THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESENTED BY PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID FAIR LUSITANIA, Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/fairlusitaniaOOjackrich FAIR LUSITANIA BY CATHERINE CHARLOTTE LADY JACKSON. II WITH TWENTY ILLUSTRATIONS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS. LONDON : UICHARD BENTLEY AND SON, NEW BURLINGTON STREET, ^nblis^trs in ^rbrnarg to ^er Pajtstg. 1874 LONDON : R. CLAY, SONS, AND TAYLOR, PRINTERS, BREAD STHEKT HILL. _j^ r <>'<. Ts^ CONTENTS. PAGE Introduction 3 CHAPTER I. THE VOYAGE. The rock of Lisbon — A tradition — Crossing the Car — Lisbon by moonlight — The Tagus 14 CHAPTER IL THE LANDING. Cork mattresses — The Customhouse — The old seyes — The trans- port of luggage — A French prophecy — The oxen-carts ... 18 CHAPTER IIL A STROLL UP HILL. The Rua do Alecrim — View of Lisbon from the Passeio de S. Pedro de Alcantara — The garden — The geraniums — A stolen meeting — The old and new names of the streets, &c. — The PraQa do Principe Real 23 CHAPTER IV. DOWN HILL. The Praga de Camoes — The statue — The Aguadeiro — The water- works — The fountains — The beggars — The blind — The fashion of wearing eye-glasses 32 CHAPTER V. THE CHI ADO. The ups and downs of Lisbon — The Gremio literario — The churches of the Encarna9ao, Loreto, and Martyres — The Regent Street of Lisbon — Rival pretensions — The ladies and their toiktles — The Spanish veil 39 iv;31S282 CONTENTS. CHAPTER Vr. ' ON LEVEL GROUND. PAOG Extinct convents — The Eua Kova da Almada — The shops of the Eua Nova do Carmo— The dogs — Heaven-appointed scar vengers — A case of hydrophobia — Superstition — The Eocio — The Emperor of Brazil — The glass-works of Marinha Grande — A connoisseur — The theatre of Donna Maria segunda — Eolly-pooly Square — The ruins of the Gothic church of Sen- hora do Carmo — The Largo do Carmo — Galope cantante — The Passeio Publico — Distracted lovers — Coisas de Lisboa . 47 CHAPTER VII. DULCAMARA. Agua fresca — An instrument of torture — An organ-grinder — The true nature of magic — A gold chain for tenpence-halfpenny — The latest secret wrung by science from nature .... 62 CHAPTEE VIII. THE STREETS AND SQUARES. The Pra9a do Comniercio — Eua do Ouro — Eua Augusta — Eua da Prata — Street cries — The wheel of fortune — Lottery tickets — The market of the Figueira — An old custom — The great earthquake — The Gallegos — Statue of Dom Jos^ — Largo do Pelourinho — A stoppage at the Arsenal gates — National pre- judices — The Spaniards in Lisbon — The Caes do Sodre — A telegram 67 CHAPTEE IX. AT HOME. The siesta — The light literature of the day — A scene in the Eua do Alecrim — The Eua das Flores — The terrace — The chimes of Lisbon — Fires — Petrolistas — The meza redonda — Vino puro . 86 CHAFTEE X. AN EVENING DRIVE. The Aterro de Boa Vista — The Alcantara barracks — A miniature Manchester — Fadistas — Alcantara in the dark days of Lisbon — An encounter with a thief— A lovely view — The Cemiterio CONTENTS. dos Prazeres — The JS'ecessidades — San Bento — Portuguese archives — The Jeronymite Bible — The Estrella gardens — The oleanders — The lion — The church of the Estrella — The English chapel — A carnival adventure — The Gremio ... 99 CHAPTER XI. A CHAPEL AND A BULL FIGHT, St. Roque — Unprotected females — The Santa Casa — Chapel of S. Joao Baptista — An amateur bull-fight — Spanish bull-fighters — Campo de Sant' Anna — The amphitheatre — The bull-fighting corps — El Polio — Taking the bull by the horns — Enthusiasm of the spectators — Leaping the bull — The thief s fair — Return home 120 CHAPTER XII. THE FESTAS OF THE 23RD AND 24TH OF JULT. Feting the downfall of tyranny — Mass at the Martyres — An oration at the tomb of Dom Pedro IVth — No union with Spain — Duque da Terceira — Ushering in the 24th — A pictur- esque crowd— Te Deum at S. Domingos — Portuguese soldiers — The heroes of 1833 — Lisbon illuminated — The last sounds of a long day's rejoicing 143 CHAPTER XIIL TO CINTRA, BY THE LARMANJAT. Thrust on the pave by the Spaniards — The Larmanjat rail — A pleasant journey — The road to Cintra — Sant' Estephania — The hotels — Roughing it 163 CHAPTER XIV. THE CASTELLO DA PENA, ETC. Donkeys — The ride up the hill — The beauties of Cintra — A party of Spaniards — Guides — Gardens and grounds of the Castello — The terrace — The old church and cloister — Chalet de Madama — The Castello de Mouros 177 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XV. THE QUINTAS, SANTA CRUZ, ETC. PAGE The quintas of the Marquesses de Vianna and Vallada — The Mari- alva Palace — The Cintra Convention — The Pena Verde — Collares road — Montserrate — Santa Cruz — Temptation of S. Honorius — Quinta do Dias — The Fojo — A legend — The Pedra d'Alvidrar — From Collares to Cintra 193 CHAPTER XVI. PALACIO REAL — HIPPODROMO MAFRA. Moorish origin of the palace — Hall of magpies — Dom Joao the First— Hall of shields — Michael Angelo chimney-piece — Moor- ish shower-bath — Affbnso the Sixth — The kitchens — The guide — The donkey -man — The Hippodrome — Town of Cintra — Amateur beggars — The gaol and the prisoners — Mafra — The vow of Dom Joao the Fifth — Laying the first stone of Mafra — An army of workmen — The monks of Arrabida — Costly church vestments — A grand monarque- — The fa9ade, the interior, &c. of the basilica and palace of Mafra — Its palmy days . . . 213 CHAPTER XVII. THE OMNIBUS — SETUBAL — THE ALFAMA. Leaving Cintra — The omnibus and its passengers — Setubal — The inn — Churches and praQas — The Setubalense — A "shakhands " — The Alfama — A wealthy slave-dealer — A brilliant idea — Melons — Old Lisbon — The salolas — The central railway station 230 CHAPTER XVIII. BY RAIL TO OPORTO. The carriages — Fellow-travellers — Roadside pictures — The Valle do Santarem — An eloquent tirade — The Entrocamento — Thoraar — Grapes — A miniature Venice — Cheap living — General character of the scenery — Coimbra — A fresh start — Two giants — Customhouse — Oporto — The Hotel de suas Excellencias — " Mine host " — Strange bedfellows — An enchanting view . 244 viii CONTENTS. CHAPTEE XIX. THE DRIVE FROM OPORTO TO S. JOAO DA FOZ. PAOK A grumbling Englishman — Praga Nova — Rua dos Clerigos — Market- day — A picturesque bride and bridegroom — Oxen-carts — First view of the Douro — Ships and boats — Houses and gardens — Women and children — Oporto-built vessels — The stone- breakers — The fountain and the lavandeiras — The Americanos —The Praia— S. Joao da Foz 263 CHAPTER XX. AMERICANOS— SERRA DO PILAR — VALLE d'aMORES, ETC. Americanos and trems — Environs of Oporto — Convent and fortress of the Serra do Pilar — Avintes — Marshal Soult — -Dom Pedro the Fourth — Festa of Our Lady of the Serra do Pilar — Portu- guese of the old stamp — The Valley of the Loves — The Praia : — Gloomy grandeur of the night 276 CHAPTER XXL MATHOZINHOS — HOTEL AT FOZ, ETC. The bathing — Bar of Oporto — Mathozinhos and LcQa — Legend of Our Lord of Mathozinhos — The romaria — Mindello — The cars — A pinch of snuff — Hotel at Foz — Spanish families — The hotel garden — Melodramatic beggars — An assemblage of in- congruities 288 CHAPTER XXIL THE SPANIARDS — CRYSTAL PALACE — THEATRE. Turned out by the Spaniards — Seiior Eivas and Doiia Rita — The museum — Crystal Palace — View from the Torre de Marco — Theatro de S. Joao — Views of the Douro from the heights of Oporto 304 CHAPTER XXIIL CHURCHES, MARKETS, STREETS. The ^Herra classica de Uherdade e d'indtistria " — The cathedral — Cloisters of S. Vicente de Fora — San Bento — Dom Pedro's heart — San Francisco — Setting fire to the convent — The Ex- CONTENTS. change — Saturday morning in Oporto — The tamancos — Codo- feita — Mercado do Anjo — English factory — Funda9ao da Misericordia — Rua das Flores — Goldsmiths, hatters, tailors, shoemakers and silversmiths — The labyrinth of streets in upper part of the city — Waterspouts— The angry Douro — A fresh 313 CHAPTER XXIV. A RAMBLE IN MINHO. My Spanish friends — Villa do Conde — A ride to Barcellos — I cast in my lot with the Carlists — Lovely view on the Cavado — Our Lady of Franqueira — Falling into ecstasies — Seiior Castella — A dance — Barcellos —Don Carlos — The Carlist army — The Spanish character — Los Yngleses — A ride to Ponte da Lima — A new acquaintance — Lethe — Ponte de Barca — A centenarian — The ride to Braga — The Se — The soldier-archbishop of Braga — Washing the faces of the saints — Bom Jesus do Monte — Guimaraes — Espinho and Granja 326 CHAPTER XXV. COIMBBA BUSACO, Mealhada — The Coimbra station— Hotel Central de Mondego— The loves of Dom Pedro the First and Ignez de Castro — Poetic effusions— A festa—'^o smoking— The students— ^e Velha— Santa Cruz — Affonso Henriquez— The Alameda — Caught nap- ping—The University— The library— On the road to Busaco — Luso— A rival to Cintra— The battle of 1810— Ascent of the mountain — The woods— The monks — The fonte fria — Extensive prospects — Proposed hotel — Solemn grandeur of Busaco 349 CHAPTER XXVL BATALHA — ALCOBACA — LBIRIA. Return to Coimbra— The diligenda to Leiria— Site of Batalha— Beauty of the exterior— Nave, aisles, and cloisters— Roof of the chapter-house— Capella imperfeita— Batalha in the olden time— Ascent to the top— From Batalha to Alcoba9a— The CONTENTS. baker's wife of Aljiibarotta — The iuu — The Bernardiue mouks of Alcoba^a — Mr. Beckford's description of their kitchen — My Lord Abbot's apartments — Foundation of the Monastery — Tombs of Dom Pedro the Firtt and Donna Ignez de Castro — The library — Leiria — Its pinewoods — Mineral waters, &c. . 368 CHAPTER XXVII. ABRANTKS — FIEES— FUNEBAL MASS STATK ^AURIAGES, ETC. Departure for Badajoz — Change of plans — Farewell to my Spanish friends — Return to Lisbon — Fires — Scene in the Rua do Alecrim — Sad catastrophe — Internacioualistas — Funeral mass at the Se — "Blue Devils" — Decoration of the church — Effusive display of lojalty — ^A lively scene— A sail down the Tagus — Torre de Belem — The Fair — Santa Maria de Beleni - South and West porches — The tombs and cloisters —"The blind, the halt, and the maimed " — Ancient Spanish and Portuguese state carriages — Fire at Ajuda — Pencils and pen- knives — A rich man's funeral — A passport to heaven . . . 