of sharing with others the power of inspiring fear—as if resolved that no horrors should be greater than its own. Amid so much confusion, the noble Manfred went boldly forward, mounted on a gallant war-horse, which he had taken in spite of the Emir Jussuf, who had pointed out to him that the animal was apt to spring on the left hind-leg, and was consequently considered as of particularly evil augury. He trusted to the vigour and instinct of the horse, who, as if he wished to justify the confidence reposed in him by his rider, carried him safely, with wonderful celerity, over a craggy path full of impediments and dangers. The king's officers, either being mounted on more sluggish steeds, or not having such fearless hearts in their bosoms, were unable to keep up with him: he was a long way in advance, and as he rode he murmured to himself: "The crown may fall from my head-I may lose my intellect, that endowment for which men have so often lauded me -but I preserve my constancy and my courage." (To be continued.) SONG. ALONE BY THE DEEP SEA. BY MRS. CRAWFORD. ALONE, by the deep sea, When night shadows fold me, I dream of the halls that are beaming with light; The songs of my wreathing, I dream of them all as I wander by night, Alone by the deep sea, What sadness comes o'er me! I pine like the exile, when far, far away Alone by the deep sea, Wild echo salutes me, And sportively gives back my lone vesper lay; The eyes that wept o'er me, The hearts that deplore me, I dream of them all, as I joylessly stray, Alone by the deep sea. RECOLLECTIONS OF MADEIRA DURING THE WINTER OF 1844-5.* CHAPTER IV. "A nation swoln with ignorance and pride, Who lick, yet loathe the hand that waves the sword CHILDE HAROLD. "Poor paltry slaves!—yet born 'midst noblest scenes. IBID. THE British residents in Madeira form an exclusive society of their own; at least, with very few exceptions. In business transactions they are constantly brought in contact with the Portuguese; but they do not associate with them generally. To account, in some measure, for this apparent unsociability of the English, I shall endeavour, briefly, to collect my reminiscences of the Portuguese; at all events, they will not be altogether thrown away if we consider that Madeira is a colony of the latter people, and that we ourselves, when there, are entirely subservient to their laws and regulations. Funchal is the capital, and only city in Madeira; the places of name round the coast being mere villages and colonies of huts. Its inhabitants are numbered at 25,000, an important item out of 100,000, the whole amount of the island population. They consist almost exclusively of Portuguese, between whom and the bourgeoisie of the hills, there is a marked and characteristic distinction. For the people of Funchal (including all the upper and middling classes in Madeira, which are continually fluctuating between the island and Lisbon), living at the seat of government, and brought into constant communication with the mother country, have naturally remained unchanged since the day when their ancestors first set foot on the shore. In fact, the Funçhalense are as genuine Portuguese as the denizens of Lisbon. But the Madeirense, the people of Madeira, a hardy, unsophisticated peasantry, though orignally transplanted from the soil of Portugal, by residence in a country whose climate, whose very surface is so dissimilar to their father-land, have become, Continued from vol. xlvii., page 464. through the course of several generations, physically and intellectually altered. They have acquired a peculiarity of custom, and a nationality. As I shall have occasion to speak of them by and by, my remarks will be confined at present to the Portuguese of Funchal, or, more correctly speaking, the Funchalense. The fine old mansions going fast to decay, the miserable appearance of the country estates belonging to the Portuguese, are subjects of never-failing regret to the well-ordered eye of an Englishman. Their owners, wanting the energy of their forefathers, who first covered the southern shore of Madeira with dwellings and vineyards; forgetting the enterprising enthusiasm of their great countrymen Zargo and Vaz, are content to take things much as they find them; and, careless of ruin and discomfort in a climate where luxurious convenience is not indispensable, avoid any exertion more than is requisite to supply the bare necessities of life. Their poverty has become a proverb. I have known instances of men jogging on with paltry incomes, which had no chance of being increased, so long as there was sufficient to give £50 a-year to each idle, vagabond son, and to keep the rest of the family just short of starvation. Yet these were men possessing fine estates in the north of the island, capable of yielding excellent revenues. There are broad lands in the neighbourhood of Santa Anna,† which, with proper attention, could be made to produce anything; but, through the utter neglect of the proprietors, remain almost uncultivated; nature alone (fortunately bountiful,) preventing their being altogether unproductive. Doubtless there are drawbacks to improvement: no leases of land are granted; and the interest a tenant would take, holding solely at the will of a capricious landlord, is not likely to be very great. The metayer system prevails universally in the culture of the soil; that is, a division of the profits between landlord and tenant; an unjust law, which destroys all sympathy, giving an inducement to oppression on the part of the one, and a premium to knavery on the part of the other. For while the tenant groans under the harshness with which a moiety of his labour is oftentimes exacted, the landlord, sure of obtaining something, neglects to take measures for his own protection. So, the estate is the real sufferer, and to a pitiable extent. These are evils; but the truth is, the Portuguese have no taste for the simple pursuits of country life. Many of them have beautiful quintas,+ far away among the mountains, where even the glorious situation, one would think, might atone for *The discoverers of Madeira in the year 1419. † A village on the north coast. A quinta is a country seat. the loss of low dissipation; and tempt them, like their English neighbours, to exchange the encrvating atmosphere of the town, for bracing air, and scenery one would blush to view unmoved. Strange to say, they reside very little at these places; a month or two, perhaps, in the height of Funchal temperature; and under the general superintendence of an old hag, or the safe custody of lock and key, the appearance of most of these retreats is not very desirable, even for a night's lodging. They prefer to lead lazy, dissipated lives in