Quincentenary of the discovery of Madeira

As we have said elsewhere (see the publication entitled V Centenário do Descobrimento da Madeira, p. 2), the year 1419 or 1420 had generally been adopted as the most probable date of the discovery of this archipelago. This followed the lead of the old chronicles, and in particular the period that Gaspar Frutuoso had fixed for the event, which had in turn been followed by the illustrious and learned annotator of the Saudades da Terra. In 1920 an interesting pamphlet appeared, entitled O Reconhecimento da Madeira, by the lawyer and journalist Dr Manuel Gregório Pestana Júnior, which opened a new path towards fixing the date of the discovery. According to it, this notable event would have taken place in the period from 1441 to 1425. Although one may disagree with the conclusions reached by Dr Pestana Júnior, it is nonetheless beyond dispute that his work represents a painstaking and conscientious study, which may perhaps lead to new research and possibly to firmer and more conclusive statements on the subject.

Authoritative opinions differed over the fixing of this immemorial date, and the centenary of the great event had not been commemorated in the year the old chronicles assigned to it, for reasons we refrain from characterising. Together, these circumstances left the way open for postponing the celebration of the quincentenary of the discovery, and this solemn commemoration finally took place at the end of 1922.

It was Major João dos Reis Gomes, a distinguished son of our land and the most illustrious of its writers and journalists, who launched and championed the idea of celebrating the centenary in the Diário da Madeira, of which he is editor (1921). He drew up the framework of the commemoration, began its preparatory work, directed many items of the programme, and constantly followed and supervised, sometimes down to the smallest details, all the work on the various festivities held in this city at the end of December 1922 and the beginning of January 1923. If it is true that Major Reis Gomes was the soul of these festive commemorations, it is equally beyond doubt that he had valuable and devoted helpers, chosen by himself, who identified with his ideas and his actions and rendered the most brilliant and notable services to the celebration of the fifth centenary of the discovery. They were the former teachers of our Industrial School, Cândido Pereira and Emanuel Ribeiro, now serving in the industrial schools of the capital. Displaying their eminent artistic gifts, their great capacity for work and their tireless energy, they gave the festivities an indelible stamp of magnificence, brilliance and originality, which aroused the greatest admiration and the warmest praise, not only from Madeirans but also from all the visitors who came to our island on that occasion (1921).

The festivities were of the utmost grandeur and unusual splendour, despite the systematic and obstinate refusal of the government of mainland Portugal and its representatives in this district to join and take part in these patriotic expressions of rejoicing. The central government had a particular duty to decree the festivities of the centenary official and to associate itself publicly with the commemorations, since above all they celebrated the glorious beginning of our maritime discoveries and conquests, the one fact that truly gives us a prominent place in the history of the civilisation of modern peoples.

As we said in the brief Preliminary Note to this work, we held that this celebration, to be complete, had to take on a national character and not be confined to the narrow limits of a regional tribute, within the isolation and distance of these remote islands. The words with which the press of the capital recalled the duty of this commemoration were lost or entirely forgotten. They had drawn the particular attention of the Lisbon Academy of Sciences (Academia das Ciências de Lisboa) and, most especially, of the Committee charged with promoting the celebration of the centenaries of our conquests and discoveries, which existed and operated within that Academy. If the conquest of Ceuta, as the first achieved beyond the continental frontiers, deserved a fitting and solemn commemoration, the discovery of this archipelago, which truly marks the beginning of our brilliant odyssey as navigators and future masters of the seas in both hemispheres, could not be forgotten either.

The outline programme for the centenary celebrations, drawn up by Major J. Reis Gomes, was as follows. In its broad lines it was carried out, apart from minor changes advised by the circumstances of the moment: 1. Receptions at the Palace of the civil government, at that of the District General Council (Junta Geral) and at that of the Municipal Council (Câmara Municipal) of Funchal.

At a select meeting held in the ‘Dr. Manuel de Arriaga’ theatre, the founding committee for the centenary celebrations was appointed. It was given the powers needed to organise the various subcommittees that were to direct and carry out the many items of the brilliant programme, which won the fullest approval of that distinguished and select assembly.

