Bugio

Bugio is one of the three Desertas (‘deserted islands’) and one of the five islands that make up the Madeira archipelago. According to the Dic. Univ. Port. II, its name derives from its resemblance to the monkey known by that name. It is five miles, or a little over nine kilometres, long and half a mile, or 926 metres, across at its widest point. To the south it ends at Ponta da Agulha (‘needle point’), one of the extreme points of the archipelago. The island is made up of high rocks and is almost inaccessible, but it has good pasture. The highest peak on Bugio stands 411 metres above sea level.

Bugio is uncultivated and has neither water nor any house. It produces poppies, clover, horehound and other plants, some of them good for fodder. On the top of the island, near its southern end, some fossil shells are found, and on the sea cliffs grows the extremely rare Chrysanthemum haematomma, a distinctive member of the daisy family, remarkable for its lovely flower heads, with purplish-black disc florets and white or pink ray florets.

The records of the land registry (Conservatória) of the judicial district (comarca) of Funchal show that on 3 October 1867 Bugio belonged to João de Vasconcelos de Sousa Câmara Caminha Faro e Veiga, Marquis of Castelo Melhor. On his death it was bought at auction by Alexandre Fernandes Camacho Júnior. Today it belongs to Carlos Cossart and Henrique Hinton, who bought it, together with the other two Desertas, on 24 November 1894, when the property of the said Alexandre Camacho was put up for auction.

Bugio belongs to the parish (freguesia) of the Sé and has a small natural landing place on the west side, called the Alagoa (‘the pond’).