EVORA. 73 



denizens of Soutliern Europe. And so I rambled on for 

 hours through the many-coloured heath, admiring the gay 

 flowers which bloomed in such profusion ; and the sim was 

 sinking very low towards the west before I could tear 

 myself away from those enchanting solitudes redolent of 

 heath and aromatic shrubs, the very Elysian fields of a 

 naturalist's dream. 



We took leave of our humble hostelry at a very early 

 hour in the mornino-, and we shall always remember the 

 'Hospedaria Taberquina' as our first experience of a genuine 

 unsophisticated Portuguese inn, where we were the source 

 of unbounded astonishment to all the inhabitants, and 

 where the dishes at our meals were unmistakably Portu- 

 guese, though that by no means implies that they were 

 appreciated by English taste. Then we hurried through 

 the deserted streets, out of the gates of Evora, and ran 

 down the hill to the railway station, urged on to such 

 exertion by the frantic ringing of the station bell, and the 

 recollection that to miss the early morning train implies 

 of necessity to be detained till the next day. However, we 

 were in ample time, and this was but the national habit in 

 conductors of public carriages as well as station-masters, 

 as we afterwards experienced on more than one occasion, 

 to obtain punctuality in their passengers, if possible, by 

 practising every ruse and stratagem in their power to decoy 

 them into the belief of an early start. 



We had the same pleasant journey back through the 

 wild heaths and plains ; again changed carriages at Casa 

 Branca, where we joined the train from Beja ; again stop- 

 ped for ten minutes at Vendas Novas, where we passed the 

 doivn train ; but when we reached Pinhal Novo, the junc- 

 tion for Setubal, we left the main line, and throughout the 

 ten miles which intervened before that city was reached, 

 w^e passed through a country of great beauty, running 

 under the castle and hill of Palmella, and entering Setu- 