Besides the Honorary Committee and the Executive Committee, the following were appointed: the Technical and Directing Committee, the Fundraising Committee, the Propaganda and Publicity Committee, the Works Committee, the Grand Historical Procession Committee, the Religious Ceremonies Committee, the Theatre Committee, the Ball Committee, the Public Decorations Committee, the Tourism and Reception of Visitors Committee, the Concerts and Musical Festivities Committee, the Industrial Exhibition and Fair Committee, the Bibliographical Exhibition and Industrial School Products Committee, the Sports Festivities Committee, the Nautical Festivities Committee and the Equestrian Games and Cavalcades Committee.

The Honorary Committee consisted of the civil governor; the military commander, Colonel João Maria Ferraz; the diocesan bishop, Dom António Manuel Pereira Ribeiro; the senators César Procópio de Freitas, Vasco Crispiniano da Silva and Vasco Gonçalves Marques; the deputies Américo Olavo Correia de Azevedo, Carlos Olavo Correia de Azevedo, Juvenal Henriques de Araújo and Pedro Góis Pita; the President of the General Council, Vasco Gonçalves Marques; and the President of the Senate (senado, the municipal council) of Funchal, João Joaquim Teixeira Jardim.

The Executive Committee comprised Adolfo João Sarmento de Figueiredo, Alberto Artur Sarmento, Ciríaco de Brito Nóbrega, Father Fernando Augusto da Silva, Fernando Tolentino da Costa, João dos Reis Gomes and Leandro António do Rêgo.

More than a hundred gentlemen and prominent figures of our community made up the various festival committees. Some of their members showed an energy that could not have been surpassed, and a zeal and devotion worthy of the highest praise. Besides Major João Reis Gomes, Cândido Pereira and Emanuel Ribeiro, whom we have already mentioned above with well-deserved praise, special mention is due to Commander Adolfo Sarmento de Figueiredo, who was one of the most valuable and helpful assistants the centenary celebrations had.

We shall give a brief review of the main items of the programme that were carried out. We cannot go into great detail or a full description, because that would take us too far and would greatly exceed the limits we can devote in this work to the various subjects it covers.

The centenary celebrations began on 29 December 1922 and ended on 4 January 1923.

A few days before the festivities began, the publication entitled V Centenário do Descobrimento da Madeira appeared, prepared under the responsibility of the Propaganda and Publicity Committee. It is a folio pamphlet of 60 pages, with contributions by Jordão Henriques, Father Fernando A. da Silva, Jaime Câmara, Carlos Azevedo de Meneses, Adolfo César de Noronha, Alberto Artur Sarmento, Luís de Ornelas Pinto Coelho, Manuel Ribeiro, Manuel Sardinha, Father Eduardo Pereira, Manuel Pestana dos Reis, J. Reis Gomes, Vitorino José dos Santos and Eduardo Antonino Pestana. It was published under the direction of one of the editors of this Elucidário, and it should be said here that some of the articles in the V Quinto Centenário do descobrimento da Madeira were taken from the same Elucidário and came from the pen of the authors of this work.

The festivities opened with a solemn Te Deum in the Cathedral, which was immensely well attended. The distinguished sacred orator the Revd Father José Marques Jardim went up to the pulpit and delivered a remarkable sermon that pleased everyone present. Among those present were many of the Tenerife visitors (see that entry) who had arrived in Funchal the day before, 28 December, the consular corps, the officers of the destroyer Guadiana, several officers of the city garrison, the administrative bodies, the students of Funchal, etc. The ceremony was presided over by the diocesan prelate, Dom António Manuel Pereira Ribeiro, assisted by Canons Manuel A Miranda and Manuel Mendes Teixeira, and the choral music was performed by a large schola, accompanied by an excellent orchestra.

After the Te Deum a procession formed and made its way to the Convent of St Clare, where the tomb of João Gonçalves Zarco lies. There Dr Antonino Pestana gave a patriotic speech in which he reminded the young of the value of heeding the lessons to be drawn from reading the biography of the great discoverer of Madeira.

