Discovery of the Azores

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This was written in 1880's by an American visitor:
   
   Between the villages, sloping to the sea, lay broad and fertile fields; yams
   and sweet-potatoes, besides Indian corn, wheat, and other grains, beans,
   melons, squashes, and potatoes, as luxuriant as on the meadow-lands of the
   Connecticut.124 

The island of Sao Jorge has extensive pastureland for dairy cattle and
produces milk and cheese for the islands and some cheese for
exportation.125 Another island with daries is Terceira. It is common
for most Azorean families to have a family cow or two to provide the
household with milk, butter, and cheese.126 The Azores have mostly
holstein and shorthorn breeds.127 

There have been two ways to survive on the islands: one must fish,
or one must farm. Some combine the two out of necessity. Because of
the lack of good harbors, high coastal walls,  and the deep rolling seas
surrounding the islands, fishing has never been a major activity.
Consequently, agriculture has been practiced by nearly all of the
islanders for a livelihood.128   

Because of the lack of available land, farming has had to be
intensive.129 The land tenure system puts the farmer in
"perpetual leasehold," that is, he is virtually landless and must
lease land to farm. The rent is fixed, but unlike tenant farming where
the owner and the farmer share in profits and losses, the renter
takes the full impact of good and bad agricultural years. Leases are
hereditary, being passed along to subsequent generations, and the
leased lands can only be subdivided by permission of the owner.
Thus, as the population grows the opportunities dwindle for the
younger generation. In 1840, only 3% of the land was controlled by
the population.130 In 1965, 81.8% of the Azorean farms were 3 acres
or less, and 3.2% larger than 10 acres.131 

The peasant farming his small acreage for sustenance has no interest
or means to progress technologically. In the 1880's the status of
farming equipment found on the Azores was as this visitor saw it:
   
   Flax is extensively cultivated and used, yet a loom or spinning-wheel is a thing
   almost unknown . . . wheat is trodden out by oxen on a large circular threshing-
   floor, as in patriarchial times . . . In churning . . . still adhere to the traditional
   method of shaking the milk in an earthen vessel or burying it in a leathern bag
   in the ground until the butter comes. A large broad hoe with a short handle is
   universally employed in agricultural labors. Spades, shovels, and forks are
   tabooed as inventions of the foul fiend . . . The plough is the old Latin plough
   reproduced. It is of wood, the share alone being shod with iron. The ploughman
   rides to the field on his donkey, and then has a pair of oxen to do the work,
   while the donkey is turned loose into the hedge to wait. So it was in the days
   of Job, who tells us that "the oxen were ploughing and the asses feeding besides
   them."132   

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Resilient People

Hardship builds character. This is seen time and again throughout
history, and this aptly applies to the Azoreans. They have had
to survive earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, fierce storms, crop
disease, European wars, and pirate raids to name their greatest
challenges.133 Because of their isolation in the middle of the Atlantic,
they have had to be self-reliant, independent, and harmonious to
survive.134

There are many descriptions of the Azorean's character and lifestyle
in the literature. Most of it is complimentary. Some of it is derogatory
and scathing which quite often comes from upper class travelers who
have little interest in the welfare of the peasant class. The following
are some of the opinions that represents both viewpoints.   

An American, Alice Baker, traveled to the Azores during the summer
in the early 1880's. She wrote this:
   
   The Portuguese peasant class is poor and often poverty-stricken though
   living under fairly favorable climate conditions; that they have a very low
   standard of living, dwelling in humble cottages which are sometimes
   uncleanly and usually devoid of the barest necessities, and eating the plainest
   of food; that they lack knowledge of hygiene and sanitation; that they are
   devout though somewhat less in parts of the mainland than on the islands;
   that their religious ideas are somewhat vague and associated with many
   superstitions; that their recreation is limited and semi-religious in some
   of its aspects; and that they are grossly ignorant, illiterate, often lacking
   in a desire for education, though not unintelligent . . . Quick intelligence,
   the dreamy melancholy, the slyness and love of intrigue, the wit and
   imagination are here and the power of expression in words . . . They are
   devoted to music, flowers, dance, and song.135