381 CONCLUSION. Farewell to Portugal — Fog outside the Bar — An old Carlist officer — Landing at Southampton — Drizzling rain, fog, and mud — Saudades for Fair Lusitania -101 Appendix 403 XI LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. TO FACK PAGE BAB OF LISBON Froiitispiece TOBEE DE SAN VICENTE DE BELEM . . . To facf. Introduction STATUE OF LUIS DE CAMOKS 'J^ THEATBO DE DONNA MABIA 11. IN THE PBA^A DE DOM PfiDEO IV. 53 CLOISTEBS OF SANTA MABIA DA VICTORIA 67 THE DOUBO — FBOM FONTAINHAS lOO PBINCIPAL POBCH OP THE CHUBCH OF THE JEBONYMOS BELEM . 120 THE GBEAT AQUEDUCT 167 CA8TELL0 DA PENA 181 CA8TELL0 DE MOUBOS 190 ON THE COLLABES BOAD 205 PALACIO E BASILICA DE MAFBA 224 SUSPENSION BBIDGE BRTWEEN OPOBTO AND VILLA NOVA DE GAIA . 256 TOBBE DOS CLERIGOS 265 THE DOUBO FROM THE UPPER PABT OF OPORTO 270 THE DOUBO FROM VIBTUDES 312 VIEW ON THE CAVADO — BAECELL08 329 PBINCIPAL POBCH OF THE CHUBCH OF SANTA OBUZ COIMBBA . 857 THE FONTE FBIA — BUSACO 366 WEST DOOB OF THE JEBONYMOS, OB SANTA MABIA DE BELEM . . 391 zii FAIR LUSITANIA tf *' Venus bella, Affei^oada a gente Lusitana, Por quantas qualidades via nella Da antigua tam amada sua Romana, Nos fortes cora^oens, na grande estrella Que mostraram na terra Tingitana ; E na lingua, na qual, quando imagina, Com pouco corrup^ao ere que he a Latina. " — Lusiad. Fair Venus Loved the Lusitanian people, For in their dauntless hearts, And valorous deeds in Tingitana, She saw again displayed the spirit Of her much loved Romans of the olden time ; And in their language, so near akin to that of Rome, She seemed to hear once more the Latin tongue. FAIR LUSITANIA. INTRODUCTION. " You have some object then in coming to Lisbon ?" " Certainly. Portugal is not a country one visits simply for pleasure. The Tagus may be compared to a beautiful gauzy veil that hides the face of an ugly woman. Por Lisbon is a disappointment ; it has neither monuments nor magnificence, neither civiliza- tion nor society, and the country remains just as Byron left it — a land of barbarians in frock-coats and beaver hats." Such are the words which, in a recent work, the popular novelist, Caraillo Castello Branco, puts into the mouth of two of the personages of his story. The one who speaks in terms so disparaging of the fair land of Portugal is an Englishman and an author, who has flitted through the cities of Europe, and is about to give to the world two octavo volumes of his observations on the manners and customs and dis- tinctive characteristics of each nation ; with notes, copious and critical, on its literature, its laws, its 3 B 2 FAIR LUSITANIA.' religion, its politics, &c. &c. &c. And the above- quoted paragraph is hardly an exaggerated statement of the general opinion respecting Portugal, even now, current in England. But a few months ago the writer heard language, no less depreciatory and unjust, held by one who might have been supposed to be tolerably well informed on the subject. " What, going to Por- tugal ! A country no one cares a straw about, except for the wines it produces ! A country that still clings to her old-world ways and customs; that progresses, if progress it may be called, only after a snail-pace sort of fashion, and would stand still altogether were she not jerked forward a little by the rapid onward movement of all other nations ! A country that can claim but one writer of genius — the poet Camoes ; and whose so-called modern literature consists almost exclusively of translations of trashy Prench novels ; a country, therefore, whose language no one cares to study, except, perhaps, a few Oporto merchants' clerks, or engineers employed on the two or three railways we have constructed, and which the Portuguese are not yet able to manage for themselves ! " Even in Portugal itself this prejudiced and con- temptuous view of the actual state of the country exists amongst its foreign population, especially amongst the English part of it. If you chance to meet in Lisbon or Oporto with any of Queen Victoria's loyal subjects — exiled for a time by their occupations from their own dear land of fogs — seldom can five minutes be passed in their society without hearing disparaging remarks on Portugal and her people. And as, accord- 4 INTRODUCTION. ing to the adage, the weaker side must always go to the wall, so the Portuguese, occasionally patronized and constantly abused by " their great and powerful ally," seem meekly to have accepted the humble position assigned them. There is therefore but little real sympathy between the two nations, and the English character is, con- sequently, as much misunderstood and misrepresented by the Portuguese as is their own by the people of England. "The cause of all this," says a well-known Portu- guese author^ — half in irony, yet somewhat apolo- getically — "is that we are a small nation, and but little in vogue. We are become insignificant ; are inexperienced in the ways of the great and enlightened society of European nations — into which by courtesy only we are admitted — and consider ourselves highly flattered when foreigners benevolently deign to cast an approving glance upon us. We are, in fact, want- ing in a certain usage of society that teaches each one to occupy his proper place in it. And, though it is trying to the national vanity, it must be confessed that like those provincials who, when they gain an entree to the social circles of the capital, talk of balls and theatres, prime donne, and the latest fashionable scandal, and are ready to die with shame should it appear that they retain a remnant of the bad taste that induces a love of trees and meadows and country life ; so the Portuguese, timid, and discouraged in the European circle of nations, dare not breathe a word ^ Julio Diniz. 5 FAIR LUSITANIA. in commendation of what is beautiful, rich, and great in their own country ; though they can, por convengdo, be loud in the praises of any insignificant thing, of whatever kind, which the vanity of the foreigner pro- claims as perfection. And they will even carry their complacency to such an excess as to thank him with effusive sensibility for any chance word of praise he may, on rare occasions, concede to them or their country." '* If," continues Diniz, " we presume to speak of Camoes when Tasso and Dante and Milton are named ; if we venture to place our port-wine on an equality with that of Xeres, of Chateau Lafitte, or Tokay, it is because others have impressed the seal of eminence upon them. As for ourselves, we, of course, should continue in silence to read one and drink the other, without well understanding the value of either, or, at least, without presuming to assert that we thought our poet sublime, and our wine delicious." At a table d'hote in Lisbon, a few months ago, the writer heard the superiority of England, not only to Portugal but to all other countries, proclaimed in a rather amusing manner by an Englishman who had come to that city on some railway business about three weeks before. Talking with one of his countrymen, just arrived from the coast of Africa, and quite regard- less of whether he was understood by his Portuguese neighbours ; he said — " Now, I dare say, compared with that dreary part of the world you have been living in, Lisbon seems to you like Great Babylon itself? " 6 INTRODUCTION. "It seems pretty lively," was the answer. "Lively!" he cried, with scorn. "Now to me, who am just from Liverpool, it seems like the city of the dead. Eor the last eleven days there have been no letters, no newspapers from England, to enliven this deadly lively place. That, you may say, is partly owing to this cursed Spanish business ; but they've got the cable here, and the Tichborne trial is still going on in London ; yet not a word of it do they give us in their papers. I yesterday asked two men, who ought to know a little of what is passing in the world, if Kenealy had yet finished speaking. Now, would you credit this, if I didn't give you my word that it's true ? — neither of them knew who Kenealy was ! and, more than that, actually one only out of three or four others who were with us had ever heard of Sir Roger ! Why, your blacks, I should say, wouldn't beat that in ignorance. And this is called a civilized country ! It's a pity, when this world was made, that our island was not shoved down something nearer to the Bay of Biscay. We could then more conveniently have set this country to rights, and have kicked or licked the Portuguese more into the shape of Englishmen." "If," answered his friend, who was suffering from the effects of tropical heat, " England had had the same climate as Portugal, I doubt whether the English would have been more energetic than the Portuguese." " Now don't say that, my good fellow," retorted the other, " it makes me savage to hear you. Climate, I tell you, would never have sunk an Englishman to the level of a Portuguese. No, no ; England would 7 FAIR LUSITANIA. always have been the foremost nation of the world if the island had been placed in the heart of Africa ; for there's that sort of stuff in an Englishman's composi- tion that he must have been, as he is now, an English- man everywhere and all the world over. There's no country like ours ; America comes next, but the Yan- kees are a bit too bombastic. We are the head of all — there's no doubt of tliat^^^ he said, snatching up his tumbler of wine, swallowing its contents at one gulp, and bringing down the glass to the table with a bang that seemed to denote that the question was finally settled. But a swarthy-faced, bright-eyed little man, who sat near our British patriot discussing a plate of figs, while listening attentively to the above tirade^ suddenly lifted up his face and his voice, and, responding to the last words, exclaimed — " And we are the tail, I suppose ? " The Englishman started back in the utmost sur- prise, and everybody laughed — even those who did not comprehend the words which had so electrifying an etfect upon him. " No off'ence, I hope, Senhor — as no oflFence was meant, I assure you. If I had known you spoke Eng- lish, I — I " he stammered out. " You have not