Letters of George Borrow to the British and Foreign Bible SocietyBorrow, George
Religion
Letters of George Borrow to the British and Foreign Bible Society
Borrow, George
Authors, English -- 19th century -- Correspondence; British and Foreign Bible Society; English letters
(_Endorsed_: recd. Feb. 29th, 1836)
_Journal continued_
BADAJOZ, 10th _January_ 1836.
The night had closed in before we reached Evora, and having taken leave
of my friends, who kindly requested me to consider their house my home,
myself and my little party proceeded to the Largo de San Francisco, where
was a hostelry, which the muleteer informed me was the best in the town.
We rode into the kitchen, at the extreme end of which was the stable, as
is customary in Portugal. The house was kept by an aged gypsy-like
female and her daughter, a fine blooming girl about eighteen years of
age. The house was large; in the upper story was a very long room, like
a granary, extending nearly the whole length of the house; the further
end was partitioned off, and formed a tolerably comfortable chamber, but
rather cold, the floor being of tiles, as was that of the large room in
which the muleteers were accustomed to sleep on the furniture of their
mules. Having supped I went to bed, and after having offered up my
devotions to Him who had protected me through a dangerous journey, I
slept soundly till the morning.
Evora is a walled town, but not regularly fortified, and could not
sustain a siege of a day. It has five gates; before that to the
south-west is the principal promenade of the inhabitants; the fair on St.
John's Day is likewise held there. The houses are mostly very ancient;
many of them are unoccupied. It contains about five thousand
inhabitants, though twice that number would be by no means
disproportionate to its size. The two principal edifices are the See or
Bishop's Palace, and the Convent of San Francisco, opposite to which I
had taken up my abode. A large barrack for cavalry stands on the
right-hand side on entering the south-west gate. The adjacent country is
uninteresting; but to the south-east, at the distance of six leagues, is
to be seen a range of blue hills, the highest of which is called Serra
Dorso. It is picturesquely beautiful, and contains within its recesses
wolves and wild boars in numbers. About a league and a half on the other
side of this hill is Estremoz.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account