OrORTO. w. 



regard to the natural aspect of the countr}^ but also witli 

 reference to its inliabitants, that it has proved almost 

 inaccessible to travellers, and has seldom been visited by 

 tlie most enthusiastic tourists. Here, amidst the most 

 ruii^ti^ed mountains, and in a country notorious for malaria, 

 and but very sparingly populated, the vines which produce 

 the celebrated wine grow in dwarf bushes and in terraces 

 one above another, not unlike the unpicturesque method 

 pursued on the banks of the Ehine and Moselle, and in 

 Central France. These vines are tended and pruned with 

 the greatest care, and no labour is spared in bringing 

 the fruit to perfection. Then, when the happy season of 

 vintage is come round, the scene resembles that of our 

 hop-gardens in Kent and Surrey. The indefatigable Gral- 

 legos flock in to take part in the work, and baskets of ripe 

 grapes are carried to the wine-press, where, to the sound 

 of music, and amidst the songs and shouts of the labourers, 

 the juice is trodden out by the trampling of human feet, 

 after the method pursued from the most ancient times 

 in all southern and oriental countries.* Then ensues the 

 fermentation, the straining of the liquor, the refining, and 

 whatever process is employed before it is put into casks : 

 and then it is shipped on board the wine boats and sent 

 on its somewhat perilous voyage down the Douro amongst 

 the rapids and sand-banks, and finally, (unless swamped 

 and destroyed on the passage, as not unfrequently happens,) 

 it is landed at one of the large ' lodges ' in Oporto. 



On presenting ourselves at the counting-house of Messrs. 

 Sandeman, and handing in our letter of introduction, we 

 were courteously received by the manager on duty, and 



* For an exhaustive account of the wine-press, and the mode of treading 

 out the juice of the grape, as practised of old, but equally applicable to 

 modern Portuguese use, see the article 'Wine' in Dr. Smith's Dictionar>i 

 of the Bible, vol. iii. p. 1774. 



K 2 



