48 A SPRING TOUR IN PORTUGAL. 



CHAPTER V. 



CINTRA. 



In the last chapter I was at issue with Lord Byron in 

 regard to the general character of the Portuguese : not 

 less do I dissent from what appears to me his most exag- 

 gerated praise of Cintra. To be sure, a poet is allowed 

 a great deal of licence, and perhaps it is unfair to take 

 his description aw pied de lettre; still, as I believe 

 that half the English world has received its impression of 

 Portugal in general, and Cintra in particular, from ' Childe 

 Harold,' and has therefore the very highest idea of its 

 superlative beauty, I desire to state what I consider the 

 unvarnished truth, as it strikes a matter-of-fact, prosaic 

 traveller. In the first place, however, all due allowance 

 must be made for the disappointment which is certain to 

 ensue, when expectation has been strung up too highly ; and 

 doubtless we, in common with the rest of our countrymen, 

 drove over from Lisbon to Cintra with anticipations in regard 

 to the scenery of the latter place which were not likely to 

 be realised. The carriage which conveyed us was a narrow 

 chariot, not unlike an old-fashioned English post-chaise, 

 and our horses were a pair of rough, sturdy cart-horses; 

 the driver a good-humoured, jovial fellow, who was twisting 

 up cigarettes and smoking them through the whole journey. 

 Twice we stopped to bait our horses, which was a very 

 marvellous proceeding; they were not taken from the 

 carriage, but the bits were removed from their mouths, and 