offended, but much amused me," was the answer, in very good English. " I have lived," he said, " for many years in your country, and think better of it than you do of mine. But we don't quite deserve to be kicked out of the European family. So I appealed to your generosity, as the head of it, to 8 INTRODUCTION. allow us poor Portuguese to come in as the tail." He had a good hearty laugh, much to the discomfiture of the Englishman ; and, having finished his dessert, took up his hat and, bowing ceremoniously to *' the head of all," went his way. But our countryman was not to be so easily silenced. He shook his head gravely, and, with a contemptuous smile, whispered : " That was a sneaking fellow not to let us know he spoke English. But I have read him a pretty good lesson, and he knows now, if he didn't before, what the world thinks of his country." Of course this man was an exceptional specimen of the British lion in Portugal. Generally the noble animal on his travels is tame and subdued enough. If business or professional objects take him to those outlandish parts, probably he knows something of the language ; this at once sets him at ease, and he is then sufficiently good-tempered and pleasant. But if he has been rash enough to seek pleasure there, without having five words of Portuguese at his command, then he is, usually, eloquently silent, his countenance expressing the disgust and contempt which his tongue cannot utter, or does so only in such exclamations as " Ah ! pah ! phew ! ' ' His manner denotes nervous impatience, and he is utterly intolerant of the volubility with which the natives pour forth an unceasing torrent of words, which, to his ears, is nothing but one of unmeaning gibberish. A tour in Portugal can hardly be profitable or pleasant unless the tourist chance to possess some knowledge of the language. To suppose, as many FAIR LUSITANIA. persons do, that this is knowledge not worth acquir- ing, is an error founded on mere prejudice ; for the cities of Portugal abound with interesting memorials of the past, deserving of more attention than they have hitherto received ; and she can point to a long list of talented writers, both ancient and modern, on historical and scientific subjects, as well as dramatists, powerful romancists, and other authors ; who charm by the grace and elegance of their style, their poetic fancies, their wit, and the vivacity displayed in their writings. And in these days, when both public and private collections of papers are ransacked for evidence that may throw a light on past events, or correct the many falsified statements that have come down to us as history, the national archives of a people once the foremost of nations, as navigators and discoverers and the first con- querors in India, whose sovereigns have been famous either for their learning or their magnificence, their encouragement of the arts, or their w^arlike achieve- ments, must necessarily be most interesting, and should not be overlooked. - Poor little Portugal ! How is it that a country so lovely, whose capital is second in beauty to none of the cities of Europe, whose people are so courteous, so kind-hearted, so hospitable, so free from the gloom and the bigotry of the Spaniard, is pooh-poohed, as it w^ere, by the rest of the world, and accounted the least important and interesting of European king- doms? Why do not our artists in search of fresh subjects for the pencil, seek them in * Pair Lusitania,* on the attractive shores of the Minho, amidst the wild 10 INTRODUCTION. beauty of the banks of the Douro, the Mondego, or the Tagus ? Why do not our tourists, weary of the well-beaten routes, and who have been everywhere but to this comparatively avoided land, bend their steps thither ? Verily they will have their reward if they do. The scenery has the charm of newness and fresh- ness and great variety — craggy mountains, deep ravines, broad slopes of woods and copses, groves of chestnuts and spreading cork-trees ; the olive, the orange, and bright -leaved citron; long sweeps of the trellised and festooned vine; steep hills, clothed to their summits with shrubs, the foliage varied in tint from the dark shadows of the bay to the tenderest green ; vast masses of moss-grown stones ; picturesque ruins of Moorish castles, and Gothic monasteries ; rushing rivulets, over- hung with drooping willows, and bordered with aromatic herbage. Erom almost every lofty height, many leagues inland, the rugged rocky coast, with its deep sandy coves or recesses, may be discerned ; beyond, the wide expanse of the Atlantic, its waves now glowing with opal tints as they reflect the glancing beams of the sun, at other times crested with foam, and rushing impetuously onward to break in cataracts of spray against broken masses of rock, rent by the fury and pressure of the ocean into a thousand fantastic shapes. Although this work is by no means intended to serve as a guide-book, it being merely a collection of extracts from a desultory diary, with letters written during a recent visit to Portugal after an absence of several years — in which interval the changes and improvements in the cities and towns have been so numerous, and 11 FAIR LUSITANIA. are indeed so striking, especially in Lisbon, that Portugal may be said to be a new country to those who have known it sufficiently well to compare what is with what tvas, say twenty, fifteen, or even ten years back — yet, it may be mentioned that the traveller in Portugal, who would see not only its cities and their many interesting monuments of the past, but the country in all its beauty and variety of seascape and landscape, must not be content merely to run through t by rail. It is, however, unnecessary that he should wander about on foot only, or be continually on horseback, as some persons have recommended ; but he must often leave the direct roads, and stray from the beaten tracks — taking his chance of a place in the diUgencia or other conveyance, and sometimes be prepared to put up with but poor accommodation. If rough, it is generally clean, and the people are friendly. A little inquisitive, perhaps — desirous of knowing if he has a family ; why and where he has left it, or if he is on his way to visit relatives, and a good deal surprised to learn that his travels have no object in the world, save pleasure ; for the Portuguese have only of late years begun to be travellers in the sense that the English are. Great politeness of speech and courtesy of manner are indispensable to one who would have things made comfortable for him. As he will always be addressed as " Vossa Excellencia^^ or " Vossa Seignoriaj" he must not be chary in the use of those terms when he himself addresses either gentle or simple ; and his wishes will be attended to with greater alacrity if, at his inn or 12 INTRODUCTION. hotel, he does not disdain the claim of even the waiters and chambermaids to similar civilities, and prefaces his requests to them with " Ho, Senhor Manoel," or *' Senhor a ^ Odiqmm.^, faz favor ,^^ &c. For the rest, any reader of these pages to whom Lusitania is yet an unknown region, is recommended to make acquaint- ance witli that interesting corner of Europe. There still lingers there enough of quaintness, and diversity of manners and customs, and of picturesqueness of costume, to give piquancy to the scene, and to inspire that sense of strangeness and newness which is not the least of the pleasures of foreign travel. The troubled state of Spain has prevented the carrying out of a plan for the extension of the rail- roads to the frontier of that kingdom in order to make Portugal more accessible from the north by land ; but the sea passage, which perhaps deters some persons from visiting the Peninsula, is but a short one, whether it be made from Southampton or London, and rarely proves otherwise than pleasant. 13 CHAPTER I. THE VOYAGE. Lisbon, July 1873. — Very delightful throughout has been our five days' voyage from London. Smooth seas, cloudless blue skies, and the air most enjoyably soft and balmy ; so much so that I confess I felt something very like real regret, when the R-ock of Lisbon Avas said to be in sight, that we so soon were to reach our destination. The evening was lovely. A gentle breeze wafted us onward — so gentle, that it only rippled the surface of the sea, which was sparkling with golden light beneath the last rays of the setting sun. A gauzy violet-tinted mist had crept over the distant mountains of Portugal. Already, pale gleams, whose soft lustre grew brighter as the purple splendour of sunset faded away and the short twilight deepened in gloom, betokened the rising of the moon. Gradually she appears — she has cleared the hills — " The moon is up, and yet it is not night ; Sunset divides the glory with her." Her broad disk is red, almost as the sun's at his setting; but as she rises higher in the heavens the fiery hue quickly fades, and she shines forth in un- 14 THE VOYAGE. dimmed beauty, illumining sea, sky, and mountain with her silvery beams. The Portuguese who inhabit the villages near the coast have a fondly-cherished tradition that Noah came to their country many years after the Elood expressly to see a really fine sunset. He certainly could not have chosen a more favourable spot for the purpose. And these people take great credit to themselves for the magnificence of the spectacle, which, they say, rew^arded the patriarch for his long journey *' West- ward, Ho!" as though it had been prepared by their forefathers — who, as the story goes, were messengers sent on beforehand by Noah, and finding the country so beautiful, settled in it — to delight and astonish him by their great skill in sky painting. Erom the pride with which some of these peasantry speak, or rather boast, of their sunny clime, one would fancy there are among them those who really believe, that by some indefinable magical process, they have a hand in getting up those bright skies and gorgeous scenes ; amidst which the regretful sun, as they say, every night bids a forced adieu to the land he so loves. " Sol e do ^^ is the refrain of one of the national songs of the people; and it speaks well for them