[Illustration: OPORTO.]
Persons who are looking for "news from the seat of war" will probably
hail the timely appearance of this Engraving, and regard it as folks
sitting at a play do a drop-scene between the acts. The reader knows our
pacific politics: we are of the pen, not of the sword; but we cannot be
indifferent to a great political result, when
Old men, and beldams, in the streets
Do prophesy upon it.
Oporto is a place of great commercial as well as political
consideration. Thousands of Englishmen have a grateful recollection of
the former importance upon their very lips. Its situation is one of
great natural beauty. It is the largest city in Portugal, Lisbon
excepted. It has been commonly said to owe its origin to the Romans;[1]
but it appears, from the best authors, to have been founded about A.D.
417 by the Suevi, who had established themselves in Braga and other
parts of ancient Galicia, but who were driven by the Alani to the banks
of the Douro, where they fortified themselves on the steep hill now
occupied by the cathedral and the bishop's palace, and which is still
distinguished by the appellation of the Cidade de Antiga.
[1] At Coimbra, about two days' journey from Oporto, is a Roman
bridge and aqueduct, nearly entire.
The city occupies the north bank of the Douro, (anciently _Durius_,)
about five miles from the mouth of the river, and the Atlantic Ocean.
The approach from thence to Oporto is remarkably beautiful. The dangers
of the bar, across the mouth of the river, once passed,[2] a succession
of interesting objects present themselves on both sides, as we ascend
towards the city. The little town of St. Joao da Foz stands on the north
bank, close to the sea, and is the favourite resort of the wealthier
inhabitants of Oporto during the violent heat of the summer. The river,
immediately within the bar, expands into the appearance of a lake. A
little higher up it is narrowed by two abrupt hills. That on the right
terminates in a precipice of bright hard sandstone, descending so
steeply to the water's edge, that but lately a road has been made from
Oporto along the bank of the river, to St. Joao da Foz, by blasting and
hewing down a sufficient portion of the rock. This height, from its
precipitous sides, is called the Monte d'Arabida, and forms the western
boundary of a lovely valley, opening upon the Douro, covered with the
Quintas, or villas, of the wealthier inhabitants of the adjoining city.
Most of the Quintas at the mouth of the river command delightful
prospects of the Atlantic Ocean, and the splendid effects produced on
these scenes at sunset, in this glowing climate, are almost
indescribable. Some idea of its beauty may be formed by reference to
Colonel Batty's view from this point.[3] The appearance of the Douro,
with its numerous shipping, and the variety of interesting objects
scattered on its cheerful banks, render this one of the most pleasing
scenes in the circle of Oporto.
[2] The dangerous passage across the bar of the Douro, and its
shifting sands, are well known. The care and skill required to
navigate a vessel with safety into the Douro, even during the
summer, may give an idea of what the perils of this dangerous
bar must be during the winter months; when the coast is exposed
to the unbridled fury of the westerly winds, and to the full
force of the Atlantic waves.--_Portugal Illustrated, by the Rev.
W. Kinsey, B.D._
[3] See Select Views of Oporto. By Lieut. Col. Batty, F.R.S.,
the accuracy of which may be said to extend as far as pictorial
art can succeed in conveying foreign objects to our firesides.
We are indebted for our Engraving to this valuable work.
To economize time and space we must quit this enchanting spot. Gondolas,
like those at Venice, are used on the river, but will not suffice for
our celerity. We must reach at once the point of our Engraving. The view
is taken from Villa Nova, an important suburb of Oporto, on the opposite
bank of the river. The city may be divided into the high and the low
town. It contains, in a civil sense, five wards, or _bairros_, of which
the Sé, or cathedral hill, and the Vittoria, or height opposite to the
Sé, (and crowned by a church, which was founded in commemoration of a
celebrated battle fought on the spot with the Moors, which terminated in
their defeat and expulsion from the place,) form the town properly
called Oporto; and it is possible still to trace the remains of the old
wall, which formerly surrounded and defended the place. The three other
quarters, San Idelfonso, Miragaya, and Villa Nova, are open. The latter
is connected with the principal town by a bridge of boats, which is so
badly constructed as to be scarcely able to sustain the violent power of
the river when swelled by winter torrents. The Douro, like the Rhine and
the Rhone, and all other rivers which flow through a rocky and often
confined channel, commits at certain seasons the greatest ravages; and
property to a considerable amount is annually lost at Oporto, by the
irresistible force with which the river pours down and carries every
thing before it. A bridge of granite has been long talked of to connect
Villa Nova and Oporto, but the funds are not yet forthcoming, and the
expense will be considerable.