Lawrence Oliver, himself an Azorean immigrant, describes his
people as they appeared to him:
   
   The Portuguese have always been liberty-loving race . . . They are adven-
   turous, courageous, natural pioneers. They are home lovers and home
   builders. Of a deeply religious nature, they support their and its needs.
   Although thrifty, they recognize the good things of life and when acquired,
   use them with moderation and good judgment. Seldom will their names
   be found on relief rolls and even less often on the records of our criminal
   courts.136

Mark Twain visited the Azores and wrote about the islands and its
people in his work Innocents Abroad. It must be remembered that
Twain's style is witty and satirical, and he uses forced humor at
times to entertain the reader. But still his comments are worth
hearing, if only because he is a giant in the observation of people. His
preoccupation with the donkey in the below passage comes a day
after his rigorous travel on the beast of burden:

   The community is eminently Portuguese -- that is to say, it is slow, poor,
   shiftless, sleepy, and  lazy . . . The people lie, and cheat the stranger,
   and are desperately ignorant, and have hardly any reverence for their dead.
   The latter trait shows how little better they are than the donkeys they eat
   and sleep with . . . The donkeys and the men, women, and children of a family,
   all eat and sleep in the same room, and are unclean, are ravaged by vermin,
   and are truly happy.137

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Mostly Humble Abodes

Houses in the Azores are usually one-story made of black lava rock
cemented by limestone, a mineral found only on the island of Santa
Maria. The black rock is plastered over and then whitewashed. The
exterior of the house has tiles of white porcelain with designs in blue,
brown, green, or yellow for decoration. The tiles are from an
inherited handicraft coming from both the Moors and the Flemings.
The roofs are tiled in red, or thatched, and have no chimneys. The
islands' architecture shows strong Moorish decorative influence.138

The Azorean dwellings are usually one room, some have a loft, some
have a separate cooking area, and most have earth floors. There are
no windows, and those with them, have no glass. Their beds are
matresses of corn husks or silky fibre put in homespun linen ticks.
Most homes don't have a stove but will have a fireplace with a broad
stone shelf. Some do have stone ovens though. There is very little
furniture in the house, and the lighting is poor. Religious pictures can
be found hanging on the walls, as much as for decoration, as for
devotion to patron saints. Household cloths are the products of the
women living in the house. Farm animals are frequent visitors inside
the house mostly when they are seeking shelter during bad weather
or when the sun sets.139

This was observed by a visitor at the turn of this century:
   
   When the Azorean peasant is hungry and needs a stew, he gathers a few faggots,
   places them on the ground, sets on the kettle or stew-pan, lights the fire; then
   when the dish is cooked the doors and windows are opened and the smoke allowed
   to escape. . . The morning light is sure to discover all the animals nestling in
   and about his bed, from the huge black pig and the tiny donkey, down to cats,
   dogs, sheep, and calves, half-starved hens, clean fat rats and cosmopolitan fleas.140
   

Azoreans eat stew, fish, cornbread, cabbage, and potatoes. Cornbread
and cheese with water is a meal. Pork saugages are ritually made
and are spicy.141 There are no wells; therefore, cisterns are used to
collect rainwater. If there is a drought, some islanders have to walk 6
to 8 miles to find spring water which is collected in wooden pots and
carried by Azorean women balanced on their heads.142 

Famine and hunger are always a concern, as witnessed by this account:

   On the island of Corvo in the Azores we lived a hand-to-mouth existence.
   Sometimes a hurricane came in and out of the North Atlantic and wiped
   out the corn crop. When that happened, there was real hunger. We rationed
   what we had and prayed a lot."143

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Clothing

Last century the Azorean men dressed in coarse wool and linen
pants, shirts, and jackets, all homespun. Feet were bare while some
wore wooden shoes. A skull cap was worn with a tassel on top.
Azorean women used the same material for their clothing and wore
braided hair topped with a cap or handkerchief. They too were
barefooted.144 Some women wore a capote especially where the
Flemish influence was strong. A capote hasn't been worn on the
islands since the 1930's. It was a hooded cloak of dark blue
broadcloth brought to the Azores by the Flemish beguines, a lay-
religious group. This comment was made by a visitor in the
1870's: 145