On the way back from the Convent of St Clare, when the procession reached the spot opposite the former Entrada da Cidade, where the statue of Zargo is to be erected, Dr Juvenal de Araújo spoke, and in a short but brilliant address he stirred the hearts of his listeners. He was followed by the alcaide (town officer with police and jail duties) of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Don Antonio Orosco Baptista, who stressed the value of drawing the ties of friendship and trade between Portuguese and Spaniards ever closer.

When the illustrious Tenerife visitor, who is a professor in the Faculty of Law at La Laguna, had finished his speech, the prelate Dom António Manuel Pereira Ribeiro, assisted by the two canons already mentioned, blessed the stone that will be the first of the foundations of the future monument to Zargo, while the national anthem was played.

On 29, 30 and 31 December the drama Guiomar Teixeira, by the distinguished writer Major João dos Reis Gomes, was performed at the ‘Dr. Manuel de Arriaga’ theatre to great applause. On the 30th the fair and the agricultural exhibition were opened. They were held not on the site first chosen but in the Praça do Marquês de Pombal, and were visited by many people from every social class.

The fair offered little of interest, because of the very limited number of articles shown there. The exhibition, however, included many Madeiran agricultural products worthy of attention, though it was regrettable that they had not been scientifically classified so that foreigners could easily recognise them.

The opening of the fair and the agricultural exhibition was attended by the illustrious Tenerife visitors Don Andrés Orosco Batista and the colonel of the Tenerife garrison, Don Galdador Garcia y Rodriguez de Aumente, who spoke after the address given by the agronomist Aurelio Botelho Moniz.

The bibliographical and art exhibition, opened on 30 December at the Industrial School in Rua de João Tavira, was one of the items on the festival programme that aroused most interest among Funchal’s elite. The curious Manueline window that belonged to the house in Rua do Esmeraldo where Columbus is said to have lived was set up in the courtyard of the school building, and Zarco’s famous two-handed sword (montante), about a metre and a half long, lay on a table in the first room to the left of the staircase. Numerous Portuguese and foreign publications, almost all belonging to the Municipal Library, were displayed in the same room. The remaining rooms held various maps of Madeira, Porto Santo and the Desertas; many pictures of picturesque spots on the island and of the customs and ways of its inhabitants; the portraits of Zargo, of the president (provedor) of the Misericórdia (Holy House of Mercy, a lay charitable brotherhood) Forjaz Coutinho, and of the founder of the convent of the Incarnação, etc.; several oil paintings by the Madeiran painters Mígueis and H. Franco; and many pieces of inlaid work (embutidos) of undeniable merit, etc., etc.

The historical procession held on 4 January was a most imposing spectacle and was immensely admired, not only by the people of Funchal but also by the distinguished visitors from Tenerife who spent several days among us to attend the celebrations of the fifth centenary of the discovery of the island.

This procession, said the Diário da Madeira, ‘was without any doubt the festivity that gave the best measure of the intense excitement that ran through the whole city, its streets packed with its inhabitants and with an enormous crowd of visitors.

“

As the allegorical floats passed by, we read further in the same newspaper, pennants and flags fluttered, handkerchiefs and hats waved, and hands clapped along the lines of spectators and at the windows, applauding the work and its designers and artists.

“

The Float of the Nations, offered by the consuls, whose moving spirit was the illustrious representative of Brazil, most closely assisted by the very worthy representative of Spain and firmly supported by the rest of the consular corps, made a truly superb effect, both as decoration and as allegory.

“

The floats of wine, sugar, wicker and embroidery, which through their regional picturesqueness or artistic line, their splash of colour or their ornamental whole, emphasised the antiquity, wealth, value and progress of their respective industries, were – some for their meaning, others for their beauty – a welcome tribute to the principal sources of Madeira’s economic life.

“

The ideal splash of colour lent to the Embroidery Float by the old costumes of our countrywomen, worn by lovely young ladies of our society who had volunteered to take the place left empty by the genuine embroiderers, was one of the most radiant blossomings of the procession and one of its most moving and charming notes...

