BRAG A AND BOAf JESUS. 141 



formed have been already siiffered to get out of repair, 

 and are nearly useless for traffic. 



But every allowance must be made for a people who 

 are only just beoinning to learn the use of wheels ; who, 

 within a comparatively recent period, possessed no roads at 

 all ; and who, within the memory of living men, knew no 

 other conveyance than the bullock-cart, which I was assured 

 by one informant he had himself seen in use in Oporto for 

 the conveyance of ladies to a dinner party. Even now the 

 coach service on the best of their roads is quite in its 

 infancy, and would by no means satisf}^ the expectations 

 of the English traveller with but an ordinary stock of 

 patience, as the sequel of our experience in Minho will 

 amply show. 



We fixed on an early day in the week for our expedition, 

 and took our places outside the diligence for Guimaraens ; 

 and, well cautioned to present ourselves in good time at 

 the office, we had made a very early breakfast, and clam- 

 bered up the steep hills of the city, and at 5.45 a.m. pre- 

 sented ourselves at the starting-point. Here we were 

 amused to find our diligence, which was in reality a dimi- 

 nutive omnibus or sociable, drawn up in the street, loaded 

 with passengers ; the conductor in a nervous state of ex- 

 citement, awaiting our arrival, and all ready for the start, 

 with the trifling exception that no horses had hitherto 

 appeared on the scene. However, we were soon ushered 

 up to our seats, and our cargo being complete, after ten 

 minutes' patient waiting in that somewhat ridiculous posi- 

 tion, the horses were brought out, and as the clock struck 

 six, amidst a great deal of noise from coachman and 

 ostlers, and a loud smacking of whips, our sturdy team 

 started up the street at a gallop, rounded a corner with a 

 fearful lurch, and subsided at once into a mild trot, which 

 was little more than a walk, and from which we never 

 emerged again throughout the journey. 



