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they were evidently well-fed, if we may judge by strength 

 and form and muscle. 



In fact, the Portuguese are a well-made people. The 

 strength of the porters is amazing. The longshoremen 

 are vigorous and strong. The soldiers have sturdy limbs 

 and a great stride. The carriers in the streets of Lisbon 

 are strong, erect, sturdy young women from the Douro 

 district, who rear heavy baskets of fish and coal from the 

 barges, and vegetables on their heads, while they travel 

 bare foot over the stony streets in all weather, wet and 

 dry, warm and cold. The young men who go forth to their 

 business in Lisbon have athletic frames. The pedestrians 

 in Cintra possess great muscular power — else the hills 

 would kill them. The climate is delightful. The soil is 

 easily cultivated. There is no frost. In the seven months 

 that I have been here I have seen showers, but not a half 

 dozen rainy days. 



It is now the lflth of January and the market is full of 

 fresh vegetables, turnips as white as snow balls, carrots as 

 yellow as gold, cauliflower of the most delicate texture, 

 and spinach as " green as grass." This is a great country 

 for farming, and the people engaged in this occupation 

 are so contented with their lot into which they are born 

 that the question of profit never enters their minds, and 

 the family subsistence is as assured as the changing of the 

 seasons. They have an agricultural college, and they have 

 model farms, but they have no institutes. If they had I 

 would read to them for their edification and instruction 

 one of the debates of the Essex County Institute on the 

 benefit of silos, or the value of the corn crop, or the duty 

 which should be laid on eggs. 



I trust your meetings will be successful, and I assure 

 you I should enjoy joining in your discussions. 



Truly Yours, 



Geo. B. Loring. 



Major David W. Low, Sec, Gloucester. 



