Porto Santo (hydrography)

Under this heading we give a brief account of the quays, coves, landing places, beaches, shoals, islets and streams of this island. On the southern coast of Porto Santo (‘holy harbour’), running almost the whole length of the island, lies the bay of the same name. It is bounded by the Ilhéu de Cima (‘upper islet’), or Lighthouse Islet, to the east, and the Ilhéu de Baixo (‘lower islet’), or Lime Islet, to the west, and measures about four nautical miles between these two points. It forms a fairly spacious harbour and offers easy anchorage to ships of every tonnage. For most of its length the bay is edged by a most beautiful beach of fine yellow sand, free of any reefs or rocks, quite wide and approximately nine kilometres long, which is without doubt one of the finest beaches in the whole of our country. Gently sloping, washed by a sea that is always calm and crystal-clear, and free of marshes or stagnant water, this beach meets every requirement of an excellent seaside resort. The harbour of the town of Porto Santo is today served by a pier, which has proved very useful for the passengers who land there.

Besides this broad bay with its excellent and spacious beach, there are a few small landing places with narrow beaches, which serve, though rarely, as landing places. We shall mention the following: Porto dos Barreiros, to the north-north-east; Porto das Cagarras, to the east-north-east; Porto dos Frades, to the east; Porto da Morena, or Portinho da Morena, to the south-south-west; Porto Novo, to the south-south-west; Porto dos Porcos, to the west-south-west; Porto da Fonte da Areia, to the north-west; and Porto do Zimbralinho, to the east.

Of these beaches, the best known are those of Serra de Dentro (‘inner upland’) and Zimbralinho (‘little juniper grove’), which lie in the localities that still bear those names.

The only known raised beach in the Madeira archipelago is on the island of Porto Santo. The uplift seems to have occurred in a recent geological period, and the ground contains a great number of marine shells, some belonging to species still living in the archipelago, others to species that are not found in our region but live in other countries.

Numerous traces of the raised beach are found near Fontinha (‘little spring’) and at Campo de Baixo (‘lower field’), and it may well cover a much larger area than has been attributed to it so far. Mr Adolfo César de Noronha, who has made numerous studies of this beach, intends to publish a note on the species of marine shells that have been observed there (1921).

Thick layers of soil or sand now lie over the raised beach, and large excavations are needed to expose it. The beach extends far inland: traces of it have been found more than 300 metres from the shoreline of Porto Santo.

Near the coast of the island of Porto Santo lie several shoals, known by the following names: Rocha do Pescador (‘fisherman’s rock’), to the north-east and facing (fronteiro) Ponta Branca (‘white point’); the Meio shoal, or Rocha de São Lourenço (‘St Lawrence’s rock’), to the north of the Pescador; the Cotrim shoal, or Ilhéu Redondo (Round Islet), next to Ponta dos Frades (‘friars’ point’); the Galé shoal, near Ponta do Incão; and the Penedo do Sono (‘rock of sleep’) shoal, not far from the Ilhéu de Cima. Further from the shore, about five miles off the coast, there is a shoal commonly called the Baixa de Nordeste (‘north-east shoal’).

Lying next to the island of Porto Santo and very close to its coast are the ‘Ilhéu de Baixo’, or Ilhéu da Cal, and the ‘Ilhéu de Cima’, or Ilhéu do Farol. These are the largest and most important islets in the whole archipelago, and they have already been described on pp. 116 and 272 of volume I and in the article Faróis (‘lighthouses’). Mention should also be made of the small islets of ‘Fora’, or ‘Rocha Nordeste’, of ‘Fonte da Areia’ and of ‘Ferro’. Compared with the long, abundant streams of Madeira, the small watercourses that cross the neighbouring island of Porto Santo do not deserve that name. The most important of them is the so-called Ribeira da Vila (‘town stream’), which stays dry for most of the year and carries a small flow in the winter season, running into the ocean at the locality (sítio) of Vila. Other small brooks worth mentioning are those of Pedregal de Fora, Pedregal de Dentro and Perregil, to the north; those of Serra de Fora and Serra de Dentro, to the east; those of Santo António, Fontinha, Cochino and Salgado, to the south; and the Ribeiro Fundo (‘deep brook’), to the west.