that they can, if only in song, look on sunshine as a set-off against the evils of poverty. " Sol e do " is far better than the popular '^ Van y toros^^ of the same class in Spain; but both are, in some degree, illustrative of the national character. Steadily, but slowly, we glided along the coast ; the sublimity of the scene somewhat marred by the FAIR LUSITANIA. abominable noise of the relentless thumping and bumping screw. Our captain had feared he would have to lay to, outside, until morning; but late in the evening the white sail of the pilot-boat was espied. Although it was past midnight before we had crossed the bar, yet I could not go to my berth without look- ing at the " Sultana of cities," as the Portuguese sometimes call Lisbon, as she lay before us in the dreamy light of the moon. Her forts and her towers ; her groups of white houses piled one above another ; her hills, crowned with stately mansions, with palaces and churches, stood there clearly defined in bright outline. All these were familiar to me ; but the details of the picture, half hidden as they were in deep shade, left much for fancy to fill in ; captivating it the more, like Camoes' beautiful Dione, who, of her charms, as he says, " Nem tudo deixa ver, nem tudo eseonde." Light still gleamed from the windows of several houses, and, at times, sounds like the echoes of dis- tant voices rose in the air, then died murmuringly away ; proclaiming that Lisbon no longer keeps the early hours she used to do— and that not many years back — when between nine and ten o'clock, except on some special occasions, darkness and silence reigned throughout the city. On the broad glittering waters of the Tagus — more like a miniature Mediterranean than a river — lay many a tall ship, and a whole fleet of smaller craft ; every mast, every spar, and every line, distinctly 16 THE VOYAGE. traced against the deep azure sky. Eitful shadows played on the picturesque range of low, dark hills on the river's right bank; the Lazaretto and the little port of Almada looking far more important than whcD seen in the full light of day; while from sandy nooks in the rock, from amidst patches of verdure, or beneath a sheltering tree, pee])ed forth the cottages and small villas scattered between Almada and the little town of Cacilhas. There was a fascination about this moonlight and midnight scene, to which both I and my only fellow-passenger — a nice Portuguese youth of fifteen, returning home fiom an English school — unwillingly, said boa noite, and descended to our cabins. 17 CHAPTEU II. THE LANDING. The morning beamed brightly. A boat, despatched from the hotel at which I was expected, was very early alongside, and I then bade adieu to the Cadiz -r-a. very fine vessel, of whose arrangements, except in one point, and of all on board, from captain to steward, I have nothing but praises to record. The one ex- ception is the penance, in the shape of cork mattresses, provided by the owners for their passengers. These articles are intended, in case of necessity, to serve also as life-buoys. They are composed of bits of hard cork, than which a bag of smooth pebbles would be a softer bed, and a rough plank, with a stone or block of wood for a pillow, a luxurious couch. Whether a single life would have been saved by their means, had there unhappily been occasion to trust its safety to them, seems to me doubtful; for not only are these mattresses cumbrous things, beyond, at least, a woman's strength to manage, but, as I was informed, assistance is required to buckle them to the body — assistance, which, in the event of a disaster at sea, when each person would naturally be anxious to save his own life — one could hardly hope to receive. But 18 THE LANDING. even if efficient as life-buoys, they are still, as mat- tresses and cushions, most diabolical contrivances, and for a long voyage, could not possibly be endured. They ought to be banished from every vessel, and a swim- ming-belt be supplied in their place to each berth. The lacerations and indentations of the back which resulted from lying on these instruments of torture could not have been worse had one been condemned to toss about for six nights on the coral reef described by the Earl and the Doctor in " South Sea Bubbles.'* The steward did the best in his power to remedy the misery in my case, by lending me his own mattress, which had been made slightly less torturing than the others by means of a thin layer of horsehair laid over the lumps of cork. The palha de milho, or Indian- corn straw, is employed by the Portuguese for making summer mattresses. It is both rough and hard ; but my painful experience of a cork bed makes me look forward with much satisfaction to reposing to-night on a straw one. Our baggage in the boat, a custom-house officer stepped in to accompany me and my boy companion to the Alfandega. Passing through the custom-house used to be a very long and vexatious affair; and as everybody had assured me that just as things were managed there a century ago so they were still, I looked forward to affording a nice morning's amusement, in the ransacking of my boxes, to a posse of indolent officials ; for taking up whose valuable time I should have something considerable to pay. I, however, found that the Portuguese of to-day avaient change tout cela. 19 c 2 FAIR LUSITANIA. The luggage was landed without delay ; there was no peering into everything as of old. Pro formd^ keys were turned, lids raised and closed, but with a sort of apologetic bow for the liberty taken, and the business was ended. There was nothing to pay; no passport was asked for, and, in reply to my inquiry, I was told that none was needed, except on leaving the country by sea. The old leather-curtained seges, with their mules and booted and spurred postilions, have also dis- appeared. The antiquated jolting vehicles, into which one had formerly to scramble with difficulty to a height above a yard from the ground, are replaced by open and close carriages with a pair of good horses. The public carriages of Paris are inferior to them ; those of London are left far in the rear. In fact, it was a very decent turn-out that conveyed me to the hotel ; though the luggage — of which there was little enough, so that it might have been taken with me — was transported from the Alfandega, after the fashion of the good old times. And indeed, from the circum- stance of its being known that I was an Ingleza, and, as a matter of course, mui rica, a patriotic feeling induced me — as it could be done on such easy terms — to go to the expense of a few shillings, in order not to tarnish the reputation which the sons and daughters of Portugal's faithful ally have here acquired of possessing a superabundance of pelf and willingness to part with it. The belongings of ''Sua Uxcellencia" were therefore placed on a square board with a cord at each corner ; these cords, looped together, are 20 THE LANDING. suspended on a pole, eacli end of wliicli rests on a man's shoulder, the hurden hanging in the centre. In this way two men, often bareheaded and beneath a burning sun, will toil, barefooted too, with slow and equal steps, carrying some heavy weight along the sandy roads, and up and down the steep hilly streets of Lisbon. Truly, it is by the sweat of their brow they earn their bread ; for often on reaching their destination, panting and blowing, and with the per- spiration streaming down their mahogany-coloured faces and necks, they have the appearance of having just walked out of the river. A hard life indeed is theirs, poor beasts of burden ! Years ago, it was attempted to introduce a better system of carrying heavy goods ; a more expeditious one, less toilsome to the men, less expensive to their employers ; but it was resisted, as an attempt to take from the poor labourer his means of livelihood. And in the troublous times through which Portugal has passed, it generally was thought expedient in this, as well as other measures for the public good, to yield when the people resisted ; as opposing political factions often took advantage of the discontent and ignorance of the lower classes, and made them a means of further- ing their own objects. But those evil days are past, and the present genera- tion has fallen on good and prosperous ones. This morning I heard in the Alfandega that the extensive warehouses of that establishment are becoming in- sufficient for the great and increasing trade of the country ; and that the fulfilment of the French prophecy, 21 FAIR LUSITANIA. that " Lisbon in the twentieth century is destined to be the capital and centre of commerce of the world," is commencing ! Before that event happens, I suppose the old oxen- carts, that still creak and groan so execrably through the streets of Lisbon, on two circular pieces of wood with a hole in the centre, which serve for wheels, will be banished for ever. They hold their ground w^onderfully, for they must be antediluvian; made after specimens preserved in the Ark and brought hither by Noah when he paid his sunset visit to Portugal. "Well, as the rails are being laid down for the American tramway through Lisbon to Belem, and the narrow, stujffy omnibuses are to be ousted from the road by the roomy and airy cars, perhaps, as one improvement usually leads to another, the days of the lumbering oxen cart may be numbered. Yet, when its four bare poles are banded together with willows, and interlaced with vine leaves and branches, in the form of a large basket, and the centre is filled with ripe grapes, it is a picturesque object. And the patient, plodding ox is an appropriate animal to draw the primitive vehicle and its load of ripe fruit. I have seen it thus laden, and by its side a bright-eyed peasant girl, in broad-brimmed hat and gay kerchief. They were standing in one of the back streets of the city — a line of poetry in a page of prose. ss CHAPTER III. A STROLL UP HILL. Perhaps more or less of disappointment is generally felt on revisiting after the lapse of some years places associated with the memories of a former eventful or happier period of our life. Where is now the beauty seen in them then, and with which