suffering from diseases of the See also:chest. Notwithstanding the ever-increasing competition of other winter resorts, a consider-able number of invalids, especially English and See also:German, winter at Funchal.
See also:Fauna.—No species of See also:land mammal is indigenous to the Madeiras. Some of the See also:early voyagers indeed speak of See also:wild goats and See also:swine, but these animals must have escaped from confinement. The See also:rabbit, black See also:rat, See also: About seventy other species have been seen from time to time in Madeira, chiefly stragglers from the See also:African coast, many of them coming with the leste wind.
The only land reptile is a small See also:lizard (Lacerla dugesii), which is abundant and is very destructive to the See also:grape See also:crop. The logger-See also:head turtle (Caouana caretta, See also: Many of the species are variable in See also:form or colour, and some have an extra-See also:ordinary number of varieties. Of the land mollusca 91 ,species are assigned to the genus See also:Helix, 31 to the genus Pupa, and 15 to the genus Achatina (or Lovea). About 43 species are found both living and fossil in superficial deposits of calcareous See also:sand in Madeira or Porto Santo. These deposits were assigned by See also:Lyell to the Newer See also:Pliocene period. Some 12 or 13 species have not been hitherto discovered alive. More than See also:loo species of See also:Polyzoa (Bryozoa) have been collected,. among them are some highly interesting forms. The only order of See also:insects which has been thoroughly examined is that of the See also:Coleoptera. By the persevering researches of T. V. Wollaston the astonishing number of 695 species of beetles has been brought to See also:light at the Madeiras. The proportion of endemic kinds is very large, and it is remarkable that 200 of them are either wingless or their wings are so poorly See also:developed that they cannot See also:fly, while 23 of the endemic genera have all their species in this See also:condition. With regard to the See also:Lepidoptera, 11 or 12 species of butterflies have been seen, all of which belong to See also:European genera. Some of the species are geographical varieties of well-known types. Upward of loo moths have been collected, the majority of them being of a European See also:stamp, but probably a See also:fourth of the total number are peculiar to the Madeiran group. Thirty-seven species of See also:Neuroptera have been observed in Madeira, 12 of them being so far as is known peculiar.
The bristle-footed See also:worms of the coast have been studied by See also:Professor P. Langerhans, who has met with about 200 species, of which a large number were new to See also:science. There are no See also:modern coral reefs, but several species of stony and flexible corals have been collected, though none are of commercial value. There is, however, a See also: The See also:dragon tree (See also:Dracaena See also:Draco) is almost See also:extinct. Amongst the trees most worthy of See also:note are four of the laurel order belonging to See also:separate genera, an Ardisia, Pittosporum, Sideroxylon, Notelaea, Rhamnus and Myrica,—a See also:strange mixture of genera to be found on a small Atlantic island. Two heaths of arborescent growth and a whortleberry See also:cover large tracts on the mountains. In some parts there is a See also:belt of the See also:Spanish See also:chestnut about the height of 1500 ft. There is no indigenous See also:pine tree as at the Canaries; but large tracts on the hills have been planted with Pinus pinaster, from which the See also:fuel of the inhabitants is mainly derived. A European See also:juniper (J. Oxycedrus), growing to the height of 40 or 50 ft., was formerly abundant, but has been almost exterminated, as its scented wood is prized by the See also:cabinet-maker. Several of the native trees and shrubs now grow only in situations which are nearly inaccessible, and some of the, indigenous See also:plants are of the greatest rarity. But some plants of See also:foreign origin have spread in a remarkable manner. Among these is the common See also:cactus or prickly See also:pear (See also:Opuntia Tuna), which in many spots on the coast is sufficiently abundant to give a See also:character to the landscape. As to See also:Algae, the coast is too rocky and the sea too unquiet for a luxuriant marine vegetation, consequently the species are few and poor. Inhabitants.—The inhabitants are of Portuguese descent, with probably some intermixture of Moorish and See also:negro See also:blood amongst the See also:lower classes. The See also:dress of the peasantry, without being picturesque, is peculiar. Both men and See also:women in the outlying See also:country districts See also:wear the carapuca, a small cap made of See also:blue See also:cloth in shape something like a See also:funnel, with the See also:pipe See also:standing upwards. The men have See also:trousers of See also:linen, See also:drawn tight, and terminating at the knees; a coarse See also:shirt enveloping the upper part of their See also:person, covered by a See also:short jacket, completes their attire, with the exception of a pair of rough yellow boots. The women's outer garments consist of a gaudily coloured See also:gown, made from island material, with a small cape of coarse See also:scarlet or blue woollen cloth.) The See also:population tends to increase rapidly. In 1900 it amounted to 150,574, including 890 foreigners, of whom the majority were British. The number of See also:females exceeds that of See also:males by about 6000, partly because many of the able-bodied males emigrate to See also:Brazil or the See also:United States. The See also:density of population (479.5 per sq. m. ) is very great for a district containing no large See also:town and chiefly dependent on See also:agriculture and viticulture. Agriculture.