“

Also appearing in this memorable procession was the Sports Float, which, in contrast with the ancient and more or less austere character of our industries, struck an original note of youth and strength, marking the well-developed presence in Madeira of a new source of vitality: that of physical and moral rejuvenation.

The moving pageant was opened and closed respectively by the two historical floats: the Float of the Discovery and the Float of the Infante. The first was the caravel San Lourenço, a replica of the one that found us and gave us to civilisation and to the world; the second was the float of the austere and wise Henry the Navigator, the initiator and driving force of the great Portuguese voyages of discovery. ‘This little vessel, built on the most exact models found in documents of the period, does not hold for us merely an allegorical meaning. In its elegant architecture, in its methods and details of construction, in the evocative power of its lines, in the charm of its proportions and in the feeling with which its frames and timbers are curved, it represents the unquestionable tradition of the ingenuity and skill of our first caulkers – those who, on this island and at the spot, a little nearer or a little farther, where the famous ship was raised, built from the primeval timber the high-sided vessels that set out on adventure from this radiant centre of the voyages of discovery.

“

Master Luís Basílio perhaps had as an ancestor one of those great master shipwrights of the adze who, in the age of the discoveries, laid keels and rounded hulls somewhere near the old Rua da Boa Viagem.

“

From the shipyard that he so ably directs today have come our best and most graceful sailing vessels. His caravel, presented in the procession as a precious and evocative historical float, is eloquent and living testimony to the perfection attained by Madeiran naval architecture, even outside modern patterns.

“

The car paying homage to the creator of the fruitful School of Sagres is, in its sculpture and decorative modelling, the work of the distinguished Portuguese sculptor Mr José Pereira, who produced both the marvellous bust of the Infante and the exquisitely beautiful statues of Navigation and History resting against the central body of the car. It is the work of a great artist and a true Portuguese.

“

By its generosity, its high artistic value and its symbolism, it fell to this car to close the splendid and patriotic procession. Its magnificence eclipses every allegorical car ever presented in our capital. Even the Caravel of the Henrician Centenary, displayed in the entrance hall of the Lisbon Geographical Society (Sociedade de Geografia de Lisboa), may fairly be considered, beside our San Lourenço, a mere child’s toy in its dimensions, modelling and finish.

“

At every point along the route, the passing of the Infante’s Car drew an intense chorus of exclamations born of the most heartfelt and simple admiration.

The procession included representatives of the press, of the various branches of commerce and industry, of the administrative bodies, of the chapter of the Cathedral, of the medical profession, of the judiciary, of primary and secondary teaching, of the army and navy, etc., as well as the committee for the festivities of the Fifth Centenary of the Discovery of Madeira.

A band led the procession and another brought up the rear. The band of the 27th Infantry Regiment (Infantaria n.° 27) took no part in the festivities, and the state-owned buildings displayed no illuminations, even though the occasion commemorated an event that is a national glory. The Spanish ship Viera y Clavijo was dressed overall throughout the festivities, but the Portuguese warship Guadiana, which was then anchored in the Port of Funchal (Porto do Funchal), paid no such courtesy.

The fireworks let off near Reid’s Palace Hotel at the start of 1923 were truly dazzling. Equally dazzling were the illuminations in the city from 29 December to 3 January, above all those of the avenues of Gonçalves Zargo and Dr Manuel de Arriaga, of the Largo da Sé and the Largo do Comércio, and of Rua João Tavira, the street of Lieutenant-Commander Carvalho de Araújo and Rua do Comércio, etc., etc. At the start of the Avenida de Gonçalves Zargo stood a superb triumphal arch of painted wood, showing the city’s arms, caravels on a stormy sea and lions in fighting pose.

The festivities for the fifth centenary of the discovery of Madeira were unquestionably the most important and majestic ever held on the island. It may be said that they were carried out solely with local resources, for the Government, as already mentioned, did nothing to help them.

Madeirans would not take the responsibility of letting one of the most notable dates in our history pass unnoticed. It was well that they did so, for it showed Portuguese and foreigners alike that we too take pride in our country’s glories, and that there is no difficulty we cannot overcome when it comes to commemorating the events that did most to give our country the well-deserved renown it enjoyed in other ages.