imagination has decked them during absence ? It has passed away with the adventitious circumstances and exaggerations of fancy from which it was derived. We look now on these objects and scenes with changed feelings, and find them shrunken and mean, compared with what they seemed to us when we sojourned among them in brighter days. No disappointment, however, of this kind, though it had been predicted, awaited me here. The morning after arrival I set off betimes for a stroll; for the heat is always tempered in Lisbon by a cool breeze, enabling you even in the hottest season of the year, to walk out for an hour or so in the early part of the morning. There is then a shady side to most of the streets; and though many of them are excessively steep, if instead of attempting to scramble up them, a Vanglaise, in haste, they are leisurely mounted at an easy, sauntering pace, the top may be reached 23 FAIR LUSITANIA. with but little fatigue, and the morning ramble, by the same means, be pleasantly prolonged until nine. The E>ua do Alecrim, or Rosemary Street, whence I set out, is one of the principal streets of the city. The lower part of it branches off from the centre of the Caes do Sodre (part of which is shown in the view of the Bar of Lisbon) ; thence it is carried on arches, Arco grande and Arco pequeno, over two other streets, and ascends in a straight line to a considerable height ; crossing several pragas and squares on its way, until it reaches the Passeio and Jardim de S. Pedro de Alcantara. If, when this point is reached, you turn and look back on the long steeply-inclined plane you have mounted, you will see the river flowing at the bottom, and the roofs of the lower houses, and even those that stand midway, lying far beneath your feet. The Passeio, or Alameda, is a nice level walk, planted with rows of shady trees, and with benches beneath them. A splendid panoramic view of the eastern part of Lisbon may here be obtained. A flight of steps leads down to the garden, whence the view is even more extensive and varied. Spread out before the ravished eye are at least five of the seven hills on which Lisbon is built. On the extreme right, reflecting the morning sunbeams, flows the broad Tagus, like a stream of liquid gold. There is the grand old cathedral ; above it, the ancient castle of St. George, with its old chapel of the Santa Cruz de Castello ; and, rising still higher, the extinct convent and vast church of the Gra§a. Crowning the next lofty mound is the church of Nossa Senhora da Penha 24 A STROLL UP HILL. de Pran9a, to whose shrine the seafaring people and their families resort in such numhers, to crave her protection on their voyages, or to make vows and present offerings when danger seems to threaten the fishing-smacks at sea, and to pray her to avert it. Beyond this, on the summit of another towering height, is seated Nossa Senhora do Monte. Thence, the ground slants gradually downwards ; again it rises and falls, the view extending as far as Bemfica, the intervening space heing diversified by quintas, fields, and vine- yards, groups of peasants' cottages, small villages, gardens, and orchards. On the hill- slopes are many fine houses, with plan- tations or gardens, and roads bordered with trees. Nearer, and on more level ground, you look down on streets, new and old, broad and narrow ; the fine square of the Bocio, with its tall column and statue of Dom Pedro the Pourth ; and there, also, where once stood the Palace of the Inquisition, is the principal theatre — that of Donna Maria Segunda. Nearer still, just beneath, though the tops of its tall trees do not reach this height, is the long garden, with its fountains and lakes, its swans and its statues, its flowery parterres and shady avenues — known as the Passeio Publico, the tout ensemble forming a picture majestic as pleasing, and upon which few could gaze without exclaiming, as I did, enraptured with its beauty, " Lisbon is truly a splendid city ! " And the Pedro Alcantara garden itself, whence this lovely panorama is surveyed, though of no great extent, is perhaps the most beautiful in Lisbon. This little 25 FAIR LUSITANIA. Eden is filled with a variety of flowering trees and plants, which blossom and bloom luxuriantly and in the wildest profusion, each tree, each plant being a mass of brilliant colour. Shrubs and plants of every kind flourish amazingly here. The geraniums in this garden are, alone, almost worth making the voyage to Lisbon to see. They cover a large space on the high wall that the hill forms on one side of the garden, and on a projection of which it is planted; the three other sides being enclosed by an elegant light iron rail- ing. These geraniums climb to a height of twenty or thirty feet ; tlieir chief stems are as thick as those of small trees, and their branches are in proportion. Their flowers are mostly of a beautiful crimson, or of a deep pink colour. Occasionally white blossoms streaked with mauve may be seen ; but all are double, and in clusters, large and full as those of a fine rhododendron. These bunches, or bouquets of blossom, grow so thickly together that when the plants, or rather trees, are in full bloom, they droop one over another on their long stalks, and almost entirely conceal the foliage. Here and there, a few large bright green or variegated leaves contrive to struggle into sight, and add the charm of their freshness to the beauty of the grand floral display. The lily of the Nile flourishes and flowers in this garden like an indigenous weed, and the heliotrope — generally a small, puny plant in a northern clime — here rivals the geranium in luxuriance of growth; covering high walls, and shading verandas, and scent- ing the air with the delicious fragrance of its masses of rich purple blossom. 26 A STROLL UP HILL. The garden is well tended, well watered, and kept in excellent order. Affixed to the wall side is a large half circular stone basin, into which, from a gracefully- formed shell, falls a stream of clear water, gurgling over ferns and rockwork. Aquatic plants grow round the basin, and in its waters a shoal of gold-fish disport themselves. One end of the garden is partly fenced off by tall thick bushes, and is planted with trees, forming shady -sralks. Seats, too, you find — free seats — beneath the shelter of spreading branches, and placed in the most favourable positions for contemplating the lovely view. Hours I have spent in that delightful retreat, so pleasantly cool in the most sultry day. Gentle zephyrs whisper among the trees, and birds warble sweetly, sheltered in the foliage. If you are out of temper with the world, go there ; the troubled spirit will be soothed and misanthropy leave you. And it is now more lovely than ever ; the trees are taller, their shade is denser, and the prospect, too, is more beautiful ; for many desolate places and squalid huts — the abodes of misery, dirt, and disease that once blotted and marred the fair scene — exist no longer. The change is so great, that it may be said, Avhat once was a desert now " re- joices and blossoms as the rose." At sunset the garden gates are closed, but from the Passeio above a very animated scene presents itself when Lisbon is lighted up. The gas in the streets, the lights shining from every open window, or flickering fitfully through the trembling foliage of surrounding trees ; the flashing rays of the lamps from a passing 27 FAIR LUSITANIA. vessel's stern ; the murmur of mingled sounds rising from the city, at this hour when thousands stroll forth to enjoy tlie evening air. Perhaps a guitar is tinkling on the Alameda, or the strains of a military hand in the Passeio strike loudly on the ear, then die away with the hreeze. Above, glitter myriads of stars in the clear blue heavens, shedding by their light a pale glow on the earth — the whole scene forming a picture rivalling in interest, by its liveliness, that of quiet beauty presented by the early morn. I lingered so long in the old familiar spot that I became, unconsciously, an object of annoyance, and some suspicion to a pair of young lovers, besides my- self, the only morning saunterers there. Though scarcely noticing them, and occasionally jotting down a few words in my diary, I had yet, mechanically as it were, followed their movements, and finally taken the further end of the same seat they had selected. Awaking from a sort of rSverie, I met the eyes of the young man ; they glanced daggers at me. His pretty companion, a Spaniard, as I knew by her veil, hung her head, and looked more alarmed than vexed. I guessed that it was a stolen meeting, as it is not at all cus- tomary for young damsels above the lower bourgeois class, as this one evidently was, to wander about alone with a lover. The caballero was a handsome young fellow, and as I wished to relieve him and his fair Dulcinea of the idea of the possibility of my being engaged in playing the spy, I pointed to a large building in the distance and asked him if he knew what it was. 28 A STROLL UP HILL. "He did not." He was an estrangeiro lie told me. " He presumed sua excellencia was also." I replied in the affirmative ; adding, that the love- liness of the view had brought me up to the garden, where I felt I had stayed too long, as it was growing very hot. The same attraction, he told me, had de- tained him and his sister. A terrible fib ! Perhaps it reassured the senJiorita ; but from the smile and glance he and I exchanged at parting, I think is was mutually understood that, although I was not deceived, yet I was sympathica, and, if need were, could well keep a secret. I daresay there was some accommodating wicked old duenna not far otf, though discreetly out of sight, who would take charge of the fair damsel when the tender tete-d-Mte was ended. The fiercely glowing sunbeams that met me as I left the shady bowers of S. Pedro de Alcantara warned me that it was time to seek shelter within doors ; but a desire to see further how Lisbon has embellished her waste places induced me — armed, too, as I was with a large parasol and the indispensable fan — to turn my back on the B,ua do Alecrim. Taking the turning called Eua do Moinho