Ethnic influences

The first groups of settlers who came to colonise this archipelago in the second quarter of the 15th century were made up of inhabitants of mainland Portugal, especially from the provinces of Minho and the Algarve. Most of them were recruited from among farmers and field labourers, but there were also a good many craftsmen, who practised the so-called mechanical arts.

The captain-donataries brought with them some relatives and other people from their close circle. Earlier in this work (vol. I, p. 293) we gave the names of fourteen individuals, some of noble origin, who shared with João Gonçalves Zarco the labours of the first settlement. The same would have happened with the donataries Tristão Vaz Teixeira in Machico and Bartolomeu Perestrelo on Porto Santo (‘holy harbour’).

Dr Gaspar Frutuoso gives us this curious piece of information, which various reasons persuade us is not without foundation: ‘. . . the King gave leave to any person who wished to come with him (Zargo) to settle the said islands, both Porto Santo and Madeira. He ordered that the murderers and convicts in the prisons and throughout the Kingdom be handed over, and of these João Gonçalves would take none who were guilty of crimes against the faith, or of treason, or of theft; of those guilty of other crimes and homicides he took all there were, and they were well treated by him; and of the other people, those who of their own will sought a living and fortune, there were many, most of them from the Algarve’.

It is not surprising that this should have happened, given the shortage of people for an attempt at colonisation in so remote a region and under entirely unknown conditions. It should also be noted that at all times and in all places criminals and convicts have always supplied a large contingent to fledgling settlements. This circumstance could have had no influence on the ethnic purity of the population, nor even on its customs and traits of character, because that small batch of convicts was relatively insignificant compared with the great number of colonists who came from many parts of Portugal.

It cannot be denied, however, that the great multitude of Moors, Black Africans and mulattoes brought to these islands in the early days of colonisation, and in later periods too, markedly adulterated the native purity of the Portuguese race. They imprinted on it certain characteristics of the ethnic origins from which they came, and these can still be seen at present in many inhabitants of some rural localities. We have already pointed this out in the extended article on Slaves (I-407), and we shall return to the subject in the article we shall devote to the Moors.

The number of foreigners from various European countries who settled in Madeira at the beginning of colonisation, and particularly in the 16th and 17th centuries, was also quite considerable. It is therefore not surprising that their intermarriage with the natives should have produced, in some centres of population, certain facial features characteristic of other European races. Several visitors have observed this in their travel narratives, and it can still be seen among us today. On this point, the reader should consult the article Foreigners, on p. 419 of the 1st volume of this work.

Although one may disagree with some of the assertions made in the chapters ‘Povoadores’ and ‘Origem Étnica’ of the esteemed work ‘Zargo’s Islands’ (Ilhas de Zargo), there is no doubt that it contains valuable information and material for the study of the subject that heads this short article.