Madeira Truce

So quiet has been the revolution that has gripped the island of Madeira for the past month that elderly British ladies continued to totter round the gardens of resort hotels, to slide along the cobblestoned streets of Funchal in steel-runnered sledges drawn by bullocks. Honeymoon couples continued to play tennis. Last week the British cruisers London and Curlew slipped into Funchal harbor. Royal marines went ashore to throw a cordon round the three largest tourist hotels. British tourists having been thus protected, the Portuguese Government was left free to suppress the Madeira revolution as best it could.

Though a large part of the loyal Portuguese Navy lay off Funchal, though the revolutionary junta of General Souza Dias was in Funchal, days passed and Funchal was not bombarded. The-- flagship of the Portuguese Navy bears the imposing title of Carvalho Araujo. Twelve years ago this same ship was the bouncing little British fleet-sweeper, Jonquil. One shell from the London could scuttle it. Not until the British had established their safety zone did the Portuguese ships begin a fitful bombardment. Soon Minister of Marine Commandante Magalhaes Correia sent a transport and the 55-year-old iron-clad Vasco da Gama clanking down the Madeira coast to land a punitive force on the beach at Santa Cruz and attack Funchal from the rear.

Just before the attack was to start a tiny fishing launch shot out from Funchal pier with a large white flag flapping from its flagstaff. As it neared the Carvalho Araujo the cabin opened. Out stepped Rt. Rev. Antonio Emmanuele Pereira Ribeiro, Bishop of Funchal, swaying unsteadily. A rope ladder was dropped. Hand over hand, up went His Reverence, his purple silk skirts flapping about his legs, to plead for the cessation of all hostilities, but Commandante Correia locked himself in his cabin.

At daybreak off Santa Cruz the Vasco da Gama banged away, first with its eight-inch, then with its six-inch, then with its four-inch gun. Under this lopsided bombardment troops were landed, rebel soldiers fell back on Funchal. No visiting Briton was even pinked. Two days later rebel General Souza Dias surrendered to loyal Commandante Correia.

Strategy of the Madeira revolt as planned by exiles and opponents of the five-year Portuguese dictatorship of General Antonio Oscar de Fragosa Carmona, was that Madeira should rebel first. When troops and ships were withdrawn from Lisbon to suppress this island uprising, Lisbon too would rise up in revolt. But the Lisbon revolt fizzled last week. A sabre charge and the rattle of machine guns quieted the revolutionists.

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