do Vento, or Windmill Street, I went on, still ascending, as far as the once desolate heap of rubbish known as the Patriarchal Queimada, but now called the " Praya do Principe Real." There are but few streets or squares in Lisbon that do not rejoice in two names, the old and popular ones, and those by which they have been more or less recently christened ; though only in rare instances have 29 FAIR LUSITANIA. the new names obtained general acceptance. This double nomenclature is most puzzling to strangers ; for in some cases, as in that of the Rua Augusta, which is also Rua dos Mercadores, both names appear at the corners of the street, while in that of the Rua dos Eanqueiros, the name by which it is generally known, there is written up in various parts of it only Rua Nova da Princesa. You will seek in vain for the Rocio you hear everyone speak of, for it announces itself as the Pra9a de Dom Pedro, and even the Pra9a do Commercio — the Black Horse Square of the English — still retains among the people its old name of Ter- reiro do Pa^o, from being the site of the royal palace destroyed by the great earthquake. On the summit of the hill towards which I was bending my steps once stood a large ancient church called the Basilica de Lisboa. Some time during the last century it fell a prey to the flames, and its site has ever since retained the name of the Queimada, or burnt place. Eor years it remained as the fire had left it, a heap of ruins. It was then proposed to build there a new Treasury Office. The ground was cleared, the foundations were laid, but no building was raised upon them. After another long interval, it was suggested that on this breezy spot a large public market might with advantage be established. But the inhabitants of Lisbon opposed it ; they thought the pull up the hill was too great a feat to perform each time provisions were needed, and the cooks and the housekeepers took the same view of the matter. So the project fell 30 A STROLL UP HILL. through ; and the lofty mound, which commands a splendid view of the western part of Lisbon, the opposite bank of the Tagus, the Bar and the ocean beyond, remained a piece of waste land covered with rubbish and weeds, until it fell into the hands of the Water Works Company. They now have there an immense reservoir of water, a sort of lake with a lofty jet d'eau. The ground around it is laid out as a garden, and planted with jdowers and shrubs ; and on one side is a broad, straight walk, with four rows of trees, forming a double avenue. There are plenty of benches, so that when you get up there you may " rest and be thankful," while you gaze on a scene as lovely as any the eyes ever rested on. But in what direction will you turn them in this beautifully picturesque city without seeing fresh charms in the grand panorama as it unfolds itself before you; each new point of view having some especial fascination of its own, and each seeming to claim for itself the palm of beauty ? Several fine houses have been built in the Pra9a do Principe Beal, and others are building. It is a very charming spot for a residence, and perhaps the most healthy in Lisbon. In the immediate neighbourhood are several public establishments, educational and scien- tific, and the edifices in which they are located have put on so imposing an appearance that this quarter of the town, with its now blooming garden of the old Queimada, is become one of the most elegant and distingue. 31 CHAPTER IV. DOWN HILL. It was ten o'clock ere I reached the hotel. The walk back was down hill all the way, caloroso bastante, but I took it very leisurely ; noting things new and old as I passed them. Of the former, the pleasant little square dedicated to Luis de Camoes could not escape notice. It stands immediately opposite the opening known as the Largo das dois Egrejas — the square of the two churches — and on a piece of ground formerly occupied by the miserable, tumble-down tenements of a tangled web of the narrow- est, crookedest, dirtiest little alleys and passages in Lisbon; and one of its greatest nuisances, being close to the central and best part of the business quarter of the city. This eyesore was completely swept away a few years ago, and the vacant ground, then surrounded by good houses, was encircled by a handsome iron rail- ing, and a row of those gracefully- drooping South American pimenteiros — pepper-trees — which thrive here so wonderfully. There are seats all round this inclo- sure ; and in the centre was placed, in 1867 — 218 years after his death — the first statue of the great national poet, erected by his compatriots. 32 STATUE OF LUIS DE CAMuES. DOWN HILL. The statue is about fifteen feet in height, and stands on an octagonal pedestal of twenty-three feet. At each of the eight angles is a plinth on which is placed a smaller statue, of the height of seven feet. These are statues of eight of the principal early Portuguese writers — poets and historians. It is considered a very fine monument. It was designed and executed by the Portuguese sculptor, Victor Bastos. The outer circle of this square is one of the stations of the public carriages — trems de aluguer — and a very creditable show they make. I wish London could furnish one equal to it. Of old friends, the Galician Aguadeiro — water- carrier — still remains. His prolonged A-au ! — A-aA ! — strikes familiarly on my ear. But his barrel ? — that is not the gaily painted one that formerly caught the eye. Three or four of these men have I met on my way down, and all carried barrels of a gloomy leaden or brownish hue. One had a faint streak of red at either end, triste reminder of the time when they were brilliant with stripes, bands, or chequers in every variety of colour. And the Gallego himself is become as dull and dowdy as his barrel. Time was when his costume had something characteristic in it; when a group of Jguadeiros resting on their parti-coloured barrels, or reclining on the steps of some public foun- tain, formed a very pretty picture ; cool, too, and re- freshing to look at. Perhaps the Aguadeiro is conscious of being gradually effaced, washed away by the Water- works Company. " Have you water laid on in the house, Senhora 33 D FAIR LUSITANIA. Maria ? " I inquired of the chambermaid soon after I went in. " Smi, sim, Vossa Excellencia^^ she replied ; somewhat surprised at my question. " Has not Vossa Bx- cellencia been supplied with as much as you wish for ? " " Oh, yes ; but it no longer comes from the fountain, I fancy." Senhora Maria, a sturdy, industrious woman from the neighbourhood of Oporto ; never, apparently, taking any rest herself or allowing those under her direc- tion to be idle if she can help it, is yet sometimes dis- posed for just a short bit of chat with her "Iwspedes '* — her lodgers, as she says — concluding always with ^^ Agora, Vossa Excellencia ha de escusar me, com licent^a, eu vou por otra parted — "Your Excellency will now excuse me ; with your permission I am going else- where." Senhora Maria, then, at once explained to me that all the water required for drinking or cooking was still brought by the Gallegos from the Chafariz, or large public fountains. No one cares to use for those purposes the water that flows through the Com- pany's pipes, as it is considered less fresh and less pure ; even disposing to cholera and other diseases ; and there- fore to prevent such evils, it is not yet very generally introduced into private houses. One set of pipes laid down in Lisbon some years ago — as I was informed — was entirely destroyed, though never used ; so great was the prejudice against water passed through street pipes. The present Com- pany use a new set, of improved material and con- struction, I hear ; and as the economy and convenience of it is felt, by degrees all houses will probably be supplied from the waterworks. 34 DOWN HILL. There are yet three thousand Galiciau water-carriers in Lisbon. The price of the barrel of water is in- creased, I am told, from a vintem to thirty, or even forty reis — twopence — according to the distance it is carried. Their long narrow barrels do not appear to hold more than four or five gallons. The trade of the Aguadeiro, though less thriving, is not, however, likely to become extinct in a country whose inhabitants are sach excessive water-drinkers as are the Portuguese, and while so many handsome fountains exist from which flows the favourite beverage ; so sparklingly clear, so luxuriously cool. But one of the principal fountains has been removed. It stood in the Largo dos dois Egrejas, close to the old Peninsula Hotel. It was thought rather ornamental at that time ; and the groups of people who used to assemble tliere made the place lively. The Camoes Square and other improve- ments led to a change in the kind of company that frequented it. The locale became aristocratic, and the Aguadeiro and his fountain were banished from the precincts of the fashionable Chiado, which adjoins the above-named Square of the Churches. Another old cry that too often assailed the ears as I came down the hill, was that for an esmola or an esmolinha — in coaxing and very flattering terms too ; " Minha riquissima menina " — " My very rich young lady, for your health's sake ; for your soul's sake ; in pitying remembrance of the wounds of Jesus Christ, bestow an alms on me." They tell me, there are now fewer beggars in Lisbon than there were some years ago ; because the healthy and strong are no 35 D 2 FAIR LUSITANIA. Ioniser allowed to prowl about idly as beggars, but at once are taken in charge by the police. This is well ; still they are so numerous that one must too generally give the old response to the old appeal — "Faciencia; ndo pode ser agora" — " Patience; it cannot be now;" or " JPaciencia homen, e vai coin Deus " — " Patience, man, and go with God." But I was induced this morning by one of them to listen favourably to his application, chiefly from the very original and amusing manner in which the man made his wants known. He was most decently dressed too — as indeed are many of the Lisbon beggars, both men and women. As I came down by the Garden of S. Pedro de Alcantara, I crossed