116 THE ATLANTIC. [CHAP. IL 
the Monastery of St. Jeronymo, from its having been occupied 
by monks of that order, is in connection with the church, and, 
with it, was founded in 1499 by King Manoel the Fortunate, 
in commemoration of the discovery of the Indies, on the spot 
where Vasco da Gama embarked on his first eastern voyage. 
The monastery is now used as a state asylum for upward of 
a thousand poor children. Visitors are admitted to the clois- 
ters at three o’clock, and, as that hour had not arrived, we were 
turning away from the door, when a servitor opened it, and in- 
vited us to enter. 
We passed through an archway into a large quadrangle with 
the sun shining brightly into it. _Flower-beds occupied the 
centre of the square, cut out in various shapes, and separated 
