BKA(iA ANT) BOM JESUS. 153 



But the o-reat prize, par excellence, of the wild moun- 

 tiiiiis of Gerez, wliich the sportsman will risk life and limb 

 to obtain, is the ibex, wild goat, bouquetin, or izzard 

 (caj^ra Ihcx), which may be described generally as a sort 

 of reddish-coloured chamois, the most wary and the most 

 active of its tribe, which frequents the nearly inaccessible 

 heights of the mountains, and is as difficult to hunt as the 

 chamois of the Alps. There was also a rumour that an 

 occasional specimen of the moiiflon, or large wild sheep, 

 miffht be met with in these mountain solitudes : but after 

 diligent enquiry, I am obliged to conclude that the report 

 had no foundation in fact ; and that if this animal exists 

 in the Peninsula at all, it is confined to the wilder portion 

 of the Pyrenees, to which the bear, once so common in 

 northern Portugal as well as Spain, is now restricted. 



I have been tempted into this digression on the wild 

 animals to be met with in the Grerez mountains, by the 

 glorious view we enjoyed of that romantic district, as we sat 

 at the fountains of the pilgrimage chapel of Bom Jesus ; 

 and it was not till the shades of evening began to draw in, 

 that w^e descended the hill, and strolled leisurely back to 

 Braga. 



A very early start on the following morning in another 

 diminutive diligence, drawn by two mules, and an exceed- 

 ingly hot drive on one of the most scorching days I ever 

 remember, through a rich country of surpassing loveliness, 

 over wooded hills, and amidst smiling valleys, brought us 

 at mid-day to the town of Ponte do Lima, where we were 

 glad to adopt the national custom of a siesta after an 

 early dinner, a luxury which is duly appreciated by 

 those who begin their journey at the peep of day, and 

 crawl along a dusty road with provoking slowness under 

 the direct rays of a burning sun. 



