316 SPORTING IN BOTH HEMISPHERES. 



his pretty little domain. A diminutive, fat, and very dark 

 elderly gentleman, in a very loose white costume, received us 

 at the gate, shook hands with us all round, and, without 

 wasting any time on words, ushered us through a perfect 

 bower of orange- trees, which, indeed, completely overshadowed 

 it, into the interior of the casa. Here, in a neat whitewashed 

 apartment, with the invariable green window-frames and 

 blinds, the board was laid out, and upon which shortly made 

 its appearance a vast soup-tureen, the contents of which, as 

 far as I was able to investigate, were composed chiefly of 

 grease, garlic, and raisins, and gave me no very exalted idea 

 of our host's cuisine. In this, however, I was doomed to be 

 agreeably deceived, as upon the disappearance of this inevi- 

 table forerunner of all Portuguese repasts, a most appetizing 

 mixture of island delicacies was placed upon the table by 

 the captain's wife and domestics. A plump little porker, 

 lately torn from the maternal embrace, and looking ready to 

 burst from its crisp and golden crackling, reposed in a bed of 

 thin slices just cut from the fragrant lime. A dish of red 

 mullets, en papillote, that a few hours before had been sport- 

 ing in the pellucid depths of the bay, formed a charming vis- 

 a-vis to a delicate cabillaud a P Hottandaise, and the rear 

 was brought up by a capon, that, for dimensions and quality^ 

 would not have disgraced a cabinet particidier at the " Trois 

 Freres" or furnished our immortal bard with an apt simile for 

 the identical bird that he described as lining the interior of a 

 middle-aged justice of the peace. Sweet potatoes, yams, and 

 other vegetables peculiar to the soil, and amongst which I 

 thought the frijolos might as well have been omitted, filled 

 up the interstices, and a very palatable light red wine, of 

 his own growing and manufacture, was served with pro- 

 fusion. The entremets sucres I considered problematical, and 

 having done ample justice to the previous course, abandoned 

 myself to the postprandial, or rather postrdejeun$, luxury of 



