themselves; whilst above it, and on every side of the area, the
hills were covered with wood, interrupted now and then by the
bald forehead of a blackened rock. In front of the hamlet again,
there was an opening sufficient to admit the most delicious
glimpse of the ocean; and through this the stream, after boiling
for awhile in a little basin, which it has excavated for itself
out of what resembles the foundation of the cliff, makes its way,
brawling over a clear pebbly bottom, till it joins the sea.

This paragon of valleys burst upon us as such scenes, to be
witnessed with advantage, ought to do, without the slightest
warning or expectation. The road by which we approached it,
being completely shut in with wood, and winding considerably to
aid the descent, brought us out nearly at the gorge of the vale,
so as to throw the hamlet, the cliff, and the waterfall into the
background; and as the whole was of such extent as to be taken in
at one glance, the effect was striking beyond anything of the
kind I ever witnessed. It is but natural to suppose that we had
no desire to hurry through such a glen as this; and seeded not
the additional motive which the weariness of our donkeys
afforded, to persuade us to a temporary halt. Giving the
animals, therefore, to the care of their owners, we dismounted,
and went into some of the cabins, the inhabitants of which
appeared to be as simple as the situation of their abodes had
prepared us to expect. The men were all goatherds, and the women
seemed to be as idle as their countrywomen in Portugal, sitting
at the doors of their houses, surrounded by groups of half-naked
and filthy-looking children. If it be fair to judge from their
dress and the furniture of their hovels, they were miserably
poor, though perfectly contented; they did not ask us for money,