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which years ago prevailed in New England among clergymen and other "potent, grave, and reverend seniors." But alas, the days of cocked hats and small clothes have passed away, and other and far different times have succeeded. Sometimes the youth in question would climb from behind upon his mule, and there roll and tumble about like a rope-dancer, then he would ride backwards, so as to face the rest of the company, and there sing and play off his pranks to their no small amusement. He was, too, somewhat of a dandy, wore his hat in a jaunty way, had bows of riband at his knees, a dashy scarlet sash about his waist, and was, I doubt not, a great favorite among the rustic belles of the border, the first and the loudest at the revel, and the longest and latest at the dance.

There was another man in our party, one of those dark mysterious characters, who defy all attempts to sound them. He was tall, lean, and athletic, with a downcast look, half sad and half morose, and seemed to shrink from all communion with his fellow-men, as if doomed to endless penance for some dark and awful crime, which he feared that every one who approached him might be able to discover. The most that could be drawn from him was, that he came from the mountains of Algarve, and that his mules were loaded with fish for the use of devout Catholics during the fast of Lent. When I saw the poor man thus taking a toilsome journey of from twenty to thirty days for such a purpose, I could not but wish that the Popes of Rome had abolished Lent, as they have repeatedly threatened to do, when angry with the kings of England, that thus they might injure the English fisheries by lessening the demand for cod-fish from the Banks of Newfoundland.

One sketch more and I have done. There was with us one, whom two broad stripes of sky blue cloth on each leg of his pantaloons, and the collar of his jacket of the same color, marked out as a member of the Portuguese national guard. He was above the common height, with broad, stooping shoulders, and wore a common Spanish hat with the brim turned up all round, and the crown terminating in a point, and decked with a tassel. This was surmounted by an English hat, which he had just bought in Lisbon, thus making his upper story a double one. He had thick, stiff mustaches, black, shaggy eyebrows and features, which, combined with the expression of his eyes, gave him altogeth

er the most brutal, ferocious, and savage countenance, that I ever beheld. As he was merely a traveller, and had no mules to look after, he attached himself much more closely to me than could have been desired. Still, for one thing, he deserved credit, which was the distinct manner in which he expressed his meaning, by the use of signs. This he had acquired as a matter of necessity, by long intercourse with those who spoke different dialects, and who had not words in common sufficient to make themselves understood. Yet even this was annoying to me, for in telling how he had been seized, and roughly handled by the officers of justice, in his eagerness to explain the matter fully, he would grasp fiercely hold of me, and I was forced to put up with his rudeness as I would with the well-meant caresses of a bear. Though he denied the charge, still, I have little doubt that he had been a robber. According to his own story, he was a suspicious character, at least, for he said, that twice passports had been granted him, by which permission was given to go but twenty leagues from the frontiers of Portugal. Both of these passports he had violated, by fleeing to the mountains of La Mancha, and twice he had been seized and marched to Lisbon, once with an iron collar round his neck, by which he was bound to his comrades. He was then shut up in prison for nine months, all, as he said, for liberty, -the liberty, perhaps, which he had taken with the property and persons of others. I was heartily glad, near the end of our journey, to be rid of him, and should I ever meet such an other face, among a band of robbers, I should consider my death-warrant sealed, from the moment that I first cast my eyes upon it.

For thirty or forty miles after leaving the Tagus, our road lay through a wide-spread, sandy plain, presenting only a growth of shrubs of low, stinted pines, save where here and there a small rivulet crept sluggishly along, lined with a narrow belt of verdure, where herds of cattle were feeding. Sometimes, too, we met large droves of black swine on their way to market, showing by their double chins and their short gouty steps, that they came from a region where cork-nuts were abundant. There were also flocks of turkeys, driven by peasants with long poles of cane in their hands, which they used to guide and correct the refractory. Little could be said, however, as to the good manners of these fowls, for the gentlemen gobblers, taking offence at a silk handkerchief which was tied round my face, drew up in battle array

and poured forth threats of defiance, and the females, too, excited by this bad example, stuck up their feathers, the blood rushed to their faces, and they showed a degree of temper quite unbecoming their sex. The further we receded from the sea, the more fertile the country became, and large cultivated fields or extensive tracts covered with the deep, green foliage of the olive and the cork-tree, were constantly rising to the view. The cork-tree grows to a large size, with huge rough, crooked limbs reaching nearly to the ground, and, except in the shape of its leaves which are long and narrow, it very nearly resembles in appearance those wide-spread, sturdy, and gnarled oaks, which, in the United States, are often met with as shade-trees, in the vicinity of houses, or in the open fields. The olive tree always reminds me of the willow, though it does not grow to so large a size. The species which bears the largest fruit, such as is eaten by the higher classes, and is picked for commerce, has leaves of a light green color, while that on which the small, black olive grows, of which oil is commonly made, is covered throughout the year with foliage of the darkest hue. Olive grounds are valued, not by the acre, but the number of trees which they bear. The common price of each tree is one dollar. The old branches are often cut off, to give place for young and vigorous ones, such as will produce the largest and most healthy fruit. Thus, old and decayed trunks, with scarce enough left of them to support their own weight or convey the sap from the roots to the branches, may be seen in great numbers, crowned with a rich and verdant covering, reminding one, of those shattered beaux and belles of a former generation, who, amid the tottering decrepitude of age, still affect the airs of youth, and, by the help of wigs, and curls, and paint, and finery, vainly attempt to conceal the marks of age, and show the freshness of their early days. The olive tree is often referred to in the Bible, and in other ancient writings, as an emblem of fertility, and a much larger number of human beings have been supported by the fruit thus produced within a given extent of country, than there ever have been by any other vegetable production growing on the same extent of soil. Hence the propriety of the custom, which has prevailed since the time of the return of Noah's dove to the ark, of using the olive branch as an emblem of peace and prosperity. A further reason for this custom, is found in the fact, that in eastern countries, invading ar

