Autobiography of Sir John Rennie, F.R.S., Past President of the Institute of Civil Engineers / Comprising the history of his professional life, together with reminiscences dating from the commencement of the century to the present time.

by Sir John Rennie

We reached the Braganza at Lisbon in the evening, after a rough but satisfactory journey. Mr. Giles was now anxious to go to England, and a few days after our arrival he sent in a general proposal to the Government, on the part of Peto and Betts, for making railways, and then started in the packet for England, leaving his assistant, Mr. O’Neil, with me, to make any further necessary explanations. The season was getting late, and we had no time to lose, for it was now nearly the middle of October. I saw M. Fontes several times, and he always received me very civilly, and said that he was determined to meet Messrs. Shaw, Waring, and Co., fairly.

Mr. O’Neil and myself then started to survey the country for lines suitable for railways in the east and south. After being detained for a time by heavy rains at the White House, we reached Salvatierra, a wretched place on the left bank of the Tagus, about seven o’clock in the evening, fully two hours after dark; it was a nasty pestilential hole, close by the marshes; however, bad as it was, we were very glad to get there. There was no inn in the place, but after a little inquiry we found a shopkeeper who was willing, for a consideration, to accommodate us. We accordingly agreed with him, and took possession; we found the rooms full of corn, beans, &c., which we soon cleared out, swept the floors, walls, and ceiling as well as we could, and unpacked our things. I sent out my man for some provisions, we got a good wood fire lighted, and after about an hour and a half had a tolerable supper, turned into bed, and slept soundly until the morning. In fact, I never grumbled; I took the people as I found them; they were generally very civil, and did everything in their power to make us as comfortable as possible. I always carried plenty of cigarettes and cigars, and distributed them liberally, not only to the men attending the horses, but also to the people in the house and to any casual visitors that might come in; as I had by this time acquired some knowledge of the Portuguese language, I made myself as agreeable as possible, and in consequence every one did the best they could to help me. The Portuguese are a very civil, quiet people, and if you only treat them properly, as I always did, they will do everything they can to accommodate you. I of course also took good care of the horses and men, and they were so much pleased that they never grumbled, and would do anything I required. Throughout the whole of my journeys I never had a single squabble; we all went on merrily together, and whenever I could get a good laugh I always did, and this was not seldom. We left Salvatierra at daylight, and proceeded over a gently undulating country, and in three days reached the old fortress of Estremoz. The people of the district through which we were now travelling were extremely primitive, and in one large village, where we halted, as usual, at midday, the whole population, it being Sunday, turned out to have a look at us.

The country here is elevated and very well cultivated. The olive-trees are planted in regular rows, and carefully attended to, a thing I had not before observed in Portugal, as they are generally in forests, and left entirely to nature. The vines also were more looked after, and some excellent wine is made here. Upon the whole this was certainly a thriving district. We took a ride to the ridge of mountains about ten miles to the south, which, extending east and west, separates this district from the southern part of the Alentejo. They are covered with verdure to the top, afford excellent pasture for sheep and cattle, and form a very picturesque prospect. Estremoz is in a commanding position, but its fortifications were in a dilapidated state. After having spent a day here, we proceeded over an elevated, fertile, cultivated country, to Elvas, on the frontier. The Government had been employed for some time past in making a good road here, and a considerable portion had been finished, so that we made tolerable progress, and reached Elvas soon after midday, and found a very clean, comfortable little hotel.

Elvas is a very strong fortress, situated upon the summit of the ridge of hills forming the western boundary of the valley of the Guadiana, which winds through the extensive valley below, about seven miles distant, and the boundary or frontier line between Spain and Portugal is about half way between Elvas and the Guadiana.

The fortifications are very extensive, and upon the whole well laid out and tolerably well kept up. There are several large outworks, particularly that on a hill about a mile to the north, which may be said to be the citadel. It commands the town, being situated upon the highest part of the ridge. The view from this is very extensive, overlooking the dreary and bare valley of the Guadiana, with Badajoz, the Spanish frontier fortress, about nine miles distant; and farther on the bare bleak hills of Estramadura bound the horizon. On the west you have a fine view of this part of Portugal, whilst north and south you command the view of this elevated ridge, which bounds the Guadiana as far as the eye can reach.

