tation. 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,
but astonished, I suppose, at the glaring colour of our coats,
they were very inquisitive to know who we were and whence we had
come. The English, the French, and the Portuguese seemed to be
the only three nations of whose existence they had any knowledge;
and having been assured, in answer to their first question, that
we were not French, they immediately added, "Then you must be
English." They did not appear, however, to be without some
degree of cunning, for as long as we paused in replying to their
query, they were silent; but no sooner had we answered in the
negative than they launched forth into the most violent
invectives against the French; convincing us that the animosity
of the mother-country towards its barbarous invaders was not more
implacable than that of the colonies.

Having loitered away half an hour in this romantic spot, and
distributed a few dollars among its inhabitants, we remounted our
steeds and continued our journey. The remainder of the ride
carried us through scenery very similar to what we had already
passed; the only difference was, that the nearer we approached to
Ponto del Gada the more frequent became the spots of cultivation,
the width and smoothness of the road improving in proportion;
till at last, when we had attained the