Page:Lisbon and Cintra, Inchbold, 1907.djvu/262

Rh Restoration movement of 1640 found early support here.

A fine, double-tiered aqueduct attracts notice upon approaching Torres Vedras; it winds through the valley for nearly two miles, bringing its water to the old fountain dos Canos, a really beautiful little structure of Gothic architecture, with five faces separated by columns. The date of erection is 1560, and there is another of 1831, indicating the period of restoration. There is a new fountain now considered very superior by the populace. One of the old churches boasts of a handsome Manueline portal, and in passing through the narrow streets of the town it is interesting to note here and there an old carved doorway or window, and many traces of ancient stones and legends. As usual in Portuguese towns of to-day there is a pretty public garden, and fine boulevards with flowering trees. There are medicinal springs within a mile or so of the town, and important baths called the Cucos, which are visited by rheumatic and gouty sufferers in great numbers during the summer time. There is a pleasant hotel there under the same capable management as that called the Natividade, near the station of Torres Vedras.

The fertile environs of vineyards and orchards soon tail off into less cultivated regions as we travel north. The rich red soil pales into sandy yellow, scattered with small pine trees and brushwood, concentrating at intervals into thick plantations. The white broom and cistus bushes are in bloom, and as in Alemtejo the pink and yellow balsam is ubiquitous. Here and there are clearings planted with vines, where peasants are busy weeding and hoeing after the rains. Fine, wooded stretches of poplars and ash trees line the country roads, and windmill upon windmill stand out, as around Torres Vedras, on all the hills.

The city of Obidos is the next point of interest, for the 196