Through Portugal . lat salt slabs as hard and dry as wood, but goodnutritious food for all that ; and farther along,with their prows to the shore, rest a dozen un-ladened wine and fruit boats from up the Douro,and flat-bottomed passenger skiffs into whichwomen and men with baskets and bundles, repre-senting their weeks supplies purchased in Oporto,are crowding to be carried back to their homesin the rich vineyard villages miles up the by one the quaint craft hoist their crimsonsails, and struggle out from the tangle of thebank, until the breeze catches them, and in ashimmer of red go
Through Portugal . lat salt slabs as hard and dry as wood, but goodnutritious food for all that ; and farther along,with their prows to the shore, rest a dozen un-ladened wine and fruit boats from up the Douro,and flat-bottomed passenger skiffs into whichwomen and men with baskets and bundles, repre-senting their weeks supplies purchased in Oporto,are crowding to be carried back to their homesin the rich vineyard villages miles up the by one the quaint craft hoist their crimsonsails, and struggle out from the tangle of thebank, until the breeze catches them, and in ashimmer of red gold from the setting sun theyhustle through the brown tide until a projectingcorner hides them from view. It is a scene neverto be forgotten. The centre of the Ribeira is the Pra9a calledafter it, where a sloping square facing the wateropens out. The scene is picturesque in theextreme. The space is thronged by men, eithersleeping in their baskets or carrying them filledwith fish or merchandise upon their heads: a lO. o p 5 < o z OPORTO motley, water-side crowd, men of all nations, passto and fro, or gossip under the vine trellis beforethe wine shop overlooking the square, and asthe observer casts his eyes upwards he sees thegaily coloured houses piled apparently on thetop ot one another, until at the top of all, asif overhead, is the glaring white palace of thebishop, and the glittering cathedral cross, stand-ing out hard and clear against a sky of fathomlessindigo. This busy river-side way of the Ribeira is, soto speak, a street of two storeys. Below isthe walk I have described, with the cavernousshops in the face of the old river-wall, and onthe top of the wall is another path reachedby occasional flights of steps, and also borderedby the squalid medley of dark shops in whichstrange savoury-odoured victuals are washed downby strong red wine, and quiet brown men andwomen, and grave-eyed swarthy babies are in-extricably mixed up with brown merchandise inthe gloom beyond the g
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Keywords: ., bookauthorhumemartinandrewsharp, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900
