In conclusion, I beg leave to state that I am fully aware of the various faults and inaccuracies of the present work.  It is founded on certain journals which I kept during my stay in Spain, and numerous letters written to my friends in England, which they had subsequently the kindness to restore:  the greater part, however, consisting of descriptions of scenery, sketches of character, etc., has been supplied from memory.  In various instances I have omitted the names of places, which I have either forgotten, or of whose orthography I am uncertain.  The work, as it at present exists, was written in a solitary hamlet in a remote part of England, where I had neither books to consult, nor friends of whose opinion or advice I could occasionally avail myself, and under all the disadvantages which arise from enfeebled health; I have, however, on a recent occasion, experienced too much of the lenity and generosity of the public, both of Britain and America, to shrink from again exposing myself to its gaze, and trust that, if in the present volumes it finds but little to admire, it will give me credit for good spirit, and for setting down nought in malice.

Nov. 26, 1842.

CHAPTER I

Man Overboard—­The Tagus—­Foreign Languages—­Gesticulation—­Streets of Lisbon—­The Aqueduct—­Bible tolerated in Portugal—­Cintra—­Don Sebastian—­John de Castro—­Conversation with a Priest—­Colhares—­ Mafra—­Its Palace—­The Schoolmaster—­The Portuguese—­Their Ignorance of Scripture—­Rural Priesthood—­The Alemtejo.

On the morning of the tenth of November, 1835, I found myself off the coast of Galicia, whose lofty mountains, gilded by the rising sun, presented a magnificent appearance.  I was bound for Lisbon; we passed Cape Finisterre, and standing farther out to sea, speedily lost sight of land.  On the morning of the eleventh the sea was very rough, and a remarkable circumstance occurred.  I was on the forecastle, discoursing with two of the sailors:  one of them, who had but just left his hammock, said, “I have had a strange dream, which I do not much like, for,” continued he, pointing up to the mast, “I dreamt that I fell into the sea from the cross-trees.”  He was heard to say this by several of the crew besides myself.  A moment after, the captain of the vessel perceiving that the squall was increasing, ordered the topsails to be taken in, whereupon this man with several others instantly ran aloft; the yard was in the act of being hauled down, when a sudden gust of wind whirled it round with violence, and a man was struck down from the cross-trees into the sea, which was working like yeast below.  In a short time he emerged; I saw his head on the crest of a billow, and instantly recognised in the unfortunate man the sailor who a few moments before had related his dream.  I shall never forget the look of agony he cast whilst the steamer hurried past him.  The alarm was given, and everything