1827.] Letter on Affairs in' general 187 



be rather a needless expenditure of life and limb to fight. Tho chief seat 

 of war such as it is lies now in one of the most romantic tracts of 

 country in the whole Spanish continent and a country strong in its natu- 

 ral capabilities for defence ; the country between Coimbra and Vize ; 

 the high road through which lies over the Siezza of Busaco. Mort-agoa, 

 the present quarter of the Constitutionalists, consists of little else than a 

 ibw straggling huts, lying in the very heart of rugged and stupendous 

 mountains. Tondella, which is in the possession of the insurgents, is a 

 larger village, containing a few houses belonging to persons of moderate 

 fortune, and not unpleasantly situated. Vizeu, about nir.e miles further 

 north still, is one of the neatest towns in that part of the peninsula, but 

 small not near so extensive as Richmond, and of dull appearance, without 

 much advantage of position. Cea, which the Royalists were holding, 

 1 perceive, the other day, is one of the most beautifully-situated spots in 

 the country. Is lies on the side, and nearly at the base, of a mountain 

 just under the great Siezza do Estrella, on the top of which the snow lies 

 during three-fourths of the year, while the people are scorching in the val- 

 ley below ; and looks over a plain, the very richest and most extensive in 

 the province of Beira very fertile, and highly cultivated the prospect 

 wants nothing but a bold river, to make it one of the most delicious in the 

 world. Cea consists only of a few houses ; but all these are handsome : 

 it amounts rather to an assemblage of country seats, than to what we 

 should call a village. Goveia, situated in the same line, is a more popu- 

 lous place, and looks, at a distance, one of the most picturesque towns in 

 Portugal. It lies, like Cea, upon the side of a mountain, but is so formed 

 as to be seen all at one view, and like one building, as a stranger ap- 

 proaches it ; and the view lies across a richly-cultivated flat, which sepa- 

 rates, by about the width of a mile, from the high road. Going still fur- 

 ther north, the scene changes, and we get into a barren, and, in many 

 parts, into a frightful country. Celerico and Guarda arc dreary resi- 

 dences both: the first is a poor straggling town, scarcely worthy of the 

 title, standing ^ibout a mile from the banks of the Mondego ; and in the 

 centre -of a country where, looking as far as the^yc can reach, in many 

 directions, you find nothing but masses upon masses piled almost to the 

 sky of black granite, and a soil of the same inhospitable material, or of 

 sand. Guarda stands higher in situation, I believe, than any town in Por- 

 tugal, and is subject to almost incessant rains. It was said in the last 

 war, that the French occupied Guarda, in their first campaign, for three 

 months, and that it rained, without exception, every day while they were 

 there. In the next campaign, they entered it again ; and the first excla- 

 mation of the advanced guard that marched into it was, " Par bleu ! it is 

 raining here still!" Whether the Frenchman spoke English on this occa- 

 sion, or whether the comment was translated, I do not pretend to chtcr- 

 mine. All these places almost Vizeu, Cea, Celerico, and Goveia 

 were by turns the head-quarters of the Duke of Wellington, during the 

 last war. When he was in Goveia -just before the retreat to the lines of 

 Torres Vedras he had sent his last effective detachment a small party 

 of the Foot Guards to the advance ; and a few ill-dressed soldiers;of the 

 95th (Rifle corps) just sufficient to furnish the sentries were doing duty 

 at his Excellency the Commander-in-chief's own door. From this point, 

 towards the Spanish frontier-^that is, towards Ciudad Rodrigo the course 

 lies by Almeida, through Alverca and Pin hell. Descending towards Lis- 

 bon, you may pass through a mountainous but rich country, by Pcnhaii- 



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