The country began to improve, the savage heaths were left behind, and we saw hills and dales, cork-trees and _azineirias_, on the last of which trees grows that kind of sweet acorn called _bolota_, which is pleasant as a chestnut, and forms in winter the principal food on which the numerous swine of the Alemtejo subsist. Gallant swine they are, with short legs and portly bodies, of a black or dark-red colour, and for the excellence of their flesh I can avouch, having frequently partaken of it in the course of my wanderings in this province. The _lumbo_, or loin, when broiled on the live embers, is delicious, especially when eaten with olives. We were now in sight of Monte Moro, which as the name denotes was once a fortress of the Moors; it is a high, steep hill, on the summit and sides of which are ruined walls and towers. At its western side is a deep ravine or valley, through which a small stream rushes, traversed by a stone bridge; farther down there is a ford, through which we passed and ascended to the town, which commencing near the northern base, passes over the lower ridge towards the north-east; the town is exceedingly picturesque, and many of the houses are very ancient and built in the Moorish fashion. I wished much to examine the relics of Moorish sway on the upper part of the mountain, but time pressed, and the shortness of our stay in this place did not permit me to gratify my inclination. Monte Moro is the head of a range of hills crossing this part of the Alemtejo, and from hence they fork towards the east and south-east, in the former of which directions lies the direct road to Elvas, Badajoz, and Madrid, and in the latter the road to Evora. A beautiful mountain, covered to the top with cork trees, is the third in the chain which skirts the way in the direction of Evora. It is called Monte Almo; a brook brawls at its base, and as I passed it the sun was shining gloriously on the green herbage, on which flocks of goats were feeding with their bells ringing merrily, so that the _tout ensemble_ resembled a fairy scene; and that nothing might be wanted to complete the picture, I here met a man, a goat-herd, beneath an _azineiria_ whose appearance recalled to my mind the Brute-man mentioned in an ancient Danish poem: 'A wild swine on his shoulders he kept, And upon his bosom a black bear slept, And about his fingers with hair o'erhung The squirrel sported and weasel clung.'