第 29 节
作者:
敏儿不觉 更新:2021-02-19 21:45 字数:6901
his salary is less than thirty pounds English per annum。
Before a ship hath been visited by one of those magistrates no
person can lawfully go on board her; nor can any on board depart
from her。 This I saw exemplified in a remarkable instance。 The
young lad whom I have mentioned as one of our passengers was here
met by his father; who; on the first news of the captain's
arrival; came from Lisbon to Bellisle in a boat; being eager to
embrace a son whom he had not seen for many years。 But when he
came alongside our ship neither did the father dare ascend nor
the son descend; as the magistrate of health had not yet been on
board。 Some of our readers will; perhaps; admire the great
caution of this policy; so nicely calculated for the preservation
of this country from all pestilential distempers。 Others will as
probably regard it as too exact and formal to be constantly
persisted in; in seasons of the utmost safety; as well as in
times of danger。 I will not decide either way; but will content
myself with observing that I never yet saw or heard of a place
where a traveler had so much trouble given him at his landing as
here。 The only use of which; as all such matters begin and end
in form only; is to put it into the power of low and mean fellows
to be either rudely officious or grossly corrupt; as they shall
see occasion to prefer the gratification of their pride or of
their avarice。
Of this kind; likewise; is that power which is lodged with other
officers here; of taking away every grain of snuff and every leaf
of tobacco brought hither from other countries; though only for
the temporary use of the person during his residence here。 This
is executed with great insolence; and; as it is in the hands of
the dregs of the people; very scandalously; for; under pretense
of searching for tobacco and snuff; they are sure to steal
whatever they can find; insomuch that when they came on board our
sailors addressed us in the Covent…garden language: 〃Pray;
gentlemen and ladies; take care of your swords and watches。〃
Indeed; I never yet saw anything equal to the contempt
and hatred which our honest tars every moment expressed
for these Portuguese officers。
At Bellisle lies buried Catharine of Arragon; widow of prince
Arthur; eldest son of our Henry VII; afterwards married to; and
divorced from Henry VIII。 Close by the church where her remains
are deposited is a large convent of Geronymites; one of the most
beautiful piles of building in all Portugal。
In the evening; at twelve; our ship; having received previous
visits from all the necessary parties; took the advantage of
the tide; and having sailed up to Lisbon cast anchor there; in a
calm and moonshiny night; which made the passage incredibly
pleasant to the women; who remained three hours enjoying it;
whilst I was left to the cooler transports of enjoying their
pleasures at second…hand; and yet; cooler as they may be; whoever
is totally ignorant of such sensation is; at the same time; void
of all ideas of friendship。
Wednesday。Lisbon; before which we now lay at anchor; is said to
be built on the same number of hills with old Rome; but these do
not all appear to the water; on the contrary; one sees from
thence one vast high hill and rock; with buildings arising above
one another; and that in so steep and almost perpendicular a
manner; that they all seem to have but one foundation。
As the houses; convents; churches; &c。; are large; and all built
with white stone; they look very beautiful at a distance; but as
you approach nearer; and find them to want every kind of
ornament; all idea of beauty vanishes at once。 While I was
surveying the prospect of this city; which bears so little
resemblance to any other that I have ever seen; a reflection
occurred to me that; if a man was suddenly to be removed from
Palmyra hither; and should take a view of no other city; in how
glorious a light would the ancient architecture appear to him!
and what desolation and destruction of arts and sciences would he
conclude had happened between the several eras of these cities!
I had now waited full three hours upon deck for the return of my
man; whom I had sent to bespeak a good dinner (a thing which had
been long unknown to me) on shore; and then to bring a Lisbon
chaise with him to the seashore; but it seems the impertinence of
the providore was not yet brought to a conclusion。 At three
o'clock; when I was from emptiness; rather faint than hungry; my
man returned; and told me there was a new law lately made that no
passenger should set his foot on shore without a special order
from the providore; and that he himself would have been sent to
prison for disobeying it; had he not been protected as the
servant of the captain。 He informed me likewise that the captain
had been very industrious to get this order; but that it was then
the providore's hour of sleep; a time when no man; except the
king himself; durst disturb him。
To avoid prolixity; though in a part of my narrative which may be
more agreeable to my reader than it was to me; the providore;
having at last finished his nap; dispatched this absurd matter of
form; and gave me leave to come; or rather to be carried; on shore。
What it was that gave the first hint of this strange law is not
easy to guess。 Possibly; in the infancy of their defection; and
before their government could be well established; they were
willing to guard against the bare possibility of surprise; of the
success of which bare possibility the Trojan horse will remain
for ever on record; as a great and memorable example。 Now the
Portuguese have no walls to secure them; and a vessel of two or
three hundred tons will contain a much larger body of troops than
could be concealed in that famous machine; though Virgil tells us
(somewhat hyperbolically; I believe) that it was as big as a
mountain。
About seven in the evening I got into a chaise on shore; and was
driven through the nastiest city in the world; though at the same
time one of the most populous; to a kind of coffee…house; which
is very pleasantly situated on the brow of a hill; about a mile
from the city; and hath a very fine prospect of the river Tajo
from Lisbon to the sea。 Here we regaled ourselves with a good
supper; for which we were as well charged as if the bill had been
made on the Bath…road; between Newbury and London。
And now we could joyfully say;
Egressi optata Troes potiuntur arena。
Therefore; in the words of Horace;
hie Finis chartaeque viaeque。
End