ground, and the ground on which it was situated was sown with salt. His majesty, in grateful remembrance of his escape, caused a church to be built on the spot where he was shot at, dedicated to Nossa Senhora do Livramento (our lady of the deliverance.) The first stone was laid in great state by his royal hands. The plot for the assassination was well conducted, and had the assassins acted as was previously concerted, could not but have been effectual. Three parties were stationed at a short distance from each other. It was agreed that the first should permit him to pass uninjured and that the second should fire upon him. By this means, whether he retreated or proceeded, the assassins would have a second chance of killing him. The precipitation of the first party rendered the scheme abortive. Their impatience induced them to fire as the coach passed. The coachman immediately turned round and drove back; thus the king's life was saved, though he was severely wounded. The royal church and monastery of Bethelem, or Belem, from which the suburb takes its name, stands near this spot. This magnificent and noble old structure was founded in 1499 by king Emanuel for the monks of the order of St. Jeronymo, and completed by his son and successor Don John III. It has received but little injury from the hand of time, and has withstood all the convulsions which have successively buried in ruins the buildings around it. The architecture, which is a mixture of the Arabic and Nor man gothic, is striking and singular. Instead of endeavouring to preserve symmetry, the greatest pains have been taken to avoid every external appearance of regularity, one pillar being made intentionally different from another. We here read the inscriptions on the tombs of many of the royal and noble families of Portugal. Over the portal is inscribed: Vasta mole sacrum Divina in littore matri Rex posuit Regum maximus Emanuel. Auxit opus haeres Regini, et pietatis fine organs in the uterque. Structura certant, religione pares. There are two very church. We saw an illuminated manuscript bible, in three volumes, which was presented by the pope to king Emanuel, and which has had the good fortune to escape the eye of Junot. The clasps are of gold and studded with gems, and it is adorned with inimitable paintings. The castle at Belem was built by the same founder, and at the same period as the monastery, to which it is opposite. It is erected where the river is narrowest, on a tongue of land, and consists of a single tower with two batteries, to which an additional temporary platform has been recently added by the French. It presents as you enter the river a most beautiful and picturesque object to the eye. There is a fine sand along the shore, which affords a most excellent place for bathing. From the warmth of the day, and from its proximity to my friend's quarters, we were tempted to avail ourselves of the circumstance. The place, excellent as it is, is rarely used by the Portugueze. Was a hydrophobia prevalent in Lisbon, there could not be a more general aversion to water. October 7. I returned yesterday from an excursion to Setuval, or as it is generally called by the English, St. Ubes. We crossed the river to a place called Couna. Previously to our embarkation we agreed with a inuleteer to be in waiting for us, stipulating at the same time how much we should pay for the journey. This is a necessary precaution; for gentlemen of his cloth, if you cross the river without a previous arrangement, seldom fail to demand double their due; and the traveller must either comply with their extortion, or be content to go back again to Lisbon. On landing, we were obliged to let our baggage undergo an examination by the customhouse officers. This ceremony does not occupy much time. It is merely Their lighter glories blend." The Tagus rolled below us. On the opposite shore rose an amphitheatre of hills, crowded with innumerable convents and churches, and covered with villas to their summits. Olive trees, plantations, and gardens, lay interspersed amid the houses of this wide-extended city, above which stood proudly eminent the tall palm, lifting high its lofty crown. We looked down upon the castles of Belem and St. Julien, and the Tagus pouring its waters into the Atlantic ocean. We saw the white breakers glittering over the rough bar at the entrance of the river, and at a distance the majestic, pointed, rocky mountains of Cintra formed the boundary of the landscape. On the other side the eye stretched across the dark and sandy plains of Alemtyo, over which we were about to pass. The prospect in this direction was terminated by the stupendous mountains of Arrabida, whose summits were hidden amid the clouds. Below the city rose the rock of Lisbon. It was a holiday, and the river exhibited a most gay and cheerful appearance. The surface of the water was covered with vessels. Unnumbered pleasure boats and barges were gliding along. The assembled fleets of Great Britain, Portugal, and Russia lay at anchor before us, amid a forest of masts. The flags of all nations were flying, and as far as the eye could reach we beheld "Ten thousand banners in the air, With orient colours waving.". the sun tempered by a pleasant and ideas of the opulence, grandeur and The sky was clear, and the heat of ins of the castle of Palmella. This Over ed with monumental crosses. We saw storks' nests in great numbers. The roof of almost every convent and church was peopled with them. This is the case throughout the peninsula. The stork is held sacred, and is looked upon by the inhabitants with a sort of religious veneration. No catholic will molest it. In the winter season they are very numerous, and they return annually to the same nests. They destroy all the vermin on the tops of houses, and pick up a great number of snakes; so that they are welcome guests. It is said that in some parts of Spain, if they do not appear by St. Agatha's day (the fifth of February) the people pelt them with stones when they come, and drive them away. fortress was the last hold of the Moors in Portugal. It stands on the summit of a round and almost conical nountain, and is visible at an extraordinary distance. A convent is situated near the ruins, which also forms a picturesque object. At Palmella we stopped to water our mules at an inn, the doors and windows of which, as Taylor observes of one where he lodged, in his travels through Bohemia, were always open, by reason of their being none to shut. A cross was suspended over the door by way of a sign, and on the roof of the inn there was a stork's nest. There is a very handsome fountain at the entrance of Palmella, decorated with the arms of the town. In the inscription on it we saw the flattering capitals S. P. Q. P. I recollect to have seen the Guildhall of London, S. P. Q. L. but this I think is a rather greater assumption. The country about the town seemed in a high state of cultivation. As we descended the hill the prospect became beautiful. The road was skirted with hedges of laurestinus, gum cystus and myrtle, which grew in luxuriant abundance. The air was impregnated with the balsamic richness of their blossoms, Immediately before us appeared the Serra de Arrabida. This lofty chain of mountains rises abruptly to the eastward of Palmella out of the sandy plain, and stretches into the ocean. Its extremity forms the promontory of Espichel. About eight miles below us lay St. Ubes with its harbour: beyond which we dimly discerned the distant shore of Estremadura. We frequently saw single farm-houses, cottages, churches, and As we entered St. Ubes we saw a convents. There is a striking sim- funeral. The body was carried on a plicity in the architecture of the coun- bier without a coffin. Over it was a try churches. They are without any canopy. Our caleseros, when we artower or steeple, and their bells are rived, un harnessed the mules, and tursuspended in a single wall of a pyra- ned them loose into the market place. midical form, on the apex of which is This I find is the custom. St. Ubes a crucifix. On the outside of many is situated at the extremity of the of them were little balconies contain- Serra de Arrabida, on the south side ing sculls. We passed a churchyard, of the ridge. The country about it the wall of which was entirely cover- is pleasant from the variety which it The dress of the peasants for warm weather is peculiarly comfortable. We met many on the road whose breeches were of white undressed sheepskin, and their gaiters of black, with the wool outwards. The huts of this class of the community are not more sumptuous than their apparel. They live in the same sty with their swine, and appear not to be any ways inferior to their inmates, either in filth or obstinacy. Not swine only, but horses, cows, hens, and chickens, in many of the houses we passed, seemed admitted to board and lodging, to live in the same apartment, and to participate in all the privileges enjoyed by the other members of the family. exhibits. The principal street extends along the strand. As soon as we alighted, we walked through the town. We went to see the salt pans which lie in great numbers along the Sado and its branches. The Portuguese call them Marinhas. They are dug, square, about three feet deep. Salt water is introduced on one side from the sea, at flood, through canals, which extend in innumerable branches, and are shut when the pans are full. When evaporated, the salt is collected in the month of June, and kept either in wooden sheds or in heaps, which are protected against the sun by rushes. The export of this article forms the principal trade of St. Ubes, though some oranges and Muscatel wine are also exported. We saw vast numbers of women nearly in the state of Eve, kneeling to wash in the Sado, the banks of which were covered with linen. St. Ubes would be a considerable place were it not so near Lisbon. It was anciently called Cetobrica. Coins are frequently found in the vicinity. A Corinthian pillar was dug up not long ago near the town. It now stands in the square, ornamented with a crucifix. Opposite St. Ubes, on the narrow strip of land which forms the entrance of the harbour, are the remains of an ancient city called Troga. Many walls are still seen, and a number