WRIGHT—TOUR IN SICILY AND PORTUGAL. 307 
in full fruit at this period, and the clusters of scarlet berries amid the 
delicate green leaves made them most attractive. 
As my friend, Dr. D. Moore, of Glasnevin, has very recently given a 
much more exact account than I can pretend to give of the vegetation 
of this part of Portugal,* I shall not dwell on it longer; neither shall I 
stop to tell of the delights of glorious Cintra, where I enjoyed the hos- 
pitality of Professor Bocage, and spent a most delightful Sunday. 
On the 7th, Professor Bocage and I left Lisbon by the half-past six 
a. u. steamer to Barreiro, and thence by rail to Setubal. 
The better part of the day was taken up in making arrangements for 
my expedition to the Hyalonema ground, and all the bother and trouble 
of selecting boatmen, &c., were most kindly undertaken by Professor Bo- 
cage. A fisherman, whose name [have long since forgotten, but who knew 
the ground well, and had already taken several specimens of the Hyalo- 
nema, was at last found, and he engaged to bring me to the ground, and to 
dredge for specimens, for a remuneration of 36,000 reis. I confess that I 
was somewhat alarmed at the great depth that this boatman said he would 
have to dredge in for the Hyalonema. I had brought out with me a 
little naturalist’s dredge, which he examined very carefully, and which 
he undertook to let down to a depth of 400 or 500 fathoms, and take up 
again with safety. My experience in dredging had only been in moderate 
depths, of 100 fathoms or so, and I made up my mind never to see the 
dredge once it was cast overboard, but knowing that the fishermen 
had repeatedly brought up specimens by means of long lines, I flattered 
myself with the hope that we would not return altogether empty- 
handed, and I resolved even to lose the dredge rather than lessen my 
chances of getting the Hyalonema. 
It was about five o’clock in the evening of the 7th as we left the 
harbour at Setubal. The boat’s crew consisted of a master and seven 
men. The immense coils of rope for dredging quite filled up the bot- 
tom of the boat, and afforded me a somewhat uncomfortable and uneasy 
resting place for the night. Once the boat was well under weigh the 
men had their supper ; this consisted of apples and cheese, bread and 
sweet Muscat grapes. The night was bright and clear; there was just 
sufficient wind to enable the boat to sail well. Going down the river 
we tacked several times, and about six o’clock in the morning the sail 
was hauled in, and we anchored over the dredging ground. The men 
had some breakfast, and then arrangements were made for getting the 
dredge down. Once overboard, down it went; coil after coil of the rope 
disappeared ; it seemed as if it would never touch the bottom. At last, 
when about 480 fathom were out, the slack came, and the dredge was 
declared to have arrived. Then the anchors were taken in, the fore- 
sail partly hoisted, and we very gently began to move to the south- 
wards. In half-an-hour’s time they commenced to haul in. The rope 
* “Journal of the Royal Dublin Society,” vol. v., Part 37, 1868, pp. 241, 255. 
VOL. Y. 28 
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