   The strangest sight in Horta is the capote of the women, worn alike in summer
   and in the rainy season: this cloak is of heavy, dark-blue stuff, falling in
   massive folds to the ankles, and surmounted by a stupendous hood, stiffened
   with whalebone and buckram, and of astounding shape and size. Some pretty
   faces may occasionally be discerned under this grotesque guise.146 

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Urban Environment

Villages are the hubs of daily Azorean activity. Farmers work their
fields during the day and return to their village home in the evening.
Shops are plentiful. For example, in the 1880's, the city of Ponta
Delgada had 23 clothing stores, 6 apothecaries, 139 grocery or liquid
stores, 12 butcher shops, 8 ironsmiths, 15 bootmakers, and 8 tailors.
A hospital had 400 beds147. 

Mark Twain praised the Azoreans for their well-kept villages:
   
   Every street is handsomely paved . . . and the surface is neat and true as a
   floor . . . Everywhere are walls, walls, walls -- and all of them are tasteful
   and handsome -- eternally substantial . . . the town and the island are
   miracles of cleanliness.148

The dairymen lived in the villages but had to ride their horse or
donkey daily up to higher elevations to milk and care for their stock
as seen in this experience:

   I milked the cows every day while they were giving milk. We kept the cows
   in our pastures; which were five to seven miles from home. When they were
   five miles from home, I arose at three o'clock in the morning to get there
   at daybreak . . . I would milk the cows and return home with the milk about
   noon. I had lunch, rested for an hour, then went to work in the fields for the
   balance of the afternoon . . . In the Azores, the people own pieces of land that
   they have inherited. Sometimes the parents from whom they inherited lived
   far away, on the other side of the district, five, six, or seven miles from
   where the children lived. Each family, also, had, its own pasture for cows,
   sheep, or whatever else they possessed. This was the way it was with us.149

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Names, Schools, and Illiteracy

Surnames are seemingly unimportant to the Azorean. They will take
any surname that seems appropriate. Family members will often
have different surnames within one household. The wife sometimes
will take her husband's last name and quite often she will not. The
oldest son will take his father's last name while the next son will
take the mother's maiden name. Nicknames are common and many
are stuck with them for life.150

Education has no priority in a peasant society. The primary concern
of the peasant family is survival and that means everyone works to
assure it. No advantage is seen by going to school, and in fact, the
peasant feels that it is a detriment in that it takes the child away
from his responsibility at home. Schools have been available though
for those who are interested. The Portuguese government through
the centuries has never fully supported public education;
consequently, there is a very high illiteracy rate in the Azores.151

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Family, Village, and Island

In the Azores there is a hierarchy of loyalty. One's first loyalty is to
the family. It is the most important socio-economic unit in which
every member is expected to do his or her share to strengthen the
family's stability and well-being. The father is the head of the family
and makes the important decisions. Land and farm animals are
passed along to the each generation. This provides continued security
for the family members.152 

The Azoreans second loyalty is to the village which consists of a
network of families many which are interrelated by marriages. When
tragedy strikes one the village families, the rest of the village
contributes aid in the form of food, work, and care.153 

After the family and the village, the Azoreans next loyalty is to the
island on which he or she lives. Each island has a certain uniqueness
about it. The nationality of the settler is different; the industry,
topography, and religious celebrations are different. Dialects differ
too. The people of Sao Miguel have a harsher accent because of their
stronger Iberian heritage as compared to the Flemish-settled islands
where the spoken tone is softer and the language more sophisticated.
The Portuguese language throughout the Azores is different from the
mainland in tone, words, and style. The Portuguese spoken in the
Azores is an older and more conservative form because of the
archipelago's isolation.154

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Music

Azoreans are fond of music and dance. The viola is the dominant
instrument which is a guitar-like mandolin. In Terceira, the viola is a
little larger in size, and Spanish-like, because of the influence of the
Spanish occupation of the island, 1583-1643. The other islands have
the "viola dos dois coracoes" which is a guitar that has two heart-
shaped holes instead of one the large round whole in the middle of
the body of the instrument. It has 12 strings which is very similar to
the modern 12-string folk guitar. It is not uncommon for the man of
the house to play and sing after the family's evening meal for
relaxation and entertainment.155

