Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-11-04
THE PORTUGUESE.
Their Occupations, Characteristics and
Amusements.

Amusements.
Thus Celt. Roman. Goth and Sara
cen have poured their blood into Por-
t, gal, and its differences from that OF
Spain are agreed to be mostly super
fcial Both races are proud; the Por-
tuguese is conceded to be more cour-
teous; the Spariards is held to be more
dependable. 1t is in the smaller country
that the peasantry are still the wealth
of the land and the actual embodiment
of the national character. To an Amer
| ican they are alternately an eXasper-
alton for their antiquated methods OIL
Horticulture. AS Mark Twain said OF
| the Azores farmer, He prays not TO
| be allowed to know more than his
grandfather knew, and to plough with
a sharpened stick as his grandfather
ploughed." To an Englishman, read
in the classics, the Portuguese farmer
offers an almost literal preservation
of the golden age of the classical pas
torals. The pursuits of the vineyard
the field and the herd are here; and
the very implements of the Roman
time. The grotesque and graceful su-
perstitions persist, and the naive way
of life. Instead of the distrustful po-
liteness of towns, the traveller encoun-
ters open-hearted candor and uncon-
scious dignity. More than one have
borne witness to this modern survival
| of a life which we know today only
through Theocritus and Virgil; sup
posing, too, that theirs was literary
version Of it.
A small population of miners. OF
fishermen (whom we know in New
England to be skillful and daring) and
of sailors Call that remains OF the
mighty tribe of admirals and explor-
ers) are all secondary to the farming
population, which dominates the So
cial. the financial and the religious
character of the nation. A few manu-
facturers are "encouraged' to Ian
guish. In northern Portugal the
farming is almost exclusively on a
small scale, from five to fifteen acres
for an average size. In all parts OF
the country the system Of holding
varies widely, and the details go back
into the early history among lnflu-
ences of the Gothic and Saracen inVa-
| Sions. 1t is perfectly true tnal tne
primitive mode of working the land is
the cause of great economic waste.
| The soil receives little or no fertil-
ization. A hundred and fifty bushels
might be produced in place of the
present hundred The nation would
be richer: whether it would be better
off is a question. It's people are well
supported, law-abiding and Virtuous.
They do not, on the up-country farms
of Portugal, go in for automobiles and
electric lights as we do in Kansas.
Still. we may in Kansas ask ourselves
| if motorcars and switchboards are the
chief aim of existence. Judged by It's
own performances, an Englishman de-
clareS of these farms, yet II is In
this backward country that the thing
| is done which, if England could do.
her wealth would be doubled or quad
ruples."
| Poor as the peasants are TO an
| American standard of life, they are
gay of spirit. hardy of body and
epicures in respect to the fare which
they have. Their taste in olives knows
Iall the fine shades of discrimination;
dried Goldfish is eaten with a keen
relish for flavor, and their taste in
wines (while not that of Paris) is fas-
tidious. The dried fish, bacal hau, has
been the battle-ground of politicians,
etymologists, financiers, fishermen
land merchants. While these wrangled
the Portuguese have consumed 1t
quietly in vast quantities, with oil and
pepper. 1t is both luxury and ne
cessiay, a delicacy and a staple. 1t
has never occurred to the poor OF Por-
tugal that life without salt fish would
be either possible or desirable. If the
lbays of Newfoundland or the fiords of
Norway were to fail, half of Portugal,
like the rice eating Hindus, would pre-
lfer to go hungry rather than change
their diet. 1t is eaten raw, it is eaten
lboiled, stewed. grilled and with garlic
Workmen tuck it in their pockets to
gnaw at noon; fishermen carry 1t to
sea. as GOALS to NewcaStle:" it Solaces
the Friday fast of good Catholics and
graces his feast again on Sunday.
Sixteen hours toll on a Portuguese
farm is not enough to eXtinguiSh the
gayety of the peasant. The vitality oil
1.-THE people seems to be buttreSSed by
this killing toll under the hot glare OF
a cloudless sky and in the chill winds
that blow from the sea- The evening
with it's village gathering on the
lthreShing floor (the social hall of the
community, the dancing, the bowling
the singing, the guitar playing, are a
compensation of toll which the peas
antry very willingly accept. In many
parts of Portugal. the men play the
guitar as naturally as we whistle, not
as virtuOSi but with a fair proficiency
of strumming accompaniment, chords
!; and arpeggios for background to the
voice The artisans play, and carry
their instruments to work with their
tools The tinkle of the guitar starts
heels to Gathering. The dancing is in
tereSting even if it is not wholly grace
full. Its character is Oriental, for the
Portuguese are neither purely q
northern nor q southern breed, and
lthis form of art Cf their practice car
be called such) they derive chiefly
from the Saracens. The Portuguese
dance has none of the coldness of the
uuadrille nor the formality of the
minuet: their bolero dances are the
Spontaneous expression of youthful
ness and health, not always graceful
for field work and ballet postures dc
not unite in the same body.
Among the middle classes of the ma
tlOn. dependent as tney may De Oh tlt
fruits of tillage. there is none of tha
voluntary rusticatiOn during a large
} part of the year which makes in Eng
land the legions of country gentlemen
and which is being copied in parts o
America. The Portuguese family
leaves town only in the dullest ant
hottest season. August and Septem
her. and possibly October. The vim
tage is being pressed and harvest:
gathered: ii is also the season to shoe
: quail and hare. The Portuguese go IL
. for the villa. taught of old by the RO
I mans. and the manner of life there
allowing for intervals. is not unlike
Appended to the establishment is th'
2 farm homestead for the tenants fam
! lily. The villa itself is plain; square
building. spread with whitewash out
side and in: caves broad and over
hanging. covered with vermilOn pain
, on their under side. Ordinarily th'
house has Il single large central room
rather bare. with a number of small
cells for bed chambers opening out o
l it on three sides. The main apart
= ment is furnished as we furnish ;
shack by a woodland lake-with few
ricketV chairs and tables. anything 70