over into the shade of the Alameda ; this man was leaving it, but seeing me cross over, he came back and, in a loud, hurried whisper, said '^^ Bxcellencia ! '^ I turned towards him, inquiringly. Looking at me most earnestly, he drew from his pocket a snuff-box ; opened it, and, with an expressive gesture that seemed to say, " Behold ! it is empty ; not a single pinch left," he held it up before me. Por the moment I felt confused by the sudden- ness of his action; but the man's eloquent look — ^for not a second word did he utter — and the steadiness with which his empty snuff-box was held before my eyes, soon awakened me to a sense of my duty ; which was, of course, to replenish his box with rappee. I therefore produced a small coin, sufficient for the pur- pose, and dropped it into his box. Instantly it was closed and pocketed ; and with a very low bow and a heartily expressed wish that good health might be my 36 DOWN HILL. portion both in this world and the next, and that in neither might I ever be in want of a pinch of snuff, he walked off; and, as I then rather fancied, laughing at me as he went ; while, on my part, I felt doubtful whether I had really relieved a beggar or merely amused some half-crazy fellow. A gentleman to whom I have mentioned the circumstance tells me the man is really a beggar : that he has heard of him before ; that his snuff-box is always empty, and that it is to ladies, par preference, that he addresses himself for funds to replenish it, and that his eccentric mode of begging probably often obtains for him a silver coin, instead of the pence which an ordinary appeal would only produce. Though beggars abound, they are, I think, gene- rally less importunate than in some other countries, and some of them seem to take life easily enough. Very well dressed, walking beside you in the public gardens, or reclining on the benches, they suddenly startle you with a whispered appeal for charity ; or, gazing in the shop windows — perhaps commenting with a friend on the style or quality of the dresses displayed — one unexpectedly turns round and urgently implores you to assist her ; then, whether successful or not, resumes her conversation with her companion and saunters on to the next shop window. The lower sec- tion of this part of the community — those who lie about the streets, or sit in shady corners, making no secret of their woes and wants— might in most cases receive food and shelter in the charitable institutions of the country, did they not prefer a life of freedom and 37. FAIR LUSITANIA. vagabondage. The climate is favourable for out-of-door life, and the Portuguese are a very charitable people. Much misery, doubtless, is endured by many of these beggars ; but, on the other hand, many more pick up a very good living in the streets — better far than that of some of the poor toiling labourers. Once, passers-by used to be horrified by the exhibition of dreadful de- formities and sickening sores. I have not yet seen enough of Lisbon to say that this blot on her beauty is removed ; but I am told that it is. Many blind people I have already observed, but there has always been a large number thus sadly afflicted — the gritty summer dust, and the glare of the sun, too often affecting the sight of persons who by their occu- pations are much exposed to their baneful influence. Those who need the protection of eye-preservers, of course do well to wear them ;" but is it not fashion or affectation, rather than necessity for any aid to sight, that makes the double eye-glass and its elegant chain so generally in use among the ladies? A Spanish gentleman gallantly says, "it is in tender pity to his sex that the Portuguese ladies thus dim the lustre of their brilliant dark eyes.'* 38 CHAPTER V. THE CHIADO, *' Shall we turn to the right or the left ? " says the friend who accompanies me, as we are leaving our hotel — we were going to the Regent Streets and Bond Streets of Lisbon to look at the fashionable shops — and I decide for the left, although it leads upwards. For after mounting a part of our street, which is straight, direct, and smooth as asphalte can make it, our walk will afterwards be all down hill, or on level ground ; bringing us, finally, to the spot whence we set out. We cross over, then, into the shadow of a very high stone wall, on the top of which grow some trees, as you may see if you hold back your head far enough. *' How came they there ? " you will say. It seems rather puzzling ; but if you were acquainted with the intricate geography of this city, you would be able to climb round, by a few ins and outs, and find yourself standing beside them, on the summit of the very next street. Such is Lisbon : a piece down here, another up there; fragments thrown up-hill and down-dale in all directions. Looking at these hills, whose number, small and great, must surely be nearer seventy than 39 FAIR LUSITANIA. seven, one cannot but think of the years of patient toil and plodding labour that were needed to rebuild the city; to cover those heights and slopes with the substantial houses, churches, palaces we now see every- where rising around us. If only the ground here and there could have been levelled a little, the hill-tops cut off and turned upside down to fill up the valleys, how much more comfortably we might have rambled about — with this disadvantage, certainly, that to ease and comfort must have been sacrificed the picturesqueness of the ramble. Such thoughts naturally suggested themselves as we wended our way upwards, as far as the square or garden called the Largo do Barao da Quintella, facing which is the stately mansion {palacio they call it) that belonged to the said Barao and his son, the celebrated late Oonde de Earrobo. It is now in the possession of a literary association, O Gremio literario, and is the resort of all the literati, native and foreign, of the capital ; the present Count, who inherited little more than his title, though his father had been one of the richest nobles of Portugal, being unable to keep up either this expensive and splendid town residence, or the lovely suburban one of As Laranjeiras. Adjoining it, and appearing at the side to be part of the same building, is the cliurch of the Encarna9ao. The entrance is round the corner, in the Largo dos dois Egrejas. Perhaps you would like, en passant, to step in for a minute. Most of the smaller churches of Lisbon have the appearance of large halls decked out for some festive occasion. They are cool, pleasant 40 THE CHIADO. retreats, neatly swept and garnished, and as such are attractive ; but they are not religiously impressive. Generally they have two or three, or more, good pictures ; but I fear the cleaning process has been too busy with some of them. Often there are very fine carvings, both in wood and stone, the work of Por- tuguese artists, who have always shown much excel- lence in that way. Opposite is the Italian church of the Loreto, the most fashionable one in Lisbon, It was once of great splendour, but has been twice destroyed by fire. In its present state its decorations are still handsome. It forms a pendant, of about equal attractions, to its neighbour, the Encarna9ao ; a little further down is the Martyres, one of the dois egrejas from which the square takes its name. The Martyres is the oldest church in Lisbon. The famous "conqueror" Dom Affonso Henriques, the first king of Portugal, founded it in commemoration of his conquest of Lisbon. The martyrs to whom it is dedicated, and who were buried there, are the foreign knights, crusaders, who having put into the port of Lisbon on their voyage to the Holy Land, fought under Affonso's banner against the Moors, and fell in the taking of the city. At noon all the churches are closed. Until that hour a man stands outside dressed in a long loose garment, something between a coat and a cloak. It is made of red serge, and has a green cotton cape. He holds in his hand a box or plate to collect offerings from passers-by, and those who enter the church. When his church is closed he goes forth, in the same costume, calling from house 41 FAIR LUSITANIA. to house, upon those who have stayed at home, for offer- ings to the patron saint of the Irmandade, to which he belongs. Generally an old woman or two stands about the church doors, so wizened, so wrinkled, so withered, that one almost refuses to believe their poor old faces could ever have been young. Having given an esmola "for our soul's health," we peeped into the Martyres also. The venerable old place looked just as when I last saw it, years ago, with the exception of the new and pleasant feature I find everywhere — very great cleanlinesSi But methinks I hear you say, *' You began your letter by telling me that the object of your expedition was a survey of the shops, a visit to the Lusitanian Regent or Bond Street ; and, instead of an account of them, yon give me a sketch of your journey up B/Osemary Street, with a glance at the houses and churches on your way." 