Funchal, playing billiards or écarté; gossipping (not on the most edifying subjects) in the Praza; leaning over the balconies, smoking cigarettes, half the day; drinking and gambling half the night. These, with intrigue and ruffianism, are the avocations of young Funchal. He is a desperate gambler-écarté his favourite game; a desperate cheat; vindictive, noisy, drunken, dirty, and disgusting in his habits; cowardly to the last degree; and "passing rich with forty pounds a-year;" (but oh! how differently from our worthy pastor!) He dresses in a slang, outré, ungentlemanly style of costume, that would shock a British dandy; and wears a Muntz-like preponderance of hair, which nature will not always encase, and no one but that great man would dare to assume. The fact is, the Portuguese are not gentlemen, and that's the end on't; neither at heart, nor in the lesser qualifications of manners and appearance. They are deeply prejudiced against the English; but what gentleman, however bitterly he felt against foreigners, would continually mutter between his teeth (they dare not go beyond sotto voce), an expression which is more true when applied to a dog, than complimentary when addressed to man* That they are debauched, no one will deny, to an extent that the most worthless libertine might be ashamed of; but what gentleman would boast of his shameless excesses; indulge in disgraceful orgies on his wedding-night; or pander the charms of his nearest relative-the price of his mediation with a high political functionary at Lisbon-to his everlasting shame as a man and a husband?+ The facility with which most of the Portuguese speak our language is acquired in the way of business; education they have none, or at all events do not exhibit its beneficial effects in their conversation. That they are gamblers, and not above the lowest deceptive arts, I have had ocular demonstration. We need not particularize their more disagreeable propensities, * "Filha da puta!" is a phrase constantly applied to, and offensive to the ears of the English. I have heard it pretty frequently when returning from divine worship at the English church. Any one who knows the Portuguese is aware of the subjects of conversation among them. The instances I allude to occurred during my stay in Madeira, and were much talked about at the time. Feb., 1847.-VOL. XLVIII.—No. CXC. L neither endeavour to illustrate their loud and vulgar mode of talking, and violent gesticulation; and a very short residence in Madeira will enable any one to come to the conclusion, that they are unscrupulous poltroons. The corner of every street in Funchal has been the scene of cruel outrages, perpetrated under cover of darkness, in avenging real or supposed injuries; and * * An instance occurs to me while writing this, so strongly convincing, and yet so characteristic, that I trust I shall be excused relating it at some length. Shrove Tuesday, in the year 1845, was ushered in, as that festival always is, by processions and other mummeries, services in the church, and ringing of bells. The shops were mostly closed, and fewer people than usual in the streets; but the windows and balconies were crowded, and from these the Portuguese were pursuing their childish amusement of pelting the luckless passengers with rotten eggs, showers of water, and all sorts of disagreeable missiles. This stupid custom, as old as May-day in England, and not half so innocent, is carried to a ridiculous extent in Funchal; old and young, rich or poor-men, women, and children-alike indulging, and alike made the victims of, each other's folly. But from some inexplicable motive (it can't be love), the English are generally spared. On this occasion, however, owing to the more than ordinary bad feeling then existing against them, English people were several times pelted, and, aware of the practice, took no notice of their various mishaps. During the afternoon, an invalid Englishman, totally ignorant of the custom, passed by the barracks, where the sport had been at the highest all day. He was, of course, instantly assailed with a shower of eggs and water from the windows, amid roars of merriment around. Feeling irritated at what he conceived to be a premeditated insult, and provoked at the ludicrousness of his situation, he seized a stone lying in the street, and hurled it at the window where the officers, his assailants, were standing; it was a good shot, and entered the room. In an instant, the drum beat,-à l'armas! à l'armas! was sounded,-and before Mr. L. could make his escape, he was surrounded by a picket of armed troops, while several officers, at the same moment, saluted him with fresh showers of eggs and water. He knew the vindictive temper of the men he was dealing with, and imagining this to be only the prelude to more serious outrage, made an effort to get free. The soldiers closed round him with fixed bayonets; a powerful man came behind and pinioned him; and, while in that position, a Captain Oliveira, taking a countryman's staff from a bystander, literally broke it over poor L.'s head and shoulders. He was then suffered to depart. I saw him within half-an-hour after the occurrence: he was not seriously injured, although much bruised; but the excitement, in his peculiar state of health, nearly cost him his life. There was but one opinion of this gross, unpardonable outrage, and a feeling of general indignation pervaded the English residents. It was admitted that L. had acted injudiciously in resenting the joke; but what could justify the assault, or excuse the brutal and cowardly way in which it was made? Officers in the Queen's army being the delinquents, rendered the whole affair the more contemptible and disgraceful. There was a determination to punish the authors. The Governor, Don J., who was immediately made cognisant of the transaction, evidently afraid of offending his countrymen, endeavoured to temporize. Our Consul was applied to; and, on his interference, an apology from Capt. Oliveira, the principal offender, was sent through the Governor. Very properly, the matter was not allowed to rest here; strong threats were held out of appealing to higher authorities; and, eventually, the doughty captain was sought in the hills, whither he had decamped, found, and sent back to Lisbon.— " Oh, valiant man! with sword drawn, and cock'd trigger, Indeed, it was no light punishment for the redoubtable warrior. The disgrace, such as it was, of course had very little effect; but the practical working of the sentence was the thing. The troops stationed in Madeira are more regularly paid, and living is cheaper than at Lisbon: two points, which convert Funchal into a paradise for Portuguese officers! And so it ended. |