Borges (Gaspar)

The 'Saudades da Terra' dedicates eight long pages to a certain Gaspar Borges, who, after the looting by French pirates, dislodged the artillery pieces, which were considered completely useless, and with great admiration from everyone, managed to restore them to their original use. From the details provided by Frutuoso and the praises with which he extols the work of Gaspar Borges, he must indeed be a very skilled mechanic and of an extraordinary competence, despite the hyperbolic nature of the chronicler's narrative. It is very surprising to us that Gaspar Frutuoso would go into such detail about the case and become such an enthusiastic panegyrist of the dislodging of those pieces! (For a detailed account of the strange skill of the famous Borges, read 'Saudades' on page 283 and following. Marceliano Ribeiro de Mendonça published an interesting historical novel entitled 'Gaspar Borges', in which the skilled artisan, to whom 'Saudades' so extensively refers, is the main protagonist.

Borges (Vasco). He was appointed civil governor of Madeira by decree of April 4, 1914, and took office on the 27th of that month and year.

Bornmuller (P.). German botanist who collected plants in Madeira in 1900. Ref.: Ergebnisse zweier botanischer Reisen nach Madeira und den Canarischen Inseln (Bot. Jahrb., 1903).