1-22 A SPRTXG TOUR IX PORTUGAL. 



carried out in a form and to an extreme of scenic display 

 seldom seen elsewhere. 



The cathedral demands but little notice; it stands on 

 high ground, and is chiefly conspicuous for its fine cloisters, 

 and richly-gilt high altar. But, for an interior literally 

 covered with gilding, and not without a certain handsome, 

 though somew^hat heavy effect, it is worth the traveller's 

 while to visit the church of San Francisco ; and I would 

 also advise him to examine others of the Oporto churches, 

 as good samples of Portuguese architecture and arrange- 

 ment, undisturbed by modern innovation or improvement. 



A walk through the city from end to end entails no 

 little exertion, and may well be recommended as good 

 practice for a member of the Alpine Club. You have no 

 sooner arrived, breathless, at the top of some steep ac- 

 clivity, after hard climbing, than you find the street you 

 are following plunges down again into a deep valley, and 

 then again you have to scramble up another hill at a 

 greater angle of inclination and to a greater height than 

 before. Thus you persevere, after the famous example of 

 the French monarch, when 



The King of France, with twenty thousand men, 

 Marched up the hill, and then marched down again, — 



and so every pedestrian in Oporto pursues precisely this 

 plan, wheresoever he directs his steps. Here and there he 

 will come upon a well-planted lavfjo or praga, generally 

 ornamented with a creditable statue, such as those of 

 Pedro IV. and Pedro V. ; and throughout his walk he will 

 admire the general order and cleanliness of the town, to 

 which the steepness of its streets, and the frequent showers 

 of heavy rain doubtless contribute not a little, as was long 

 ago pointed out by the architect Murphy.^ When he has 

 attained the highest point of the city, he will have reached 



* Travels in Portygal in 1789-90, p. 8. 



