The ecclesiologist will notice the remarkable hieroglyphics which are to be found on the walls of some few Portuguese buildings, especially at Beja, at Lamego, at Freixo d'Espada á Cinta, at Moncorvo, and Numão. For example, those on the church at Freixo are as follows :

These all have some, probably as yet unexplained, connexion with the craft of the Freemasons.

The tourist who may take letters of recommendation to any Portuguese family must never for a moment expect to be asked to dinner, such an invitation being exceedingly rare. The middle classes usually dine between 12 and 2, the dinner consisting of broth, boiled or stewed beef, and rice: potatoes are scarcely ever used excepting by servants, and fish is only eaten on fast-days. Wine is not kept in the house, but sent for as it is wanted from the nearest venda: the common vin ordinaire is drunk out of small tumblers, and, as it has been truly observed, it would be almost as rare to find two dozen bottles of wine in a house as it would be to discover so many books.

§ 14.-LANGUage.

It is a common but most erroneous opinion that Portuguese is merely a corrupted dialect of Spanish, whereas the two are of equal antiquity, and neither derivable from the other. As early as the twelfth century Portuguese had assumed very much of its present character, and the difference between the language of 1250 and that of the present century is very inconsiderable. The two nations, rivals in this as in everything else, mutually reproach each other with the harsh points in their respective tongues. The Portuguese ridicules the Spaniard's guttural pronunciation of j, g, and x, and the lisp which makes the true Castilian pronounce Saragossa as if it were written Tharagotha. The Spaniard laughs at the Portuguese for the nasal terminations of aõ, aã, oês, acs, and aōs. This is simply a way of expressing and pronouncing the Latin terminations ones, anes, anus, &c. Thus sermones becomes sermois, narratio becomes narração, canes, cars. It must be confessed that such a termination constantly repeated is a weak point in a language which, but for this, might vie in harmony with any in Europe. At the same time a comparison of such words as filho in Portuguese with hijo in Spanish will at least prove that the latter has even worse sounds than the so-much-derided oes. One peculiarity of Portuguese is its constantly expressing the pl of the Latin by ch. Thus pluvia becomes chuva; from plorare we get chorar; from plumbum, chumbo; from planum, chão; from flamma, chamma. The great similarity between Latin and Portuguese is shown by the fact that poems and letters have been written which are capable of being read in either language. The following was the composition of Manoel Faria :

"O quam gloriosas memorias publico, considerando quanto vales, nobilissima lingua Lusitana, cum tua facundia nos provocas, excitas, inflammas! Quam altas victorias procuras, quam celebres triumphos speras, quam excellentes fabricas fundas, quam perversas furias castigas, quam feroces insolentias domas, manifestando de prosa e (t) de metro tantas elegancias Latinas."

At the same time Portuguese has retained more Arabic words than [Portugal.]

с

Castilian, and some of them are absurdly ridiculed by Spaniards, as chafariz for fuente, a fountain; alfandega for douania, a custom-house. It is not without some reason that Portuguese writers pride themselves on the exquisite delicacy with which they are enabled to discriminate meaning by the use of the auxiliary verbs ser and estar, to be: ser, to be essentially; estar, that is, stare, to be accidentally. Sou homem, I am a man ; estou em Londres, I am in London; estou doente, I am ill; sou doente, I am an invalid. They also, with some justice, point to words which they say are inexpressible in any other language. Such are saudade, the mingled regret and love with which one thinks of an absent friend; geyto, something between tact for, and moral disposition to, a thing; menino, the common fondling term for a child, for which the ordinary word is criança; mavioso, something between plaintive and tender-hearted; rosicler, the bright, dewy freshness of a spring morning. Again, their diminutives have great force. For example, cabra branca is a white goat; we may diminish the expression thus-cabrito is a kid; cabritinho is a little kid; and, not content with cabritinho branco, we may say cabritinho branquinho. It is generally said that there is no such thing as patois in Portuguese. This is not strictly true; for example, all along the northern frontier ch has the same hard sound that we give it in English; thus, tchaves, tchumbo. In Minho they seem incapable of distinguishing between the b and the v, and will talk indifferently of vinho bom or binho vom. All along the Galician border the pronunciation mom for mão, pom for pão, com for cão, is almost universal; and here, as in the eastern frontier, the Spanish Usted has supplanted the national Vossa Mercê.

In several districts of Portugal it is considered highly improper, and a woeful solecism in manners, to use some words to which elsewhere there would exist not the slightest objection. Thus cão, a dog, would pass current at Lisbon in any society, but in many provincial towns it would be considered a vulgar expression, and its place is supplied by cachorro or cachorrinho, a puppy.

It is almost useless for any one not acquainted in some degree with the language to think of travelling in Portugal. Except at Lisbon and Porto, neither English nor French will be of the slightest assistance, nor, except on the frontiers, will Spanish; nor is it easy to procure even a guide who understands any other language but his own.

At the end of this Introduction will be found a vocabulary which may perhaps be useful to the traveller, and which is intended to embrace such sentences and phrases as are most likely to be useful to him.

§ 15.-THE MILITARY ORDERS.

The Portuguese traveller may find it convenient to be possessed of some information on the subject of the military and religious orders of that country, entering so largely as they do into its history, and commemorated as they are in some of its most interesting buildings. A tolerable account of them may be found in De Castro's Mappa de Portugal, tom. ii. pp. 18-49, and in Da Camara, Diccionario Geografico, tom. ii. pp. 178-192.

