There are some few precious stones found in this country, but they are imported in great variety from the Brazils. The most numerous are the topazes, which are badly set in gold, in crosses and other ornaments.Marble abounds in all parts of Portugal of

various sorts.

CHAPTER X.

Lisbon ana the Environs.-Amusements of the Portuguese.

LISBON, called by the Portuguese Lisboa, the capital of the kingdom of Portugal, anciently the Olisippo of the Romans, situated on a number of hills, and stretching along the northern banks of the Tagus, is, if we reckon from Belem, about six miles in length. From Buenos Ayres to Belem, more than half the distance, it is scarcely three quarters of a mile in breadth; in other parts it is more than three miles, but, upon the whole, not more than a fourth of the size of London. In the fourteenth century Lisbon was surrounded with walls by King Ferdinand, very few traces of which are now extant, except some of the gates, which were formerly in number towards the river 22 and on the land side 16.

The view of Lisbon sailing up the Tagus is

delightful; the number of churches and convents in elevated situations, the castle, which is fortified, commanding the town, and the apparent whiteness of the houses, with the fleets at anchor in the river, form a coup d'œil truly picturesque. On a nearer inspection this seeming cleanliness vanishes, and the streets, with the exception of those re-built since the earthquake, are narrow, and filthy to a degree, occasioned by the want of common sewers, and the accumulation of every description of nastiness, which is discharged from the windows at the hour of ten at night, and there suffered to remain till the next friendly shower carries it to the Tagus.

*

The best part of the town in point of structure is that planned under the direction of the Marquis de Pombal. The Praça de Commercio, formerly the Terreiro do Paço, or ground where the royal palace stood, is an extensive square of about 300 yards in length by 250 in breadth. In the centre stands an equestrian statue in bronze of Joseph I. The pedestal is ornamented with designs in basso

*Place of Commerce.

relievo, and surrounded by a flight of steps with an iron railing. There is an excellent model of this statue in bronze in the Fundicaō, or cannon foundry, near the convent of Sao Vicente in Lisbon.

The sides of the square, except towards the river, are ornamented by long ranges of buildings with colonnades. On the eastern side is the custom-house and exchange; on the north the buildings are in an unfinished state. The quay on the south has a magnificent flight of steps, where goods are landed for the customhouse, and boats wait to take passengers across, or to the shipping in the river. Near this square is the marine arsenal or dockyard.

One of the streets leading from the Praça de Commercio to the Praça de Roscio, is called. Rua des Ourives de ouro,* or Rua Aurea, and is entirely occupied by jewellers and lapidaries. Parallel to it is a street in which the silversmiths' shops are situated, and another in which cloth and linen of every description are to be purchased.

* Street of the goldsmiths.

The Praça de Roscio, where the inquisition stands, is a square nearly equal in extent to the former; in its vicinity are the public gardens, at present but little frequented, the theatres of the Salitre and Rua des Condes, and an excellent market.

Previous to the occupation of Portugal by the French army under General Junot, most of the English families which came to Portugal for the benefit of the climate, resided in that part of the town called Buenos Ayres, which is celebrated for the purity of the air, at all times refreshed by cooling sea breezes, from whence it derives its name. The situation is elevated, and commands an extensive view of the river Tagus with the fort of Sağ Juliaō in the distance.

The principal edifice worthy of remark in this quarter of the town, and indeed of all Lisbon, is the Estrella, or Convento Novo, built by the present Queen; the singular whiteness of the stone, and its dome roof, render it the more conspicuous. The interior of the chapel is simple and elegant, without that profusion of bad carving and gilded ornaments observable in the churches and