of square pavements, formed of small angular stones, strongly cemented together, which were probably sites of houses or courts belonging to them. We put up at an estalagem, or inn, which our muleteers informed us was the best in the place: but a worse I never again desire to do penance in. The witch of Endor would have seemed lovely by the side of the hostess. Her countenance was that of a fiend. Her hair was scattered about her face like the dishevelled ringlets of Ophelia. It had once been red, and the original colour might still here and there be distinguished by a lock whose primitive tint yet remained unblan. ched by the snows of age. Every time she spoke her nose and chin O'er many a craggy hill and barren cliff On summoning the lady of the mansion to know what she could furnish us to eat, she said that she could get any thing that the cavalheros desired. This we found was not entirely correct, as out of a dozen articles for which we asked, not one was in the house. We begged her at length to give us any thing, and every thing that the larder contained. After waiting nearly two hours, in which, by the bustle, I should have conjectured that it was the first dinner, which had ever been cooked in the house, we were informed that our meal was ready. We sat down at a table which consisted of a large stone, with Mosaic work, framed. This was a piece of antiquity, dug up from the ruins of Cetobrica. Very probably Ulysses or Julius Cæsar may heretofore have dined at it. For my own part, I confess myself so little an admirer of ancient manners, that I should much have preferred a modern table of wood, with a clean cloth, or indeed with any cloth at all. It may be supposed from our having so classical a table, that the entertainment was equally classical. Indeed it was nearly as much so, as was the celebrated feast after the manner of the ancients, with which Peregrine Pickle was regaled by the democratic physician. To this entertainment many of the dishes which composed our banquet, both in smell and consistency, bore a strong similitude. The soup had an effect on some of the company nearly as potent as that which was produced by the doctor's salacacabia, or the sow's belly on Pallet. Fortunately for me my stomach is stronger than that of the painter. Our next dish was an Olla Podrida, alias a 'hotch potch of every thing cooked together; to analyze which was a task that soon puzzled what philosophy I was possessed of. I however made out to discover in it bacalao, or salt fish, beef, garbanzos (horse-beans), peas, pimento, tomates, garlic, and red-pepper. The whole of this delectable composition was swimming in stinking oil. being reconciled to the custom, I therefore forbore to taste of this Portuguese delicacy. Neither did I think it prudent to venture on a sausage, which, could the aforesaid cat have spoken, he would probably have claimed as his own property. I made my dinner on a fowl fried in oil, with garlic and onions, and which, though by no means the most tender, I knew not to be a counterfeit. It was brought to the table in the attitude of a frog, seized suddenly with a convulsion fit. The pigs in this country are as familiar as kittens. Several of them very coolly walked into the room as we sat at dinner, wagging their tails like lapdogs. Such is the force of education. In the afternoon we strolled round the town. We went into a number of churches, in one of which I noticed a crucifix against the wall composed of human skulls, having a pedestal formed by thigh bones. We saw several women at confession. In one of the convents we heard the nuns chanting the evening service. After it was over they chatted with us at the grate. Some of them were pretty, but the major part could not boast of much more beauty than our hostess at the inn. One of these ladies begged me to give her my cravat. For supper we had the fragments of our sumptuous dinner, and a fine pheasant, which we purchased We of a man whom we met in the street. Fearing to trust this bonne bouche to the barbarian claws of our landlady, I undertook, after it was plucked, the office of trussing it myself, giving her such particular instructions relative to the manner of cooking it, that it seemed impossible any mistake could arise. But alas, my lessons were of no avail. There is no beating any innovation into the pericrania of the people here. She brought in the unfortunate bird in the same attitude as we had seen the fowl served up at dinner. She told me, with an air of superiour intelligence, that I had forgotten to cut off the rump, had a dish at the second course which the hostess had christened a stewed hare, but which, though I took care to conceal my opinion, I verily suspected to be no other than the carcase of a tough tom-cat. I privately asked Balthazar his sentiments concerning it, and I found that they coincided perfectly with mine. Our suspicions were afterward pretty strongly confirmed. Nothing is more common in this country than cat-eating. My landlady at Lisbon is under the necessity of confining her cats, lest they should be stolen and eaten by the neighbours. My stomach not yet |