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I used to have a cruise logbook with the entry, “Anchored off Madeira today. Took tender ashore to Funchal. Beautiful town, full of flowers and history. Must go back.” Or something like that. The logbook filled up and was put I know not where, but I never forgot Madeira.
T
hen a friend went to live there, and I did go back, but not before I read up on the islands’ history. If you know your apostrophes you’ll note Madeira is not just one island. There are two – Madeira and the smaller Porto Santo, discovered in 1419 by two Portuguese vessels on a voyage of discovery under the order of Prince Henry the Navigator. Madeira was quickly settled and sugar cane planted on the volcanic slopes, most of the workers being slaves from Africa. By the end of the century Madeira was the largest producer of sugar in the world, and remained so until Brazil took over. But by then Madeira was awash in wine, which was carried to foreign shores by vessels which found Madeira a useful stop being some way out in the Atlantic. The again, of course, it was America that was on the other side. Enter Christopher Columbus, who first went to Porto Santo in 1478 to buy sugar. He also married the governor’s daughter, not then, but after 1492 when he had stopped in Madeira on his voyages of discovery.
78 / MAY 2020 WWW.ESSENTIALMAGAZINE.COM
