74 A SPKING TOUR IN POETUGAL. 



bal amidst such quintas and gardens and orange groves as 

 we had not seen elsewhere. This, however, was only what 

 we expected, inasmuch as all the best oranges of Portugal 

 are grown in this locality ; nay, so highly is the fruit of 

 Setubal esteemed, that connoisseurs are said to make 

 expeditions hither in order to enjoy the full flavour of the 

 orange, which loses some of its superlative excellence by 

 the short transport to Lisbon. Probably this is but an 

 unfounded fancy ; but, at all events, Setubal stands em- 

 bosomed in orange groves, where the trees were loaded 

 with magnificent fruit, and of its very excellent flavour 

 w^e took care to qualify ourselves as experienced judges. 

 As reo-ards the town of Setubal, I must declare it to be 

 the very acme of all that is dullest, ugliest, most desolate, 

 and uninteresting. We wandered through it in every di- 

 rection, but there was nothing to admire or to interest ; 

 the squares were grass-grown, the streets deserted. Even 

 after Evora, it seemed a city of the dead. And then we 

 came down to the sea-shore, and here a little life was stir- 

 ring ; for quite within the harbour a shoal of porpoises 

 was gambolling, attracted doubtless by the small fry 

 thrown overboard by the fishing boats ; and within a few 

 3^ards of the beach two fishing smacks were moored, which 

 had just arrived with their last night's haul. So here we 

 sat, looking over the bay, and admiring the surrounding 

 hills, while we watched the expressive action, the loud 

 talking, and the violent gestures with which the barter 

 for fish was carried on between the dealers on shore and 

 the fishermen in the boats, until at length, basket on head, 

 men and boys waded through the shallow water to the 

 vessel's side, and bore away their purchase in triumph. 

 We found the town so intolerably dull and uninteresting, 

 and the harbour and bay so much more to our taste, that 

 here we spent the greater part of the time we had devoted 

 to Setubal ; and then we took train, and once more by 



