Guyaneida (A)

About eight years ago, there was a large emigration of Madeirans to British Guiana. This extraordinary exodus, which threatened to leave the island devoid of people, inspired some talented and humorous young men to write a heroic-comic poem, which, although not printed, was popular at the time and was highly appreciated. The subject was the emigration and it featured some of the most prominent individuals in Funchal society. The poem was extremely caustic and biting, at times irreverent and perhaps even aggressive. However, it had no offensive intentions and was merely the frank and cheerful expression of young men who were having fun while honing their poetry skills. This amusing satire was written by several individuals who later distinguished themselves in various fields of human activity. They were Francisco Clementino de Sousa, Mauricio Castelo Branco, Gabriel Franco de Castro, Matias Figueira, João José Vieira, and Carlos Acciaioli Ferraz de Noronha. There are several handwritten copies of this satire, the publication of which would be interesting, despite there being few individuals currently contemporaneous with the people featured in this heroic-comic poem.