142 A SPmXG TOUR IX PORTUGAL. 



As our sole object was to see the country, and enjoy the 

 views, we were certainly in nO hurry, and had no cause to 

 complain of the delay ; and yet, as we dragged on at four 

 miles an hour, and were passed' by strings of peasants on 

 their ambling mules and donkeys, and never made play 

 even on the most favourable ground, it became somewhat 

 tedious to crawl along the road at that snail's gallop, for 

 we did not yet understand that this is the custom of 

 Portugal ; and why should this new-fangled coach outstrip 

 the muleteer, the pedestrian, and the horseman, who 

 have always been contented to jog along at that sober 

 pace?* 



The eastern suburbs of Oporto extended for a long dis- 

 tance, but did not impress us with their general cleanliness 

 or appearance of prosperity ; neither were the suburban 

 villas particularly deserving of notice. Much more to our 

 taste were the quintas and gardens and valleys and hills, 

 amidst which we soon found ourselves, when we had 

 shaken off the old city behind us, and were fairly emerged 

 into the country. Now we were in the heart of Minho's 

 beauties at once, and as we leisurely sauntered down the 

 long hills, and patiently crept up the interminable ascents, 

 we had ample time to admire the amazing luxuriance 

 which prevailed on all sides ; and to marvel at the splen- 

 did specimens of various forest trees, which in turn attrac- 

 ted oar attention. Then there were the vines trained to 

 pollarded oaks, after a manner we had never before seen 

 in any country ; there was the process of haymaking at 

 its height, the grass being cut after a novel fashion with 

 sickles, and very well and closely cut too ; tlie primitive 

 ploughs, drawn by four large oxen ; Indian corn being 

 sown broadcast, and some already sprouting ; the rye 



* ' The rate of postal travelling in Great Britain is about thirty miles an 

 hour ; and in Portugal three miles an hour.'— Forrester's Prize Essay on 

 Portugal. London, 1854. Page 4o. 



