The growing prominence of the _conto_ is felt in the work of Castello Branco, Eça de Queiroz, Teixeira de Queiroz, Snr. Jaime de Magalhães Lima (_Via Redemptora_, 1905, _Apostolos da Terra_, 1906, _Vozes do Meu Lar_, 1912), and many other novelists. JULIO CESAR MACHADO (1835-90) showed talent in _Contos ao luar_ (1861), _Scenas da minha terra_ (1862), _Quadros do campo e da cidade_ (1868), _Á Lareira_ (1872). His skill in the description of rustic scenes would have been more convincing had he not thought it necessary to introduce touches of extraneous elegance and humour into his very real love of the country, so that the patent leather boot is ever appearing among the _tamancos_ in these light humorous sketches and romantic tales. As slight but perhaps more natural are the _Contos do Tio Joaquim_ (1861) by RODRIGO PAGANINO (1835-63); the pleasant stories of village life, _Contos_ (1874) and _Serões de Inverno_ (1880), written by CARLOS LOPES (born in 1842) under the pseudonym PEDRO IVO; and _Contos_ (1894) and _Azul e Negro_[693] (1897) by Afonso Botelho. The poet AUGUSTO SARMENTO (born in 1835) also wrote stories of village life, _Contos do Soalheiro_ (1876), but stories _à thèse_, treating of emigration and other _minhoto_ evils, among which he includes _beatas_, witches, and _brasileiros de torna-viagem_. A writer of _contos_ as disappointing as Machado is ALBERTO BRAGA (1851-1911). He has a sense of style and technique, and some of his tales, especially _O Engeitado_, are pathetic, but after reading his _Contos da minha lavra_ (1879), _Contos de aldeia_, _Contos Escolhidos_ (1892), _Novos Contos_, one has the perhaps somewhat unfair impression that they are mainly concerned with _viscondessas_ and canaries. The learned Conde de Ficalho in _Uma Eleição Perdida_ (1888) evidently relates his own experiences, and this and the five accompanying _contos_ contain some charming descriptions of Alentejo, of the _reisinho cacique_ Lopes, Paschoal the _passarinheiro_, the gossips of the village _botica_, the girls carrying _bilhas_, the scent of rosemary in morning dew. The same province supplies the background of the work of JOSÉ VALENTIM FIALHO DE ALMEIDA (1857-1912). Born at Villa de Frades, the son of a village schoolmaster, he spent seven years sadly against the grain as chemist’s assistant before he was able to turn more exclusively to literature. No recent writer has had a greater vogue in Portugal. One must account for this by the fact that in the somewhat nerveless literature of the day he showed a virile and often brutal colour and energy. A few descriptions of Alentejo gave interest to his _Contos_ (1881) and _A Cidade do Vicio_ (1882), an interest strengthened in _O Paiz das Uvas_ (1893). This collection of naturalistic stories of great variety and very unequal merit is, indeed, redeemed by the author’s love for his native province. He sometimes obtains powerful effects when his subject