The Engraving represents the most ancient part of the city of Oporto. We
are here directly fronting the bishop's palace, which, with the Sé, or
Cathedral,[4] and buildings, to the left, occupy the crest of the hill.
Further left is the steeple of the church dos Clerigos, said to be the
loftiest in Portugal after that of Mafra. This tower is visible from the
sea at a distance of ten leagues, and serves as an important landmark
for ships steering to the mouth of the Douro. It was erected in the year
1748, and is built entirely of the finest masonry, an art in which the
Portuguese are almost unrivalled. On the summit of the hill to the
right, touching the old walls and towers, is the convent of Santa Clara.
Immediately below the Cathedral, the rocky steep has been cut into
terraces, and laid out in gardens. The river is bordered by the old city
wall. A noble street, the Rua Nova de St. Joao, is seen opening upon the
quay on the left. Part of the bridge of boats appears on the right: it
was first constructed in the year 1806, destroyed in 1809, but
re-established in 1815. It was the scene of dreadful slaughter at the
time the city was given up to pillage by the French. Some of the boats
forming it had been destroyed, and many of the wretched inhabitants
crowding to the bridge, in hopes of escaping from the enemy's sword were
urged on by the affrighted multitude into the rapid stream, and thus
perished. On the river, to the right and left, is seen a Portuguese
coasting vessel, called Hyate; in the centre is a wine-boat of the
Douro, with a raised platform for the steersman. The foreground of the
view is the shore of Villa Nova, adjoining the quay. The chief article
of export is wine;[5] and here is the grand depôt for this commodity,
which is stowed in long, low buildings, called lodges.
[4] Here is the altar of wrought silver, which was fortunately
rescued from the hands of the French, when in possession of
Oporto.
[5] The annual average quantity of wine exported from Oporto to
Great Britain, was in the ten years, 1813-1822, 24,364 pipes,
and to all other parts of the world only 1,094 pipes per annum.
The quantity since 1822 has not materially altered.--_See a
Communication to vol. xv. of the Mirror_, p. 118.
"On the quays," says Mr. Kinsey, "are seen fine blocks of granite,
already converted into form, having their edges cased with wood, ready
to be shipped off for buildings in Brazil, where it appears that no good
stone, or, at least, so durable as this, can be procured;--pipe-staves
from Memel,--flax and iron,--and occasionally coals from the north of
England. There are generally at anchor in the river between Villa Nova
and Oporto, Russian, Brazilian, English, American, Dutch, Danish, and
some French vessels; but many of the latter nation are not to be found
in the Portuguese ports. Two thirds of the shipping to be seen in the
Douro, are British, Brazilian, or Portuguese."
The gardens of the city are luxuriantly stored. Brazilian plants, easily
distinguished by their gaudy colours, vines on trellis, superb
lemon-trees, lime and orange-trees, pear, apple, and plum-trees, and
Alpine strawberries are in abundance. The Indian cane, with its splendid
blossom, whose colour resembles that of the Guernsey, or rather the
Chinese lily, is a gay addition to the ornaments of this earthly
paradise. Mr. Kinsey says "The _ulmis adjungere vitem_ is well known in
poetical description, but in Portugal, besides overshadowing their
artificial supporters, the vines are seen attaching themselves to, or
hanging down in luxuriant festoons from forest-trees, such as the oak,
chestnut, and cork, in all the wildness of nature, and not unfrequently
insinuating themselves among the branches of myrtle-trees, which attain
a considerable size in the hedge-rows, and contrasting their large,
purple bunches with the snow-white blossom. The union is truly poetical,
and its novelty is charming to the eye of a northern traveller. A vine
is often purposely planted by the farmer under an oak-tree, whose boughs
it soon over-runs, repaying the little labour expended in its
cultivation by its fruit, and the lop of its branches. Ten pipes of
green wine, _vinho verde_, expressed from these grapes, will yield one
pipe of excellent brandy. Being light and sharp, the vinho verde is
preferred by the generality of Portuguese in the summer, to wines of
superior strength and quality."
The population of Oporto and Villa Nova was stated by Colonel Batty in
1830, to amount to about 80,000 inhabitants.
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