Azorean folksongs are descriptive and colorful in keeping with the
tradition of the medeival troubador. They are about the joy and the
rigors of life. Verses for these songs are mostly improvised at the
moment of playing. This improvisation can become a contest between
singers which the Azoreans call "odesafio."156

The chamarrita is the folk dance of the Portuguese and is similar to
the traditional European folk dances. Usually the men and women
begin the dance in two separate lines, they circle, and then pair up.
The caller instructs the dancers on each move. The chamarrita is a
family dance enjoyed by all.157

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Religion, Superstition, and Witchcraft

Almost all Azoreans are Catholic, but there are Protestants and a
few Jews among the population. The islands were found under the
religious-militant organization, the Order of Christ, under Henry's
command. Cabral, the discoverer of the islands and first captain-
donatary, was a priestly knight within the order. The islands had
monks, friars, and priests among the first settlers, and they built
churches, chapels, monasteries, and convents.

The Azorean people were far removed from the events of the
Protestant Reformation and consequently were little-affected by it.
The Spanish occupation of the Azores came also at the time of the
Inquisition. The Azoreans opposed the Spanish presence, and
consequently the Inquisition. The Spanish were fearful of a revolt
and never enforced the Inquisition.158

Because of the Azorean's subjection to natural calamities, starvation,
and isolation, and their lack of education, it is understandble that the
Azoreans would have strong religious convictions and would turn to
superstition and maybe pagan witchcraft in times of trouble.159 They
have a belief in evil spirits, evil eyes, witches, magical potions, and
omens. For example, a piece of deerhorn hung around the neck of a
newborn is to ward off evil spirits until the infant gets christened.
They believe that a baby could get colic for three months by hanging
diapers in the moonlight.160

The following can cause bad luck: hurt someone's foot; knives that
are crossed at the table; walking over straw in the shape of a cross;
leaving liquid in a cup; and laughing on Friday. The following can
bring good luck: meeting a goat or frog on the road; salt melting is an
ill-person's hand; spider spinning a web; and spitting on a comb or
playing cards.161

In times of struggle promises are made to God or to patron saints.
Many Azoreans will promise to do some type of penance which
usually is praying at a certain chapel. Some promise to walk around a
church singing hymns.162 Curiously enough, Christopher Columbus
was involved in one such promise during his return voyage from the
new world.

One could say that Columbus was nearly Portuguese. He lived and
studied navigation in Portugal, spoke mostly Portuguese, and
married a Portuguese woman. On his return trip to Europe in 1493,
having just discovered the new world, his ship met a terrible storm,
and his crew, having a few Portuguese, made a promise to God that
they would perform an act of obedience if He would deliver them
from the calamity.163   

Here they are returning with the greatest news of the age, and their
first European stop is the Azores. They land at the island of Santa
Maria, and they walk to a chapel for prayer dressed only in their
shirts. That was their promise to God. The islanders saw this and
listened to their tale of a new world, and thought they were crazy.
The crew was promptly arrested. Columbus had to threaten to raid
the town to free them.164 

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Azorean Festivals

The Azores are quite famous for their annual festivals or  "festas."
The festa honors some patron saint, such as St. Peter or St. Anthony.
Some festas focus on the Virgin Mary and Jesus. These celebrations
originated from promises made by Azoreans in times of need or
because of miracles. For example, the Festival of the Lord of Holy
Christ of Miracles is celebrated at Ponta Delgada each spring. A statue
of a suffering Christ is paraded and honored because it is believed
that this particular image caused a miracle in the 17th century. 

The Festival of Our Lady of Miracles is celebrated at Terceira
because of a promise from the people asking the Holy Mother to
deliver them from an invasion by the Spanish in the 17th century.
The Festival of the Holy Spirit is the most common festa. It
commemorates the feeding of the poor by St. Elizabeth of Hungary.
There is a coronation, a procession, and a feast for everyone.165 

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Azorean Bullfighting

Bullfighting began in Greece and was adopted by the Romans who
transferred it to the Iberian Peninsula. The Muslims used men on
horseback to fight the bulls which evolved into the practice of using
cape and sword, the Spanish way. Bullfighting first appeared on the
island of Terceira in 1588. It is a "bloodless" affair with both the
bullfighter and bull surviving the best they can.166 There is another
type bullfighting which is also done on Terceira and is called
"tourada da corda" or roped-bull baiting.