1. S. Bento d'Aviz.-This Order had its origin in the union of some knights before the battle of Campo d'Ourique, who swore to live together, and to die, if need were, for their country and their faith. At the Council

of Coimbra in 1162 they received the Cistercian rule; and, from their fixing their head-quarters at Evora, they derived their name for some time from that city. Their subsequent appellation of Aviz arose from their choosing a situation for their new seat at a place where two large birds (aves) were observed close together under a tree. From the end of the twelfth century to the time of D. Duarte, these knights were subject to the Order of Calatrava, from which they were exempted by the last-named monarch. The Master of Aviz, afterwards D. João I., was the last who was elected to that office since the time of D. João III. the sovereigns of Portugal have called themselves its perpetual administrators.

2. The Order of Christ.-This succeeded that of the Templars, on the suppression of the latter by Clement V., D. Diniz having interested himself warmly in the fate of those unfortunate knights, and having by degrees restored all their possessions to the newly-established Order. It was at first settled at Castro Marim, but afterwards, in 1356, removed to Thomar. From the circumstance of D. Henrique having been governor of the Order of Christ, it exercised a kind of spiritual jurisdiction over his discoveries, Madeira and Porto Santo.

The other Orders still extant are, 3, that of Torre e Espada, founded by D. Affonso V. in 1459, as a recompense to those knights who had fought in Africa: it is at present that which is held in most esteem.

4. Santiago de Espada, introduced into Portugal from Spain by Affonso Henriques. Of this Order the celebrated D. Paio Perez Correa, the conqueror of Algarve, was Grand Master. Its head-quarters were sucesssively at Alcacer, Mertola, and Palmella: since 1522 the Grand Mastership has been incorporated with the crown.

5. N. S. da Conceição de Villa Viçosa, instituted in 1818 by D. João VI. The extinct Orders were, besides those of the Templars and the Knights of Malta, the latter of whom had their head-quarters at Crato

The Order da Ala de S. Miguel, instituted by Affonso Henriques in 1171 to commemorate his victory over the Moors at Santarem; that Da Frecha, instituted by D. Sebastian in 1576; that Da Madre Silva, and that Dos Namorados, both instituted in the reign of D. João I. The Religious Orders were

CONEGOS REGRANTES.

1131

15

7

Lisbon.
Laveiras.

Lisbon.
Lisbon.

Lisbon.

* A lay Order peculiar to Algarve, and subject to the jurisdiction of its Bishop. They took no vows, supported themselves by the labour of their hands, and left the Order when they pleased. At some periods the whole Order consisted of only three monks.

§ 16.-Books.

The traveller will be almost as much disappointed in Portugal as in Spain if he has set his mind on procuring rare and curious books. At Lisbon and Porto the prices asked are enormous; those who have the control of the libraries, formed from the spoils of the suppressed convents, though abounding with five or six duplicate copies, rotting or worm-eaten, are by no means anxious to sell or to exchange. The best chance is at the Feira de Ládra in Lisbon, and in some of the country fairs, where a large collection of books are sometimes exposed for sale in one booth. The works most likely to be procured are the ponderous tomes of ecclesiastical annals, with which its literature so much abounds, and a list of the principal of which we

have already given. The extraordinary and out-of-the-way learning amassed in proof of extravagant positions, or in the investigation of most unimportant questions, is truly astonishing. Thus, for example, five or six closely-printed folio pages are in one instance devoted to the question whether the whale that swallowed Jonah went round the Cape of Good Hope or not; and to an elaborate argument that, even supposing he did, this fact ought not to interfere with the glory of Vasco da Gama. So also Cardoso, having made the remark that the Portuguese were the first of European nations to believe in our Lord, proves his point in the following manner. He quotes S. John xii. 20, with respect to certain Greeks who requested S. Philip that they might see our Saviour. The word Greeks, our author argues, does not always mean the inhabitants of Greece, but simply Europeans; and what Europeans, he continues, except the Portuguese, could have been at that time so enlightened as to make the inquiry? It is most manifest therefore that the term is here applied to the inhabitants of Lusitania. The antiquarian derivations of Portuguese names are at least equally curious. Thus Antonio do Carmo Velho, in his history of the monastery of Leça, derives Mindelo from the Greek μèv, "indeed," and dλdy, "plain," and gives the signification of "very conspicuous." Matozinhos-but we will quote his own words" appears to come from two Greek words, innos, a son,' and meteesis, which means 'shall help; so that Matozinhos means 'a son shall help.' For what reason this name was given to this village 1 neither know nor can divine." And with derivations not a whit better he fills some twenty pages of his work.

§ 17.-GENERAL VIEW.

From what has been said, and still more from the pages which will follow, the tourist in Portugal will learn what he must be prepared for and what he may expect to find. He must be prepared for the worst accommodation, the worst food, and the greatest fatigue, and he must not expect much that can interest in the way of architecture, ecclesiology, or the fine arts. But to one who is in pursuit of scenery, more especially to the artist, no other country in Europe can possess such attractions and such freshness of unexplored beauty. We would conclude with the remarks of an earlier labourer in our own field: "To him who shall thus go forth, bent on enjoying all that is enjoyable, both by day and night, this book is offered; and if he take it in his hand, simply to assist him by the wayside, and not expecting that it always will be, nor insisting that it always should be, correct in its estimate of the actual beauty of given places, or in its admeasurement of distances, but as affording an approximation to accuracy, he will probably, at the conclusion of his wanderings, be glad that his steps were by it directed to the matchless scenery of this physical paradise."

And perhaps the tourist may, on his return, say, in the beautiful words of Southey, "I have actually felt a positive pleasure in breathing there; and even here, the recollections of the Tagus and the Serra de Ossa, of Coimbra, and its cypresses, and orange-groves, and olives, its hills and mountains, its venerable buildings and its dear river, of the vale of Algarve, the little islands of beauty in the desert of Alemtejo, and above all of Cintra,” (—he should have said Ponte do Lima or Monchique—) "the most blessed spot in the habitable globe, will almost bring tears into my eyes,"