Scientific expedition of 1881

THE ORIGINAL MOUNTAIN EXPEDITION

August 1, 1881

At 8:15 p.m., a group of 42 enthusiastic expedition members departed from Lisbon's North Station (Santa Apolónia), anticipating an exploratory journey to the Serra da Estrela, a still unknown, wild, and largely uninhabited region steeped in mystery and myth. They departed to the warm acclaim of a large audience, including representatives of the Council of Ministers, the president and first secretary-general of the Lisbon Geographical Society, the director and several professors of the Medical-Surgical School, and a large number of members of the press and universities. They set off with energy, knowing they would face the forces of the elements, not the beasts of Africa. The twenty-three carriages carried men bundled up in flannel sweaters, winter coats, two English blankets, and even oversized boots. Eduardo Coelho, the correspondent and director of the Diário de Notícias, wrote ironically from the mountains that it was "all the wool of a flock upon us! Put a revolver on this, for wolves, bacon for vipers."

The Serra da Estrela, also known at the time as Montes Hermínios, was a region whose allure led to it sometimes being explored by small groups motivated by adventure and its unique characteristics. One of the immediate objectives of the 1881 expedition was to establish a meteorological station, one of the first in Europe. The program for this facility was carefully prepared by Sousa Martins, as medical sciences were working innovatively in the prospective fields of altitude pathologies, medical climatology, flora applied to pharmacopoeia, and meteorology, which would later certify the establishment of the Sanatorial Resort.

The Organizing Committee had secured political support from the government, and the municipalities would be crucial to the expedition's success. Without this support, the Lisbon Geographical Society would not have been able to promote a project of this magnitude, lasting 19 days and involving approximately 100 men. Complete laboratories were set up there, with the scientific equipment and instruments of each specialized section, some of them built and acquired specifically for the mission. Estrela was the object of study, became a laboratory, and hosted the largest multidisciplinary concentration of scientists in Portugal to date. The expedition members would carry only a small carry-on bag, which could include a few personal belongings and select items for consumption during the fifteen-day stay on the mountain, as well as a walking stick for the difficult trails. In the tent on the mountaintop, each expedition member would find a board stretcher and two blankets for sleeping; a clay basin for washing; a lunchbox for cooking rations; and a canteen for wine rations.

There was a strictly military-style diet, and everyone was warned from the outset: "Let the gourmets, if any go, not entertain illusions. They will be content with a simple meal and rations. There will be dawn and silence at the sound of a trumpet." News arrived in Lisbon every day. The Diário de Notícias gave a detailed, step-by-step report, incorporating information from postal telegrams and Eduardo Coelho's chronicles sent from Seia. The telegrams received by the editorial office were made available to other national periodicals for consultation.

Days passed, the expedition members walked several kilometers, overcoming mountain passes and gorges. They only found peace when they slept at night. In an atmosphere of cheerful camaraderie, the different sections spent their time researching, collecting, measuring, and photographing the materials. The medical section stood out for its throng of visitors, its scientific instruments, and the uniqueness of Sousa Martins, who, wearing a green campino cap, performed clinical work, observations, experiments, and surgeries on the villagers who approached him.

The excursions were surprising, especially the one to the lagoons, which demystified the Dark Lagoon, previously imagined as endless, connecting with the sea. The group was captivated by their position, "separated from one another by a strip of granite a few meters long, bordered by beautiful junipers," in a setting of remarkable beauty, devoid of "monsters of the abyss and the enchanted Moor," figures that had eluded scientists' imaginations before this pioneering experiment. The group was amazed: the horizon seemed infinite.

There were unusual dinners and even a procession at the end to return the scientific instruments, which were elevated to the place of Santos, between sections. The local population was, in fact, a decisive partner, showing up en masse at the camp and contributing to medical evaluations and sharing legends and stories, both true and fictional. Some of these endure, as does the imagination of those who still venture forth, dreaming of desire and knowledge, believing that the mountains are still much more than the wealth of information that this scientific experiment left us, and which, in these days, we have recreated, also with adventure, celebration, fireworks, music, dinners, picnics, exhibitions, and, above all, with the local people.

Through the lands of Manteigas, Seia, and Guarda, we relive ancient past, in a privileged setting for unique experiences, surrounded by the nobility of the landscapes, the vertiginous slopes, the lagoons and sculpted rocks, the glacial valleys, the thermal waters, the purity of the air, and the crystalline silence. Discreet yet contagious, the Serra da Estrela was an adventure over a century ago and, today, it contains within it the tourism of the future, where science reveals itself in the full breadth of the gaze.

Article written using the report by Helena Gonçalves Pinto in the Diário de Notícias.