The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1899-12-14
\ Flying Trip Through Spain and
Portugal.

Ii unNfeu Years olt ana bruat (Brtau0,
Apparently Built at the Same Period.
special Correspondence of The journal
bEAGA, PORTUGAL, Nov. Sd The
i.veler who visits this country for pleasure
should not come in autumn. He will find
1efe none of the calm and stately beauty
rUl, marks the dying year i'll the same
attitude on our side of the Atlaptic-po
-mfng landscapes slowly bronzing under
Dliy touches of frost, or glorious in
70, mson, russell and gold; no enchanting
us of summer brightness tempered with
breath of coming winter-of winter
~ali warmed and mellowed with the sun
8 waning summer. Autumn is particu-
a y melancholy in northern Portugal.
where every field is battle ground every
re. vine and shrub the denuded victim
,emental strife. The hot Lusitanian
u has stimulated an extraordinary wealth
,trdure; and the first continued down
l If equinoetial rain, accompanied by
LENT winds that break and destroy.
.y~s the earth with Nreckage of leaves
s branches, sodden and decaying. In
most cultivated district he desolation
Ieatest-of naked vineyards, insight
>tubbIe and rotten corn stalks. The
osphere, damp. ste my, ague-laden-
Ines one in perSpiration, while chilling
-uc marrow. And then the house flies
mosquitoes. The plaques of Egypt
us butterflies and nightingales in com
.. son, Always pestiferous in Portugal,
2row more active and envenomed as
mer advances, and throughout Sep
ber and October render life well nigh
.utarate Toward the middle of No
1ber, when the brief summer of St.
TN is scheduled to begin, bracing
is dispense both the winged pests and
lemons of ague and malaria.
udeterred by weeping skies and mud
deep or to the knees of our donkeys.
have been investigating the ag;icul-
.ainterests of this queer country. whose
A financial, political and even relig-
interests are bound up in the welfare
he farmers, the vine growers, shep-
lis cattle raisers. If political enonomy
proper sway in Portugal her popula-
would be almost entirely an agricu-
ll one. Yet strange to say, the govern
Classes like those of her twin sister.
loose that lays the golden eggs, EN-
aging certain royal monopolies in the
NJ languishing manufactures, while
rIeSsiDg the people with tariffs so out
ID. Gus as to paralyze the more important
stries.
me of our experiences have been rich
I'd. Accompanied by a good Gallegan
and his servant, (no upper servant
rrugal is SO poor as to be without his
bier servant, and so on down 70 ser
servant servants we have hidden
the province in the curious two
lied carriages of the country when
... our excursions led us beyond the
ny route. and where wheels were not
icable we have joined the great ma
III tliC UdCh6 VI NOuhtNS. W { ildti
-ht ourselves thoroughly acquainted
those patient beasts of burden, from
experience id Mexico. South Ameli-
j otbel Wild regions where Balaam' $
AIRED beast is king; but until now
-veI learned the a b c of the useful
ql these Indispensable animals. In
hole poverty stricken kingdom there
-.- il peasant SO desperately impover-
.4 as to be without his donkey. Every
man being in the district seems to own
one to a score. Even the multi
nous beggars who accost You for aims
cry step on tie highway are mount
much as Nancho PanZa may have been.
f1nt OF every church, in every plaza
mare, and huddled in every crumb-
alchway are dozens of shaggy little
at-ys, each caparisoned with a rope
md its neck, i'll lieu of halter or bride,
huge wooden saddle upon his back;
most of them are unhappily accom-
by bare footed drivers, also mount
med with iron pointed goads long as
andes. They are called into requi-
for the most trihing errands. The
will not walk from one square to the
his own or another's donkey is at
The servant rides to market, the
mic to his days labor. If the farm
mas occasion to 90 from onion field
t,tato patch or the farmers wife
she's bit of gossip with her nearest
Tor, or the country pumpkin awoo
es, each sets out as on a ten days
frey, with a kick, a whack and goad
tae poor little beasts that bear them,
aeyer thought that the four footed
-ors may occasionally need food and
a'er The herders who care for the
Oulls that are bred for the pracas das
IN Lisbon and Oporto, are always
with more donkeys than bulls. The
-erder in the lonely mountains has
akey for an inseparable companion.
sattle in the valleys need change of
e, or the sheep herder's ground is
r half mile on the hillside, prepar-
are made as for a pilgrimage half