172 A SPRING TOUR IX PORTUGAL. 



noying information very quietly imparted by the conductor, 

 that in consequence of the delay at Elvas, we could not 

 now catch the quick train at Ciudad Eeale, and therefore 

 could not reach ^Madrid that night, but might hope to 

 arrive there on the following morning. 



So, with our journey thus unexpectedly prolonged, we 

 advanced leisurely amidst the brown hills and arid plains 

 of dry, thirsty, barren, tawny, burnt-up Spain ; and while 

 we steam away hour after hour through its most mono- 

 tonous, uninteresting, interminable wastes of sand and 

 rock, it seems a good opportunity to pause awhile, and 

 review the general impressions I carried away of the sunny 

 little kingdom I had been visiting : and possibly it may 

 not be without interest to my readers, if I add up here, by 

 way of supplement, such opinions of Portugal and the Por- 

 tuguese as my rapid tour allowed me to form ; and more 

 particularly if I institute a comparison between the general 

 features of the two countries which comprise the south- 

 western Peninsula of Europe, and which seem isolated 

 and cut off from all other nations by the vast barrier of 

 the Pyrenees. 



Now I think I may unhesitatingly assert, that it is 

 generally supposed in England, though, as I maintain, 

 quite erroneously, that Portugal is naturally, and to all 

 practical intents and purposes, a portion of Spain ; and, 

 therefore, it is concluded that the general aspect of the 

 country, her geological features, her fauna and flora, must 

 be identical with those of her great neighbour. Yet 

 this is altogether a mistaken conclusion, arising doubtless 

 from a recollection of the relative positions of Spain and 

 Portugal on the map, where I allow that they do appear 

 obviously united : but no sooner does the traveller cross 

 the boundary which divides the kingdoms, than he becomes 

 sensible how great is the divergence between the two 

 countries, and that not only in their natural aspects, but 



