Convent de Cristo, once inhabited by the Brothers of | Tagus. It is narrower and more curving and winding, the Military Order of Christ. At Coimbra the train makes a long stoppage. Coimbra lies a mile and a half from the railway station, at the foot of a steep hill. The silvery stream of the classic Mondego glides over golden sands. The vast Convent of Santa Clara towers over the city. On the right of the convent is the Quinta das Lagromas-("Villa of Tears"). Dom Pedro I. married the beautiful Ignez de Castro. A conspiracy was gotten up to besmirch her good name. She died of a broken heart. Pedro, later on, learned that she was innocent and pure. He hunted down the conspirators, putting them to death with hideous and fantastic torture. Then he disentombed the dead and putrid body of Ignez, placed it upon a throne, and compelled his subjects to do it ghastly honor. Close by the Villa of Tears is the Fonte dos Am res, whose waters carried down, concealed in cork, the messages of love from the prince to his bride. On a rough stone are engraven the lines in which Camoens has immortalized the tragic story of the lovely, loving and unhappy Donna Ignez. Coimbra was the seat of Government until the conqueror of the Castilians, Dom Joao I., transferred the seat of Government to Lisbon. The old Sé is a very singular Gothic building, of a date anterior, it is said, to the establishment of the Portuguese monarchy. The pulpit in the Moorish-towered Church of Santa Cruz is of a single block of alabaster, and the carving is most masterful. The famous University stands "so high on the hilltops" that it is worth the trouble of the ascent to obtain the magnificent view. The Library contains some very rare MSS., formerly in the possession of convents now suppressed. The Batalha Monastery is one of the finest buildings of its kind in the world, and is a source of immense attraction to the wandering poor, since dole is freely bestowed at a certain hour upon every day in the year save Good Friday. Between Coimbra and Esterreja, en route to Oporto, the scenery is magnificent. The custom-house officers attack you most viciously as you cross the Douro, but one and all are open to what may be politely termed conviction." 66 Oporto is as decidedly coquettish as it is quaintly picturesque. Even in the narrow streets the high-storied houses are decorated with elegant balconies, their rails painted of a reddish brown, green, blue or dust color, and many of them are gilded. The Camera Municipal, or City Hall, is in the Praça. The centre of the Praça is adorned with an equestrian statue of "the Soldier King," Dom Pedro IV., whose memory is almost worshiped by the Portuguese. This square, which is in the very heart of the city, with its cafés, its loungers, its carriage-stands, presents a very animated appearance. Up a steep street the splendid Church of Ildefonsa stands on the left. On the right the famous tower, Torre dos Clerigos, over 250 feet in height. The beautiful garden of the Cordoaria is close by, and under the shade of some far-spreading trees, on the other side of the road, are daily to be seen hundreds of oxen and a mass of rustic carts, the oxen being chiefly driven by women, attired in bright, if not startling, colors. The magnificent Hospital Real de St. Antonio is close by, the "Americano," | or horse-car, jingling merrily past it en route to and from Mathozinhos. Oporto is built on two granite hills. The lovely Douro glides placidly onward, as blue as the Danube. Its beauty is quite its own, and differs from that of the row especially as it nears Oporto. The hills on its left bank are green as those of the Tyrol, odoriferous with lavender and myrtle, clothed with thick woods at their summits, and fringed with shrubs and plants to the water's edge. The Douro, too, boasts a great variety of boats-the ancient barco, with curved-up point at each end; the round Dutch-built boat, with an awning, and, by way of contrast, the neat little skiff, with its graceful lateen sail. Women, too, take the place of men, and are seen ing with sturdy vigor, timing their strokes to some air that in the distance savors of the melodious-distance lending enchantment to the sound. Women, bronzed to blackness, work on the roads and break the pink stones with pickax and hammer, their attire, without being immodest, as scanty as may be. Oporto's chief suburb is S. Joao da Foz, two miles distant, to which there are horse-cars. The environs of Oporto are exceedingly beautiful, the drives on either side of the Douro being most charming-unsurpassed for river scenery-all the finest sites along the river