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mies are in the habit of destroying olive trees, as a means of impoverishing their enemies and cutting off their means of subsistence. Hence, an olive branch, covered with leaves, is an apt emblem of peace and plenty.

In the plains which surround Estramoz, in the eastern part of Portugal, numerous parties of peasants of both sexes, were employed in gathering olives for the purpose of making oil. The women, that they might not be incumbered in their movements, had their nether garments secured about the knee, in such a way as exactly to resemble the huge bag trowsers of the Turks and Greeks. This, with their low, round-crowned hats, like those worn by the men, gave them a singular appearance, and, as we passed repeated groups of them, gathered around the fires where they took their frugal meals, the song and the dance, and the lively and spirited manner in which they replied to the jokes of the smugglers, showed that they regarded what they were doing more as an amusement than a task, and that the delight which they took in it, was "like the joy of vintage."

Near the towns of Montemor and Arroyolos, there were steep hills, with a space on their summits of some acres in extent, enclosed by a high wall, as a place where the inhabitants might flee with their flocks during sudden and rapid incursions of an enemy. Estramoz, Elvas, and Badajoz also, occupy the summits of hills, and are surrounded by walls, and strongly fortified. The two latter places are within sight of each other, and, as one is the frontier town of Spain, and the other of Portugal, not only have they occupied a conspicuous station in the wars and sieges of days gone by, but the inhabitants of each, indulge towards those of the other, all the deep hostility of national and border hatred. Hence, during the French war, when Badajoz was besieged, Elvas was illuminated, and the good people of Badajoz returned the compliment, when Elvas was besieged. The Spanish peasants, too, often name their mules Portuguesa, and give vent to their national hatred by cursing, beating, or kicking the poor animal which has this unlucky title. The Portuguese, also, are not slow in returning the favor, by using for the same purpose the title Española, (Spaniard,) and abusing, in their rage, the beast that bears it

During much of our journey, we followed paths and byways, to the neglect of the main road, and some parts of our route were thus rendered quite wild and romantic. As we

approached the frontier, our party divided, and struck off in different directions, most of them avoiding the large towns, as they were evidently by no means anxious to attract public attention. Still they pursue their business freely, and during the long series of years that Lisbon and Gibraltar have been free ports, immense quantities of goods have constantly been sent through them, and smuggled into all parts of Spain. The wretched manner in which the Spanish soldiers are fed and paid, leave them peculiarly open to corruption, and the bribes which they receive for conniving at smuggling, cause the frontier stations to be regarded as peculiarly desirable.

On our way through Portugal, there was no want of music to cheer us, for our mules all had bells, attached either to the neck or to some part of the saddle or bridle. They varied in size, from such as are used at dining-tables, with their shrill, tinkling, alto notes, to huge cow-bells, a foot and a half in length, and sounding as full and low as the under bass of an organ. Thus every sound in the gamut had its representative, and the whole combined formed a ludicrous burlesque on the huge musical clock, in the palace at Mafra.

The few smugglers who continued with me as far as Elvas, leaving that place and passing along the fertile plain beyond, forded the little rivulet which there divides Spain from Portugal, at a point where there were no revenue officers to trouble them, and crossing the Guadiana on a fine arched bridge of hewn stone, with a strong gate at each end, entered Badajoz. This bridge has 28 arches, is 1,874 feet long by 23 broad, and was built by Philip the Second, King of Spain. I took my lodgings at the sign of the Cavallo Blanco (White Horse). The animal which gave the inn its name was painted on a small board, which was suspended over the front door. He was a wild looking steed, of the color of snow, and as nothing like the ground was painted beneath his feet, and there was no other object near to give him a comparative size, he seemed to be moving through the air, and appeared only six or eight inches in height. The house combined within itself a claim to all the eight or ten titles which the Spanish use to denote the different kinds of places of public entertainment. It was an Osteria, or place where horses might be kept, a Caffe, or coffee-house, a Fonda, or eating-house, a Posada, a Taberna, a Casa de Bebida, or drinking-house, alias a drunkery, and so on to the end of the chapter. Horses and mules passed through the front door, and along

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