—A large portion of the land was formerly entailed in the families of the landlords (morgados), but entails have been abolished by the legislature, and the land is now absolutely See also:free. The deficiency of water is a great obstacle to the proper cultivation of the land, and the rocky nature or steep inclination of the upper parts of the islands is an effectual See also:bar to all tillage. An incredible amount of labour has been expended upon the See also:soil, partly in the erection of walls intended to prevent its being washed away by the rains, and to build up the plots of ground in the form of terraces. Watercourses have been constructed for purposes of See also:irrigation, without which at See also:regular intervals the island would not produce a hundredth part of its present yield. These watercourses originate high up in the ravines, are built of See also:masonry or driven through the rock, and wind about for miles until they reach the cultivated land. Some of them are brought by tunnels from the north See also:side of the island through the central See also:crest of hill. Each occupier takes his turn at the See also:running stream for so many See also:hours in the day or See also:night at a time notified to him beforehand. In this climate flowing water has a saleable value as well as land, which is useless without irrigation. The agricultural implements employed are of the rudest kind, and the See also:system of cultivation is extremely See also:primitive. Very few of the occupiers own the land they cultivate ; but they almost invariably own the walls, cottages and trees standing thereon, the land alone belonging to the landlord. The See also:tenant can sell his See also:share of the See also:property without the consent of the landlord, and if he does not so Flora.—The vegetation is strongly impressed with a south-European character, Many of the plants in the lower region undoubtedly were introduced and naturalized after the Portuguese colonization. A large number of the See also:remainder are found at the Canaries and the Azores, or in one of these See also:groups, but nowhere else. Lastly, there are about a See also:hundred plants which are peculiarly Madeiran, either as distinct species or as strongly marked varieties. The flowering plants found truly wild belong to about 363 genera and 717 species,—the monocotyledons numbering 70 genera and 128 species, the See also:dicotyledons 293 genera and 589 species. The three largest dispose of it that share passes to his heirs. In this way the tenant practically enjoys fixity of See also:tenure, for the landlord is seldom in a position to pay the See also:price at which the tenant's share is valued. See also:Money rents are rare, the metayer system regulating almost universally the relations between landlord and tenant; that is, the tenant pays to the owner a certain portion of the produce, usually one See also:half or one third. The holdings are as a See also:rule rarely larger than one See also:man can cultivate with a little occasional assistance. There are few meadows and pastures, the See also:cattle being See also:stall-fed when not feeding on the mountains. Horses are never employed for See also:draught, all labour of that kind being done by oxen. The two See also:staple productions of the soil are See also:wine and See also:sugar. The See also:vine was introduced from See also:Cyprus or See also:Crete soon after the See also:discovery of the island by the Portuguese (1420), but it was not actively cultivated until the early part of the 16th century. The vines, after having been totally destroyed by the oidium disease, which made its first See also:appearance in the island in 1852, were replanted, and Wlne. in a few years wine was again made. The See also:phylloxera also made its way to the island, and every vineyard in Madeira was more or less affected by it. The wine usually termed Madeira is made from a mixture of black and white grapes, which are also made separately into wines called Tinta and Verdelho, after the names of the grapes. Other high-class wines, known as Bual, Sercial and See also:Malmsey, are made from varieties of grapes bearing the same names. (See also WINE.) The sugar See also:cane is said to have been brought from See also:Sicily about 1452, and in course of time its produce became the See also:sole staple of the island. The cultivation languished, however, as the more abundant produce of tropical countries came into the European See also:market, and sugar had long ceased to be made when the destruction of the vines compelled the peasants to turn their See also:attention to other things. Its cultivation was resumed and sugar machinery imported. A Sugar considerable quantity of spirit is made by the See also:distillation of the juice or of the See also:molasses See also:left after extracting the sugar, and this is consumed on the island. The cane does not flourish here as luxuriantly as within the tropics; but in localities below woo ft., where there is a See also:good supply of water, it pays the See also:cultivator well. The See also:grain produced on the island (principally See also:wheat, See also:barley and See also:Indian See also:corn) is not sufficient for the See also:consumption of the people. The