ornamented by monasteries and convents; that of St. Agostinho of the Serra commanding one of the most entrancing views it is possible to conceive. In the village of Avintes, the broa, or Indian-corn bread, of which the inhabitants of Oporto are so fond, is made. It is brought down to the city in boats rowed by women-the women of Avintes, who, amongst the many handsome daughters of Portugal, are the most distinguished. Everybody goes to visit the Serra Convent and the miraculous picture of "Our Lady" of the Serra do Pillur. The féle day is the 15th of August, and on this occasion the people wear the national costume. The convent is one of the principal fortresses of the kingdom, and had Marshal Soult, who occupied it during Lord Wellington's passage of the Douro, only fortified it, who knows what might have happened? It is in Oporto that you meet the velha cunha, the old stamp, the Portuguese of the puro sangue, with, however, a very decided flavor of the Moor. Two other "spots of beauty" adorning Oporto are Mathozinhos and Leca, built on green slopes curving gracefully round a little bay, and nestling amid orange and lemon trees, roses and myrtles, and vine-covered bowers, the houses painted eve y color in the rainbow. The Se or Cathedral of Oporto possesses an altar of pure silver, and a Virgin and Child attributed to Raphael. The most gorgeous church is that of San Francisco, founded in 1233 and called the "Gold Church." The Bolsa, or Exchange, is a superb building, which occupied twenty years in building. Oporto boasts 110,000 inhabitants, and sends all over the world that "fine old port" which the degenerate mankind of to-day shirk on account of that dreaded of human ailments - the gout. In addition to being the principal seaport of Portugal, Oporto is a very busy place, and is strong in the manufacture of linen, silk, woolen and cotton goods. From Oporto the tourist repairs to the “Garden of Lusitania," Minho-entra Douro e Minho-passing along the banks of the charming Cavado, and through the quaint old cities of Barallos and Braga. The Se, in the latter, is a very ancient edifice, built on the site of a pagan temple in the beginning of the twelfth century. The chalice is still in use that was held by the Archbishop of Braga at the christening of Affonso Henriquez, in 1109. The greatest curiosity in the cathedral, however, is the body, in perfect preservation, of Dom Laurenzo, the eighty-sixth Archbishop, who fought and was wounded at the great battle of Aljubarrota. This tomb, in 1663-nearly 300 years after his death-was opened, and the body found in the state of preservation it still | plates with bread and salt, with as much care as if the continues in, though never embalmed. Busaco is a city of which the Portuguese are extremely proud since the famous battle of 1810, when 11,000 Portuguese, aided by 23,000 English, gained a complete victory over Masséna, and thus gave the first blow to the power of Bonaparte, and which, followed up, led to his ultimate downfall. Busaco is celebrated for its woods, and the avenue of gigantic Lebanon cedars leading up to the monastery situated in their midst. There are six fountains in the grounds, the most famous of which is the Fonte Fria, whose waters are of icy coldness in Summer and temperate in Winter. The water descends through a covered canal, under several short flights of steps, inclosed by stone parapets. Queen had been present; when they had waited there a little time, th: Yeomen of the Guard entered bareheaded, clothed in scarlet with a golden rose upon their backs, bringing in at each turn a course of twenty-four dishes, served in plate, most of it gilt; these dishes were received by a gentleman in the same order they were brought, and placed upon the table, while the lady taster gave to each guard a mouthful to eat, for fear of poison. During the time that this guard, which consists of the tallest and stoutest men that can be found in all England, being carefully selected for this service-were bringing | dinner, twelve trumpets and two kettle-drums made the hall ring for half an hour together. At the end of all this ceremonial, a number of unmarried ladies appeared, wao with particular solemnity lifted the meat off the table, and conveyed it into the Queen's inner and more private chamber, where, after she has chosen for herself, the dines alone, with very few attendants, and it is very seldom anybody, foreigner or native, is admitted at that time, and then only at the intercession of some one in power." Batalha is visited on account of the magnificent Mostereio Real de Santa Maria de Victoria. This