LISBON, THE CITY OF THE FRIENDLY BAY 



By Clifford Albion Tinker 



LEGEND has it that Ulysses founded 

 Lisbon. 

 ^ It may be so. For twenty years 

 he sailed up and down the Mediterranean, 

 and more than once during his wander- 

 ings ventured beyond the rocky Pillars 

 of Hercules. And, too, the Phoenicians 

 found a black-eyed, raven-locked tribe in 

 Lisbon when they took possession. At 

 that remote age the ancient town was 

 called "Olisipo." 



Sun-kissed on its eleven hills, Lisbon 

 has all the delights of a salubrious cli- 

 mate ; stretching for five miles along the 

 banks of the mighty Tagus, it offers the 

 finest harbor in Europe ; seven miles from 

 the open sea, it is protected from the At- 

 lantic's gusty storms ; it is the center of 

 a rich and ancient province, the capital 

 of a nation and the seat of culture and 

 learning. 



Lisbon is all this and more. It is the 

 largest and most strategically located sea- 

 port on the remunerative ocean trade 

 lanes between London and the Mediter- 

 ranean on one hand, and between London 

 and Cape Town on the other. 



Lisbon is also the central metropolitan 

 storehouse for Portugal's outlander colo- 

 nies. Into its markets pour the tributes 

 of the vine-clad Azores ; the rich wines 

 of Madeira; the tropical delicacies of the 

 Cape Yerdes ; the vilest of tobaccos from 

 Dakar ; dyes and gums from Guinea ; 

 cotton, gold, and rubber from Angola ; 

 ebony, ivory, and grains from Mozam- 

 bique ; tea, rugs, and ivory from Goa, in 

 India ; more tea, silks, and fabrics from 

 Macao, in China, and choice drugs and 

 spices from Malayan Timor. 



Lisbon is far from being decadent; it 

 has increased in population more than 40 

 per cent in twenty years. 



A SUPERB PICTURE WHEN APPROACHED 

 PROM THE SEA 



Approaching Lisbon from the sea, one's 

 expectations are aroused by the sight of 

 the Serra de Cintra, off on the port hand, 

 veiled in purplish atmospheric haze— a 

 sentinel mountain with saw-toothed ridge, 

 which bears a castle where its craggy 



crest seems to melt into the sky. Ghostly 

 towers reach up from this castle, and, as 

 the ship hurries on and brings the sun- 

 light bearing on the heights, the spires 

 take on the appearance of ivory stalag- 

 mites on an iridescent base. 



Now the ship plows along by Cape 

 Roca, and on by Cape Raso, and the 

 heavy cloud-masses which have been 

 chasing behind us all morning, caught in 

 a freshening breeze, suddenly and swiftly 

 swing in over the land, enveloping the 

 peaks of Monge and Peninha in a bonnet 

 of whirling scud. Not until then did one 

 appreciate the true height of those moun- 

 tains ; their summits are nearly eighteen 

 hundred feet above the sea. The bold 

 headlands of the coast, being closer 

 aboard, dwarf them out of scale. 



A FAMOUS WATERING PLACE FOR TWO 

 THOUSAND YEARS 



Leaving Cape Raso on the port quarter 

 and standing broad into the bay brings 

 into view the Riviera of Portugal. This 

 lovely coast has been a famous watering- 

 place for more than two thousand years. 

 Immediately after the destruction of 

 Carthage, at the end of the Third Punic 

 War, Roman generals and senators 

 flocked here to enjoy the baths and winter 

 sunlight; for with the fall of Carthage 

 the peninsula became a Roman province. 



From Cape Raso straight on to Lisbon 

 proper, there is scarce a break in the 

 amazing array of palaces, forts, hotels, 

 casinos, hamlets, and beacons lining the 

 shore and spilling over against the hill- 

 sides which slope back to the open coun- 

 try. Smooth, sandy, curving beaches 

 break the rocky coast-line at intervals, 

 and on these bathing slopes long, rolling 

 combers spread a line of soapy foam in 

 direct contrast to the geyser-like spray 

 dashing against the steep and ragged 

 bluffs. 



Ivory, gray, pink, and glistening white 

 walls, topped with scarlet and orange tile, 

 emblazoned against a background of 

 bronze green, with the foliage of African 

 and semi-tropical plants skillfully ar- 

 ranged for vista effects, make this stretch 



505 