In modern history, spring and early summer is the time for branding
cattle and with this is the battle of man and beast competing to see
who is the strongest. Also, with branding time comes man's rite of
spring in which he demonstrates his maleness to the opposite sex.
Thus, we have the background for tourada da corda.

In tourado da corda a 250 foot cord is tied to the neck of bull with
several men holding the other end. The perplexed bull is released in
town and is chased and tormented with umbrellas and other such
raiment. Azorean men test their courage against the bull's fickle
disposition. Some get hurt, but it is a joyous celebration which
everyone in town attends. The cord incidentally is the one way the
bull is brought under control when need be.167 

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Important Historical Events

Dr. James H. Guill of Tulare, California is an American expert on the
history of the Azores. His 1972 publication of A History of the Azores
Islands and his 1993 work, A History of the Azores Islands:
Handbook, are two of the only English language histories available.
Any student of the islands should certainly have the latter work for
reference. Incidentally, there are no modern histories of the Azores
in Portuguese which is surprizing.

The Azores, because of its natural setting in the Atlantic, has
always been a resupply depot and a trading station for Atlantic
shipping. Horta, Angra, and Ponta Delgada harbors were in constant
use by ships of all nations even during wartime. Many types of
people have put ashore at these ports and have left something of
themselves there.168

The French, English, and pirates of all types raided the Azores and
attacked Spanish shipping along the coast.169 Angra, Terceira was the
center of government for the Azores, and when the Spanish took
control of Portugal in 1580, they wanted to claim the Azores as well.
On July 25, 1581, the Terceirans along with other Azoreans fought
the Spanish in a bloody land battle where cattle were released by the
Azoreans to disperse and stop the invaders.170

Undaunted, fifty Spanish ships bombarded the island with cannon.
The French sent troops to help the Azoreans, but the Spanish forces
prevailed. Soon though the Azoreans rejected the authoritarian rule
of the Spanish governor and were supported by 7,000 French and
English troops and 70 ships. Spain sent a fleet of ships and won the
battle. Another skirmish on land followed, but this time the Spanish
won. They held the Azores in what is called The Babylonian Captivity
of 1580-1642.171

The Azores were involved in the Portuguese Civil War which lasted
from 1820 to 1833. The Azoreans supported a constitutional
monarchy and repelled invaders from opposite side in 1829. This
resulted in a government for the Azoreans under the Portuguese
crown. The king gave them the latitude to make most local
governmental policy themselves.172

To end this discussion on the history of the Azores Islands, the
Dabney family of Boston needs to be mentioned. Various members of
the family served as U.S. Consul to the Azores through the 1800's.
Their consulate was in Horta, Faial, and they were closely involved in
commerce between the U.S. and the islands. The family had their
own ships, and they made major contributions to the islands. They
supported the whaling enterprise and were involved in connecting
the islands by submarine cable. Also they helped to erect a
breakwater at Horta which was extremely important to protecting
the habor.173

While Charles W. Dabney was U.S. Consul in the late 1850's, there
was a famine in the Azores. He had 43,000 bushels of corn shipped
to help alleviate the problem. In1858, he distributed at his own
expense wheat and Indian corn to 800 needy people on the island of
Pico with each receiving 1/2 lbs. of food daily for four months. In
1859, he solicited friends and countrymen in Boston to pay for
10,000 bushels of corn. He was praised by the Azoreans as seen in
this excerpt from an  official government statement: "This corn was
transported in the barque 'Azor' which he owned, free of cost; and he
also refused to accept any compensation for the use of his granaries,
and landed the corn at his own expense."174 

http://wwwlibrary.csustan.edu/bsantos/azores.html

[BlueHue]

 azores are not the islas fortunas of the greeks but of the romans !