History
Historically, it functioned as an astronomical (celestial) navigational guide and reference mark for mariners, who calibrated their navigational equipment by referencing the islet on long Atlantic crossings. Its unique geological formation also attracted visitors travelling between Europe and America, intersecting here on their way to the ports of Lajes or Santa Cruz ports of Flores Island. The steep rock slopes of the islet and shoreline served as shelter from strong offshore gales.
Read more about this topic: Monchique Islet
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“History is more or less bunk. It’s tradition. We don’t want tradition. We want to live in the present and the only history that is worth a tinker’s damn is the history we make today.”
—Henry Ford (1863–1947)
“While the Republic has already acquired a history world-wide, America is still unsettled and unexplored. Like the English in New Holland, we live only on the shores of a continent even yet, and hardly know where the rivers come from which float our navy.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“One classic American landscape haunts all of American literature. It is a picture of Eden, perceived at the instant of history when corruption has just begun to set in. The serpent has shown his scaly head in the undergrowth. The apple gleams on the tree. The old drama of the Fall is ready to start all over again.”
—Jonathan Raban (b. 1942)