Ruivo (peak)

This peak is very well known and is cited in countless Portuguese and foreign works, because it is the highest in Madeira and commands the widest panorama of the whole island. Its summit, or highest point, lies at the southern end of the parish (freguesia) of Santana (‘St Anne’), while some of its spurs take in tracts of land within the boundaries of the parishes of Faial and São Jorge (‘St George’).

To reach this height, one must take the roads that lead there from the parishes of Santana or Curral das Freiras (‘nuns’ fold’), the route from the latter of the two being preferable. By the first, the summit of the peak is reached by way of the Cumeada Alta (‘high ridge’); the whole route offers the finest viewpoints and passes close to the curious column of lava known as Homem em Pé (see that entry). By the second, one climbs the road of the Lombo Grande (‘great ridge’) and, at a certain height, comes upon a footpath that leads to the top of the lofty mountain. It can also be reached by setting out from Curral das Freiras and scaling the short cut known as the Lombo do Furão (‘ferret ridge’). However, besides being an extremely arduous ascent, this route is also full of dangers because of the ravines and precipices that flank it.

From the top of this height one can make out the orographic system of Madeira with relative precision, clearly distinguishing a considerable part of the highest mountains and the great gorges that surround them, almost always flanked by steep ravines and by the highest and most abrupt slopes. From that height the mountain range of endless peaks stands out, running lengthwise across Madeira from its westernmost to its easternmost point and forming the two well-defined slopes that make up the north coast and the south coast of the island.

Despite the difficulty of the ascent, many distinguished figures have visited this enchanting spot, some drawn by the dazzling, indescribable horizons it reveals, others attracted by the particular interest it holds for students of the physical and natural sciences.

The following list gives the results obtained by the various observers who have sought to measure the height of Pico Ruivo (‘russet peak’).

Metres

Year	Observer	Altitude (metres)
1811	Gourlay	2,515
	Smith, Irish Trans, 8	1,573
1821	Clavering and Sabine, Journ. of Science, no. 29	1,657
1823	Thomas Edward Bowdich (barometer)	1,855
1823	Bowdich (trigonometry)	1,921
1823	Friends of Bowdich	1,864
1826	Dr Heineken, Phil. Mag., 1837	1,850
1838	Officers of the United States Exploring Expedition, led by Captain Wilkes	1,901
1839	Officers of the British ships Erebus and Terror	1,858
1839	Officers of the British ships Erebus and Terror	1,860
1844	Captain Vidal	1,845
1844	Engineer António P. de Azevedo	1,843
1859	Dr Hochtetter	1,876
1861	J. Gray Smith	1,849
1903	Colonel Eduardo Agostinho Pereira	1,950
1914	Geodetic Commission headed by Colonel Alfredo Durão	1,861

The officers of the ships Erebus and Terror used the formulae of Gay-Lussac and of Rudberg to measure the peak, obtaining a height of 1858 metres by the first method and 1,860 metres by the second. One of Bowdich’s calculations is based on a trigonometric survey; all the other results were obtained by barometer, the late Colonel Eduardo Agostinho Pereira having used a barometer-altimeter for his measurement of the peak. The calculation by Colonel Alfredo Durão, which gives this mountain an altitude of 1861 metres, is considered one of the most accurate, since it was carried out under conditions particularly suited to obtaining a satisfactory result. This calculation was made in 1914.

The views from the top of the peak are magnificent, whichever way we turn our gaze.

Pico do Areeiro (‘sand pit’) with its reddish escarpments, the broad Pico das Torres (‘towers’), surrounded by several lesser summits, the highest of which is Pico do Gato, and the peaks of Canário, Cidrão, Grande and Santo António rise a short distance away, though separated from us by ravines of varying depth. Further off, to the west, one can make out the plateau of the Paul da Serra (‘upland marsh’), entirely bare of vegetation, and to the east the long, winding Ponta de São Lourenço. The parish (freguesia) of Santana, the verdant uplands of São Jorge and Boaventura, part of the Caminho do Poiso, Porto Santo and the three Desertas can all be seen from the top of the peak. The sea around the island is also visible from there, except in the direction of Pico das Torres, which is only a little lower than Pico Ruivo.

The spectacle to be seen from the top of the peak at sunrise deserves admiration for its fantastic and immensely beautiful quality. Seen from this summit, the sun, as it appears on the horizon, seems to tremble in its enlarged disc of a lovely golden colour. Yet this spectacle, although curious and worthy of attention, is far surpassed in beauty by the magnificent effects of light that the sun produces on the morning mists and the bare mountain summits as it rises.

Seven plant species have been found at the top of the peak, among them a small heath with pink or violet flowers (Erica cinerea). The urze molar grows almost to the summit, while the urze durasia goes no higher than halfway up the slope. The remains of a lava column covered with many olivine crystals are found on the upper part of the peak, and the surrounding ground consists of red scoria, lapilli and volcanic bombs.

According to a letter published in no. 355 of the Correio de Madeira of 21 June 1923, when the upland commons (montados) were divided, one part of Pico Ruivo, the eastern part, went to Faial, the northern part to Santana and the western part to São Jorge. The highest point of the mountain, the same letter states, belongs to Santana.

On one of the slopes of Pico Ruivo, not far from its summit, there is a cave or grotto known as Lapa da Cadela (‘bitch’s cave’), which gives shelter to visitors climbing this height when bad weather overtakes them in those sometimes inhospitable parts.

There was a pressing need to build a small mountain shelter nearby, but this was not achieved until 1939, to the great satisfaction of those who visit this picturesque spot and to the well-deserved credit of those who undertook this valuable improvement.

Countless compositions in prose and verse extol the marvellous beauty of those lofty parts, and countless too are the accounts, in Portuguese and in foreign languages, of the various excursions made there, many of which deserve to be read and duly appreciated. Among these we may mention that of the illustrious English naturalist and traveller T. E. Bowdich, in his interesting book Excursions in Madeira and Porto Santo, of which there is a French translation, and the one published in the issues of the former Heraldo da Madeira (‘Madeira Herald’) of 2, 6 and 7 February 1912.