The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-01-21

mountain, such strangely contorted peaks
and intensely red rock surfaces. such har-
monies Of grays and puppies, green's and
bluesi On a massive cliff, commanding the
six miles of fertile valley between the ridge
and Sebutal, stands the ancient Moorish
stronghold of Palmella-still no mean fort
ress, with its square towers and tall battle
ments.
Sebutal lying close to the beach, has its
own hill fortress, that of st. Philip built
by Philip III, besides five other picturesque
forts stretched along the river. The town,
which the English-who have murdered so
many Latin names in cold blood-miscall
Saint Ubz, is situated very much like Lis
bon, lying few miles from the Atlantic,
on the north side of great river (the
Sado), whose broad estuary forms mag
nificent harbor, though INSTRUCTED by sand
banks near its entrance. Never was seen
more beautiful city, as approached In the
late afternoon-its white houses glittering
in the sun, in strong contrast to the dark
green orange groves surrounding them and
the bright blue bay in front. In the west,
overlapping town. valley and lesser heights,
stretches the great Arabia range, peak
above peak, to the western ocean.
Somewhere in the foothills of those red,
treeless mountains, two or three thousand
feet above the sea, is the rare old cloister
of Arrabida, within whose stalactite cav
ems, since time immemorial body of
gray friars have passed lives OF austere de-
votion, visited once a year by pious pill
grims from all parts of Portugal. Like
other monks, these mountain friars are
buried in unmarked graves, and it is said
that If the hunter inadvertently steps upon
the place of the holy dust his earthly bless
ings are numerous forever afterward.
setubal stretches three miles or more
along the river bank, faced with broad
auays and spacious warehouses. Though
its population is less than 10000, 1t is Por-
tugars fourth city in size and third In COM
mercial Importance, owing chiefly to Its
extensive trade in muscatel and white
wines. Considerable quantities of oranges,
lemons and corkbark are also exported. 1t
is the emporium of the Portuguese salt
works, too, mined few miles to the east
ward. The salt Is said to be the finest LOT
curing fish and meat and is principally
shipped to Scandinavian ports. Its pilchard
and other fisheries are also of great value.
There are a number of quaint old churches
In the town, several converts, theater,
a bull-ring, an arsenal, and a handsome
monument to the poet, Bocage, who was
born in setubal-the name. by the way. be-
pronounced as if spelled Say-too-vahl.
Among its other notable public buildings
are three hospitals, two Latin colleges,
the Bomfin with it's beautiful fountain,
the Fonte Nova and the Annunciata. Re-
mains Of ancient walls inclose the town on
its land side and the whole valley is, COM
pletely commanded by forts on the hills
This is the site of the old Roman city,
Cetobriga Some jealous authors give it
| still greater antiquity and ascribe its orr
| gin to Tubal, near descendant of Noah!
A BURIED CITY.
Far more interesting than the city of
to-day are the remains of ancient 'Troja, =
| in the sand hills of a low-lying promon-
| tory in the bay. Early in the present CEN
| fury an unusually heavy rainfall uncovered
| the ruins and in 1850 an antiquarian society
| began researches, which have later been
| carried on by the Dukes of Palmilla, the
| richest and most influential family of Es-
| tramadura province. A beautiful Roman
house has been unearthed, almost entire,
and many Roman coins and other antiqui-
| ties which furnish conclusive evidence that
| the place dates back to 800 to 400 A. d.
You may easily visit it, sailing across the
| bay from Sebutal: and in the nearby
| palace of the Duke Of Palmilla, if so fort
| innate as to gain an invitation, you may
see lachrymatories and cinerary urns of
glass, Saguntine vases, bronze and earthen-
Il <~fI l~ste
| Of mosaic pavement and columns of col
ored marble, and a great number of coins,
| Roman and Phoenician. 1t is significant
| fact, as indicating dates, that while Ira
jan, Antonius Plus and Julian the Apos-
| tate, are represented by only one or two
| coins each, seventeen have been found of
| Constantine Gallus, $40 of Gratian, (who
| died A ID. 1889, 200 of Maximus who over
| threw and succeeded him, and about $50
| of Theodosius the Great. There are fewer
| coins of Theodosius's two sons, who reigned
/ after him, the last of whom died In
| the year 423; and the coins of no more
| emperors are to be found in Troja.
/ Why the ancient Romans, or any other
| people, should have wanted to make a
settlement, much less a luxurious city of
| palaces and marble baths on absolutely
barren headland, when the fair and fertile
| soil of Sebutal lay just opposite and APP
parently waiting to receive them, must for
| ever remain among the mysteries Perhaps
sea and land have shifted their relative po-
sitions since that early day and it is the
/ opinion of many scientists that If the sand
| dunes were shoveled away it would be
| found that Troja extended far around the
/ bay. Quite remote from the one Roman
| palace unearthed, away down by the beach,
| are a series of reservoirs, from ten to fif-
| teen feet long, from five to ten feet broad
| and four or five feet deep. They are built
| with good concrete foundations, finished off
| smoothly inside with cement. The natural
| inference is that they were sea baths for
the aristocratic Romans whose sea-view
palaces crowned the hilltops. Dig any
| where few inches below the surface and
| you may find bits of green glazed pottery,
mosaic pavenents and broken marbles
In places where heavy rains have washed
| away the sands, portions of walls, vaults
and archways are visible, indicating what
| rich finds few days hard work with
pick and shovel might disclose
FANNIE 3. WARD
A Feline Tragedy.
| Philadelphia Record.
Deafness seems to be characteristic OF
of haxr