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 PORTUGUESE

Most of the Portuguese in this country come to us from the Azores or Western Islands, only a small proportion coming from Portugal. We have grown to know them in their homeland much better since the war, as at that time we used Delgada, the capital of the island of Saint Michael as a coaling station.

The Portuguese are among the most gifted city builders in the world. They do not plan for efficiency, as the Americans or French would do, but have a gift for tucking a sense of beauty into every little corner of a town. In this they are hard to rival.

The natural environment of these island people is a sparkling cluster of white houses, dashed here and there with spots of vermilion, blue, and lavender, and flanked on either side by an ancient fortress, with no sooty railroad yard or fuming factory visible to mar the loveliness. Even their rowboats are artistic. As one approaches the shore one notices the striking beauty, the wonderfully graceful lines, and the charming decorations of the boats dotting the shore line.

From the boat landings of the port cities on the several islands of Saint Michael, Angra, Madeira, and the northerly island of Terceira, the streets usually radiate up the hills like the ribs of a jeweled fan. The public markets occupy whole squares, located among the cross streets. These are tempting places, with their stalls of melons, bananas, pineapples, eggs, squashes, tomatoes (both red and yellow), meat, fish, and the brown potatoes (two or three times the size of the largest American ones), with splashes of sunlight and shade giving cheer and 13