common See also:potato, sweet potato and gourds of various kinds are extensively grown, as well as the Colocasia esculenta, the kalo of the Pacific islanders, the See also:root of which yields an insipid See also:food. Most of the common table vegetables of Europe are plentiful. Besides apples, See also:pears and peaches, all of poor quality, oranges, lemons, guavas, mangoes, loquats, custard-apples, See also:figs, bananas and pine-apples are produced, the last two forming articles of export. The date See also:palm is occasionally grown, but its See also:fruit is scarcely edible. On the hills large quantities of the Spanish chestnut afford an See also:item in the food of the common people. A little See also:tobacco is grown, and is made into cigars of inferior quality. The total foreign trade of Madeira was valued at £628,000 in 1900. The See also:principal exports are wine, sugar, See also:embroidery, vegetables, fruits and wicker goods. See also:Coal is imported for the See also:ships calling at Funchal, which is the headquarters of Madeiran See also:commerce and See also:industry. See also:Spirits, See also:beer, See also:olive oil, See also:soap, See also:butter, linen and woollen goods, See also:straw hats and See also:leather, are manufactured for See also:home consumption, and there are important See also:fisheries. See also:Chief Towns and Communications.—Funchal (pop. 20,850) is described in a separate article. The other chief towns are Camara de Lobos (7150), Machico (6128), See also:Santa Cruz (5876) Ponta do Sol (5665), Sao Vicente (4896), Calheta (3475), Sant' See also:Anna (3012) and Porto Santo (2311). Each of these is the See also:capital of a See also:commune (concelho), to which it gives its name. Madeira is connected by regular lines of steamships with Great See also:Britain, See also:Germany, See also:Portugal, Cape See also:Colony, Brazil and the United States. There is no railway in the archipelago, and partly owing to the irregularities of the surface of the roads, of which there are some 58o m., are See also:bad, except in the neighbourhood of Funchal. See also:Wheel carriages are rare, and all heavy goods are transported either on the backs of mules or upon See also:rude wooden sledges drawn by bullocks. When horses are not employed, locomotion is effected either by means of hammocks or by See also:bullock cars. The See also:ham-See also:mock (ree"de) is a piece of stout See also:canvas gathered up and secured at each end to a long See also:pole carried by a couple of bearers. In place of cabs, curtained cars on sledges, made to hold four persons, and drawn by a pair of bullocks, are employed. They are convenient, but the See also:rate of progress is very slow. See also:Administration.—The archipelago is officially styled the district of Funchal; it returns members to the Portuguese See also:Cortes, and is regarded as an integral part of the See also:kingdom. The district is subdivided into the eight communes already enumerated, and is administered in accordance with the same See also:laws that 253 regulate local See also:government on the mainland (see PORTUGAL). Funchal is a See also:Roman See also:Catholic bishopric in the archiepiscopal See also:province of See also:Lisbon. See also:Education is compulsory in name only, for less than 2% of the population could read when the See also:census of 1900 was taken. An See also:infantry See also:regiment and a See also:battery of See also:garrison See also:artillery are permanently stationed in Madeira. See also:History.—It has been conjectured, but on insufficient See also:evidence, that the Phoenicians discovered Madeira at a very early period. See also:Pliny mentions certain See also:Purple or Mauretanian Islands, the position of which with reference to the Fortunate Islands or Canaries might seem to indicate the Madeiras. There is a romantic See also:story, to the effect that two lovers, See also:Robert Machim, a Machin, or Macham, and Anna d'Arfet, fleeing from See also:England to See also:France (c. 1370) were driven out of their course by a violent See also:storm and See also:cast on the coast of Madeira at the place subsequently named Machico, in memory of one of them. Both perished here, but some of their See also:crew escaped to the See also:Barbary coast, and. were made slaves. Among them was the See also:pilot Pedro Morales of See also:Seville, who is said to have been ransomed and to have communicated his knowledge of Madeira to Joao Goncalvez Zarco (or Zargo). How far this story is true cannot now be ascertained. It is, however, certain that Zarco first sighted Porto Santo in 1418, having been driven thither by a storm while he was exploring the coast of West Africa. Madeira itself was discovered in 1420. It is probable that the whole archipelago had been explored at an earlier date by Genoese adventurers, and had been forgotten; for an See also:Italian See also:map dated 13 51 (the Laurentian portolano) shows the Madeiras quite clearly, and there is some See also:reason to believe that they were known to the Genoese before 1339. When Zarco visited Madeira in 1420 the islands were uninhabited, but See also:Prince See also: Brown, Madeira, the Canary Islands and the Azores (1903), a comprehensive study of the three archipelagoes. The Land of the Wine, by A. J. D. See also:Biddle (See also:Philadelphia, 1901) is generally valuable, but its history cannot be trusted. See also P. Langerhans, Handbuch fitr Madeira (1884) and Vahl, Madeira's Vegetation (See also:Copenhagen, 1904). 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