Having explored this part of the country, and having satisfied ourselves that it would be difficult to get a good line here, we turned our attention to the southward, and again leaving Estremoz, reached the poor but considerable village of Oçana, not many miles from the frontier. I therefore determined to stop there for the night, and to my surprise found that there were two or three small inns. I selected the best, and bad was the best. I was informed that Oçana was the resort of the worst characters of all sorts, both Portuguese and Spaniards, who made this their head quarters, from whence they could easily cross the frontier of either country, according as either Spain or Portugal became too hot for them. I was told that we ought to be upon our guard, for it was not improbable that we might be attacked in the night, or waylaid on our route the next day, for the country through which we should have to pass was very wild and lonely. Therefore, as is always the case, I thought the best plan would be to put a good face upon it, and to show that we had no fear, put confidence in the people around us, and make them friends. I therefore invited as many as I could get, men and women, to a sort of ball, inquired for some musicians, and found half-a-dozen with guitars, castanettes, and tambourines, and as the inn where we were would not hold all the guests, I engaged the other two inns also. The whole population crowded to the balls at these inns, and I visited them alternately, danced with the women, and made myself as agreeable as I could. Wine and refreshments were not wanting, everything passed off in the best manner, and nothing but mirth and good humour prevailed. Soon after midnight I had had enough of it, and the guests below, excited by wine, became very noisy. I told my servants, guide, and horse-keepers to have everything ready by four o’clock on the following morning, the horses saddled and the baggage packed, outside the town, and having previously paid the reckoning, we quietly departed, without beat of drum, leaving our delighted guests in the midst of their revelry, and in no disposition to follow us. By daylight we had travelled five or six miles without encountering any person on the way—for road there was none. We laughed heartily at our adventure, and I was afterwards congratulated at having succeeded so well, for we had had a narrow escape of being robbed, and probably something worse. We passed through a wild but not unpicturesque country, and reached Abrantes, on the Tagus, without further adventure, on the afternoon of the second day. This is one of the most considerable fortresses in the kingdom, situated in a commanding position of great strength; but the works were very much neglected, and there was scarcely any garrison. The town itself is a poor place.

As regards the country through which we had passed being adapted for a railway, there was no doubt that a good line could be made through it, although at considerable expense; the difficulty was how to cross the main ridge which separated the valley of the Guadiana from that of the Tagus. It certainly was most desirable to connect Abrantes with Elvas, but the descent from it to the Guadiana valley was too rapid; still, this was only a matter of expense. I thought that some more practicable gap through the ridge might be found farther southward, but this I was obliged to leave for future investigation.

I now determined to proceed northwards, in order to ascertain whether a line for a railway could be obtained preferable to that which we had previously examined when returning from Coimbra.

Having slept at our old quarters at Thomar, we proceeded to the banks of the Zezere, which we found to be extremely lofty and falling rapidly to the river. We proceeded for some miles along them, but the higher we went up the river, the higher we found the hills; in fact, there was no valley except that occupied by the river, so that we had to give up all hopes of a line in that direction. However, in the course of a few days’ explorations we were fortunate enough to find an easily practicable line for the northern railway, in the direction of Oporto.

In one of these expeditions we met a Portuguese gentleman dressed in the native costume, and attended by his servant. He courteously saluted us in good English, and then asked where we were going, and what we were doing, which, of course, we told; he then asked, “Where do you sleep to-night?” and when we told him, he said, “Nonsense; you cannot and you shall not sleep there: it is not fit for a dog” (in which he was not far wrong). “I live close by. Yon must come and sleep at my house, and leave as early as you like to-morrow morning.” We gladly accepted his invitation. We returned to the cottage, dressed ourselves in rather better costume, while our new friend rode forward to receive us. His house was something like a good farm, surrounded by a courtyard and farm-buildings, situated in the midst of a kind of rough park. The night was very dark, and we had some difficulty in making our way through the woods, and if it had not been for the barking of the dogs, we should scarcely have found it. However, we got there, and were most cordially received, shown into a comfortable room with a blazing wood fire, and in about half an hour after sat down to an excellent supper, with plenty of good wine.