Across the ravine, but at a very much higher altitude, stands the Achada, in a commanding position on, as its name implies, a stretch of level ground. The road leading to it from the town, known as the Caminho da Sao Roque, as it eventually leads to the village of that name, is almost as steep as the Mount Road, and a very pretty view of the town is visible between its creeper-clad walls, with the picturesque church and tower of Santa Clara in the distance. The Achada has also long been famous for its garden and grounds. It formerly belonged to an English family, who probably planted most of the rare trees, palms, and Dracænas, and the large magnolia-trees for which it has become famous. The property then changed hands, and for some years belonged to a Portuguese family, but is now again in English hands. The following is by the same unknown author of the above description of the Deanery in 1826: “The English merchants all have mansions in the city, but they commonly live with their families in the country-houses in the neighbourhood of it. To-day we have been returning visits, which has taken us to some of the finest of these quintas. One of them is the Achada. The situation is delightful: it stands on a level, the only one in the environs, just above the city, and thus enjoys an advantage in respect to surface possessed by no other. The grounds are extensive, rich in fruits and in flowers, and surrounded by alleys of vine trellises. These vine corridors, as they are called, are common to all the gardens, and in summer, when the plant is in leaf, must be peculiarly grateful.”
ON THE TORRINHAS ROAD
CHAPTER VI
THE PALHEIRO
About an hour’s ride from the town, at a height of some 1,800 or 2,000 feet, is the Palheiro, formerly known as Palheiro de Ferreiro (Blacksmith’s Hut), the principal country place in the neighbourhood of Funchal, belonging to the same owner as the Quinta Santa Luzia. The road leads past many smaller villas, whose gardens have most of them fallen into decay, and only undergo a hurried process of tidying when their Portuguese owner comes to spend a few weeks away from the summer heat of Funchal.
Palheiro was not entirely laid out by its present owner, though the grounds have been very much enlarged and improved, and the house itself, having been destroyed by fire a few years ago, has been lately rebuilt. Some letters from Madeira, written by J. Driver and published in 1834, give the following interesting account of Palheiro, which in those days belonged to the family of Carvalhal.
“The grounds of Senhor Jose de Carvalhal are the finest in the island, possessing a level surface, which is very difficult to be met with here to any extent. This place was recommended to us for our first ride into the country, and after some delay in making choice of the ponies and burroquieros that we intended afterwards to patronize, we made our way eastward out of the city. Crossing a bridge over the deep bed of a river, we saw the ruins created by the great flood in 1803, when several hundred inhabitants were swept into the sea. We now ascended a steep and narrow road for a distance of two or three miles, passing several of the merchants’ houses, from all of which there is a commanding and beautiful view of the city and the bay. The Palheiro, lately the residence of Senhor Carvalhal, by far the richest hidalgo of the island, has been confiscated by the Miguelite Government. Senhor Carvalhal himself had some difficulty in effecting his escape; however, he got on board an English vessel in the bay, and is now residing in London. Upwards of 700 pipes of very choice and old wine were at once taken from his cellars, and sent to Lisbon to be sold on Government account. The house was ransacked, and his grounds are now (though this is of recent occurrence) fast going to ruin. There are a few soldiers stationed near the house to prevent any material damage, and these are now the only persons to be seen on this once splendid estate. The park, if we may so term it, is more in the English style than we expected to find it; but when we came to the orange, lemon, pomegranate and shaddock groves, which are in fine foliage and planted in the best order, we at once saw the effect of these Southern climes. The flower-gardens, though not abounding in that variety we might expect, are well arranged, but begin to show more of the ‘fallen state’ of things than the other parts of the grounds. The house itself is not on a large scale, yet it is built in good style and keeping with the place, as well as the chapel, which is a neat edifice at a short distance from the house. Senhor Carvalhal used to employ more than two hundred men on the estate, for the purpose of keeping it in order. He was a kind landlord, and much respected throughout the whole of the island. Let us, then, hope that Portugal will soon have a fixed Government, and that Senhor Carvalhal will return to his country, and again have the pleasure of enjoying his estates.”