splendid temple is built on the field of Aljubarrota. The gorge-rest goes to the ladies of the court. The Queen sups and ous edifice is unsurpassed in architectural splendor by any in Europe. The Chapter - house in itself is considered a marvel. This hall was twice roofed, and twice the graceful arching gave way on the removal of the supports. A third time it was completed, and the architect vowed he would die beneath the ruins if again it should fail. It did not fail, however, and he lived to enjoy his bravado and his triumph. There is, also, the wonderful Capello Imperfecta-unfinished, because no architect was found capable of carrying out the magnificent plans of the first one. Alcobaça is another superb monastery, close to Aljubarrota, under the régime of the Monks of St. Bernard. This abbey is founded to commemorate a victory over the Moors. The French despoiled it, even to the tombs. Here lies Dom Pedro the Just, his beloved Queen Ignez opposite to him, the soles of her feet touching the soles of his feet, in order that upon the Day of Judgment they may rise face to face and greet each other at the resurrection. Leira is a very pretty little town, watered by the River Lys, and the ruins of a Moorish castle, crowning a hill, are singularly perfect as ruins. Leira has its season, as it. is somewhat giddy for a certain period of each year. This peep into Portugal will give the readers of the POPULAR MONTHLY an outside idea of a very beautiful and interesting country, but one for which it is to be feared a very third-rate future. QUEEN ELIZABETH AT DINNER. Of the formalities observed at the laying of the royal table in Greenwich Palace, during Queen Elizabeth's reign, Paul Hentzner gives the following account in the "Itinerarium,” freely Englished by Horace Walpole: "A gentleman entered the room bearing a rod, and along with him another who had a tablecloth, which, af er they had both kneeled three times, with the utmost veneration, he spread upon the table, and after kneeling again, they both retired. Then came two others, one with the rod again, the other with a saltcellar, a plate, and bread; when they had kneeled, as the others had done, and placed what was brought upon the table, they too retired, with the same ceremonies performed by the first. last came an unmarried lady (we were told she was a countess), and along with her a married one, bearing a tasting-knife; the former was dressed in white silk, who, when she had prostrated herself three times, in the most graceful manner, approached the table, and rubbed the At DIVERS THAT FALL ASLEEP. DID you ever know what is the greatest danger to tuose who dive into the sea for valuables that have been sunk ? It is falling asleep. The following story, told by a diver, an Englishman, is interesting: "What does a diver's outfit consist of? "A boat, a pump, hose, lines and dress. The dress. consists of layers of duck and india-rubber. The shoes weigh twenty pounds each. On his chest and back he carries forty-pound weights. The helmet, when it has. been placed over the diver's head, is firmly screwed into a copper collar that is attached to his dress. A weighted line is sunk to the spot which he is to reach, and down that line he goes with the life-line round his waist and attached to his helmet. Those who have charge of the life-line and hose must regulate them as the diver moves. about below. "What are a diver's working day and his wages? "Four hours and £1. If he furnishes his own apparatus his wages are higher-£8 to £10 a day. For getting a hawser out of a steamer's screw I'd charge £10 if I furnished my own apparatus." "I suppose that a part of the charge is for the risks. you run?" 66 'Yes; a diver is exposed to a good many dangers. One of them, you'll be surprised to learn, is falling asleep. On a hot day the contrast between the heat above and the delicious coolness below water is apt to make a diver sleepy. I once slept an hour and a half at the bottom of a wreck, where I was laying a pipe. Suppose that that had happened in a channel where the tide runs so swiftly that a diver can work only during the one hour of slack water. If I'd slept over that one hour the deadly rush of the tide would have snapped the life-line and hose. Then, in working wrecks, there is the danger of getting jammed in between freight or of getting the hose or line entangled. When the hose snaps at a great depth the frightful pressure kills the diver. He is sickeningly distorted by it." KNOWLEDGE always desires increase it is like fire, which must be first kindled by some external agent, but which will afterwards propagate itself. |