'Tis true ; but, paciencia — as we Portuguese are so fond of exclaiming — for shops there are none until we have passed the church of the Loreto, where the Chiado may be said to begin. To what it owes its strange name I know not ; for chiado means the shrieking or grating noise of coach or cart wheels on their axle ; and that noise, I presume, is not heard here more than in any other steep part of Lisbon. Since the days of carriages on springs, it must less frequently grate on the ear ; as our old friend the oxen cart, the wheels of which often shriek hideously, does not frequent this aristocratic thoroughfare so much as in former times, the times when the Chiado probably first received its quaint name. But, be this as it may, THE CHIADO. the fashionable Chiado — you would be surprised, could you see it, and probably disappointed to hear — lies straight before you, down there, a steep short street. But it is a lively spot ; and, as no photograph of it, I believe, is to be had — and indeed from its situation it would be difficult to take one — I will attempt to describe it. By those who could never have seen our Begent Street, or even imagined its extent, the Chiado even years ago — when the shops were greatly inferior to those of the present day, and there was far less animation and stir than now, because rarely fre- quented by ladies, who seldom, then, went out at all — w^as called the Begent Street of Lisbon. But imagine yourself standing in Bond Street, in the middle of the road, just by Conduit Street, and fancy if you can, that it runs down to Piccadilly in a steep incline. The Chiado has the advantage a little in breadth. Bond Street perhaps in length ; but the width of the pavements and style of the streets are similar. There are as good shops on the Chiado as there, and most of them display more of the manu- factures of France and England than of Portugal. There are silks from Lyons; Valenciennes' and Brussels' laces ; Swiss and English muslins, and lin- geries de JParis. Musical instruments and American sewing-machines ; Spanish fans ; gloves from Oporto, rivalling those of Jouvin; bijouterie and articles de Faris. "Whence comes the "wealth," as fine writers phrase it, of wavy dark hair, on sale at the Court coiffeur's ? I pretend not to say, but bands and braids 43 FAIR LUSITANIA. and flowing curls are there in abundance, and some of them black as jet. Golden-hued tresses are quite in a minority. Madame Marie, the MdllcVirginie of Lisbon, has her atelier in that favoured quartier ; and double eye-glasses may be had there of a first-rate optician. Also, bottines de Paris and pretty chinellas for the pes jpequenos of Portugal and Spain — ^the senhoras claiming to place themselves in this matter on a smaller footing than either the Erencli or American ladies ; while they generously credit our countrywomen with a larger proportion of understanding than has been awarded to them by either of those rivals. But to this claim of theirs I take occasion to put in a " demurrer," having recently been favoured with a sight of the boots of a bella condessa and a pretty senhorita, and I solemnly protest that some Englishwomen of the same stature might have put both their feet into them. So much for prestige. En revanche, I allow that the said boots had heels twice the height of the highest of any I had seen before. It is a prevailing fashion here for the ladies thus to exalt themselves ; but I would assure their Excellencias that it is one w^liich detracts from, rather than adds to the grace and elegance of their carriage, as with tottering steps they pick their way up and down the steep Chiado. The height gained by the heel is lost in the stoop, which often gives a comical and undue prominence to the " j?oz{/*" of the dress, and much exag- geration to the "Grecian bend," thus affording amuse- ment, as I have sometimes observed, to profane lookers- on of the opposite sex. Carriages, open and closed, public and private, 44 THE CHIADO. throng the Chiado ; and a strange quaintness is given to the scene, reminding you that this is not the fashion- able world of either London or Paris, by the occa- sional passing of a team of six or eight mules. Their striped woollen hamper bags hang low on either side, and a bell or two on the head of the leading mule cheers on the rest ; the drivers or muleteers wearing jackets with large clasps and silver chains, and broad- brimmed and be-tasseled hats. Sometimes, too, the unwieldy oxen cart is seen, side by side with a coro- neted carriage and lace-bedizened livery servants. It is plodding along with perhaps a large slab of marble or stone, the poor ox kept with difficulty on the right side of the road by the tugging and pulling of the noisy, excited driver, at a string fastened to the animal's horns. Parties of Portuguese ladies, generally in threes and fours — but never young ladies alone — crowd the narrow pavement. This is quite an infraction of old customs ; and it is still only ladies of advanced ideas, who have begun to think of "emancipation," that show themselves much out of doors. They are dressed in the lightest and brightest of colours, and after the extremest fashion of the figures in the latest Journal des Modes. Hats and bonnets of the newest Paris shapes, brilliant with flowers, feathers, and ribbons, crown the lofty edifices of plaits and rolls, and bands and puffs, at present in vogue. The Spanish ladies, too — half the population of Portugal just at this moment must be Spanish — rival the Portuguese in their display of finery. And what a fluttering of small fans dazzles the eyes 1 The 45 FAIR LUSITANIA. Chiado ought to be a breezy place. But the veil, the graceful and becoming Spanish veil, is rarely seen, except in the case of new arrivals from the South, or when worn by some lady of old-fashioned tastes or inferior rank ; and they generally make haste to discard it, and adopt in its stead the hideous, disfiguring bonnet. At most of the shop doors, and inside the cafis^ is a knot of loungers, os genottos — the dandies of Lisbon — and amongst the motley throng is a plentiful sprink- ling of beggars, both male and female. To these last appears to be left almost all that we now see of the old Lisbon costume — the long cloth cloak and muslin hand- kerchief. It was once the out-door costume common to all classes ; the quality of the cloak material, and the fineness of the laces, and embroideries of the handker- chief, forming the only distinction. There are two good hotels, the best casa de pasto, and the principal cafe on the Chiado. In the streets branching from it are theatres, public libraries, the museum, and other institutions, as well as the quarters of the troops ; all, except the first-named, established in extinct convents and monasteries. The Chiado, in fact, is the heart of the city ; the centre of a net- work of streets and squares, the liveliest and most frequented thoroughfare in Lisbon. 46 CHAPTER YI. ON LEVEL GROUND. Having threaded our way to the hottom of the Chiado, I will ask you to fancy that you have strolled, or rolled down your imaginary steep Bond Street, and that you find there a Piccadilly not half so wide as the one you have heen accustomed to see. And here the strain may he taken off your imagination, for stretch it as you may, you will probably discover no further likeness whatever in that part of London to this part of Lisbon. The street on either side is a steeper descent than that of the Chiado, the hottom of which is, as you perceive, the top of another hill of lower elevation. There is no opening before you, these sloping streets being connected by a large building, inside whose hand- some porch stand two or three servants in livery. It is one of the extinct convents, converted into a private mansion, and now belongs to a Portuguese j^c?«/^iiseeia(ed 1 1 y I lie I'opc, l>ene(li(!t XTV., it WAS lemporarily sel up in SI. I'eler's, and IHh Jlolinoss bald I he liisl Mass in it, I'or v\iiielij it is averred, Dom 124 A CHAPEL AND A BULL FIGHT. Joao sent him 200,000 cruzados—ahoai 10,000/. Tho entire cost of the chap(!l is Haid to have exceeded a million sterling. It waH erected in the church of St. lioquo in 1740, nine yearH before tlie great earthquake. It seems almost marv(;lIous tliat Hi. Koque with its famed clinpcil should have so entirely escaped tli(5 d(;- structiori tliat UAl on all around it, and on its mightier neiglibour, the splendid church of the Carmo, at the terrible visitation of 1755. Nor is it less extraordinary that no spoiler's hand, either to rob or to mutilate, was laid on the; treasures of tiie chapel while tho Prench hchl poss(!SHion of Lisbon. It is said, and perhaps truly, tiiat .junot was so struck by the beauty of the loul-anHemhle that he determined, when time and oppor- tunity should offer, to transport the chapel and its precious possessions to France. ^Fortunately, leisure for the; work was never afforded him. To pay a visit to the chapel of Hao .JoiXo was not the chi(»f object of our early walk. We had accom- plished that before entering 8t. Koque, it being nothing less important than to secure, if possible, good places for the bull-fight in the afternoon. The bull-fight, both professional and amateur, is just now the most popular amusement with all classes. It is, in fact, tl)(5 height of the bull-fighting season; and the hotter tin? w(;ather the better the entertainment may be ex- pected to be, as tho bulls are then wilder and more excitable. A number of fidahjos <7wno* l=t g^^^3^f;^^^3^^ SEffc^J: -;L_st -#--#- -P- *-t ^_^4^ i^ -1^^=-^ >■_ si^^ 403 APPENDIX. — fai- i; 't^- n=U ^—^ ; ^ =MI ^^ £§ EJE^^ -^ •f—* -P ip-t -#- -^- -#- ^i #- A (i- Goto. i^^ -'- ^-'■£i£T^ £3==^ t= r Dan-gar es - te ga - lo - pe 1=^^: =1 Com fu - ror, com fu - ror te ainanhe - cer, / Es- 404 APPENDIX. ^J- L r- m ~i -^ *- pe - ran - do t= tit . g=£-j^T-r— I o di ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ^? >_^-l • — • • •- l=S=fT:i=J=T=f S ja :t^ ^ iJtd: a^ ah, ha. Que prazer, que ale-gria, ah, ah, ah, ah, — -• — • — • — I — •— j — •— I — • — (— — •— I — • — I •— » — •— ^^^^BapJ ^^^ 405 APPENDIX. ^^^-^,LMM^. I§ a ^^ mm^ m -f^Jlf < ^^^^^ i^ . f f^ r- . f -f- i(E^|j--;u,g -^jgL^Lj; i IS w-H F-W— -H ^ ^^2 b^ «= ^ ^^ ^Efc - #-«b- -f- -[- • » EH 3:3 i •^5 =t 4:1- -F •— r Dan^ar este galope, com furor, com furor, te amanhecer, Esperando dia, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ha. Que prazer, que alegria, ah, ah, ah, ah, ti romper o dia. To dance this galope, with furore, until the break of day, "Waiting for the morning light, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah. What pleasure, what delight, ah, ah, ah, ah, till the break of day. 406 LONDON : It. CLAY, SONS, AND TAYLOR, PRINTERS, BREAD STREET HILL. (^ RETURN TO the circulation desk of any University of California Library or to the NORTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY BIdg. 400, Richmond Field Station University of California Richmond, CA 94804-4698 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS 2-month loans may be renewed by calling (510)642-6753 1-year loans may be recharged by bringing books to NRLF Renewals and recharges may be made 4 days prior to due date DUE AS STAMPED BELOW FEB 2 1993 ■' ■ ' ' '' '■'■ '''j^ ', •■ .■ .' ^ 1',' •-^v^\mm '/.-^ :.!,■,■'; K.''';:/KV'r..;.i>'A<