Lisbon, like Rome, is built upon several hills, and on first sight one would fancy it a city void of life and pleasure, but upon investigation this opinion is quickly changed. The population of Lisbon is some forty thousand inhabitants. The streets are well kept, and the street car system is surprisingly good. While there, we saw many things of interest, among them being the King's palace and beautifully kept parks, city waterworks, said to be among the finest in the world; Black Horse Square, the Cave of the Dead, magnificent churches, and massively handsome government buildings.
There we witnessed our first bull fight, on a Sunday, and never shall I forget how scorchingly hot I became while occupying my one peseta (15 cents) seat. I later learned that there is a radical distinction between the Portuguese and the Spanish bull fights, the latter being far more cruel.
By good fortune we had the pleasure of seeing the King and Queen with their young son as they drove from the palace.
Two days we spent on a visit to the town of Bremen, which is but a short distance from Lisbon. There is constructed one of the finest of the world's cathedrals, in which rests the remains of Vasco Da Gama. We saw also the point from which he set out upon his voyage to discover a shorter route to India.
In Portugal one feels the spirit of the South. The men are exceedingly small in stature, their hair black and their eyes quick in movement. The women, like many of the Oriental people, are beautiful in girlhood and young womanhood, but the hot, scorching sun soon dries them into old and ugly women. Even the women of the peasant class are remarkably beautiful, with their dark, bewitching eyes, long black silky hair and trim figures. The peddling on the streets is done by women. They wear large ear-rings and big bracelets around ankles and wrists. Their dress is of the simplest, and they wear neither shoes nor hats. On their heads they carry large flat baskets, loaded with their wares, and on every street one can hear them crying their goods and wares to the passing public.
The principal beasts of burden in Portugal are donkeys and oxen. Of course, horses and mules are used, but they are for the richer classes. The wagons are pulled by oxen, sometimes four and six in hand. One car line in Lisbon is operated alone by mules and oxen. Those cars operated by electricity are generally patronized by the better living class, while the cars operated by mules are patronized by the poorer class.
The shaggy ill-kept donkeys present a comical sight, with great big baskets securely tied on either side. The load often looks larger than the donkey. Once while tramping in Southern Portugal I saw a little donkey about the size of a mastiff, plodding along with two cages of chickens on either side and a woman and her babe comfortably seated on the donkey's back en route to market.
One thing peculiarly common in Portugal and foreign to many other lands is the way in which the dairies are conducted. In the stores along the main thoroughfares milch cows are stalled, and when a customer arrives the proprietor simply milks the amount called for fresh from the cow. By this means the buyer is sure of the purity of the milk.
Soon tiring of Portugal and its oddities, we secured tickets for Madrid, but before reaching there we had a rare experience.