1880 Facts about Port and Madeira by Henry Vizetelly

Somefamous Qumias on the Douro and the Bio Torto. 83

the men d. Nearly the whole of them came from Pesqueira, where the women returned of an evening to sleep. The casa dos lagares, which stands near the centre of the vineyard on a small terrace bordered by chestnut-trees, has its front completely overgrown with ivy. It contains six lagares, all of moderate dimensions, and a dozen tonels holding fi-om 24 to 32 pipes each. At one end is a still where cheap wines, j)urchased for the pui-pose, are distilled into brandy. Senhor Jorge Several, the owner of this quinta, sells his wine to Messrs. G. G.Sa,nde- man and Sons,and also superintends the vintage in other quintas ia this part of the Doui'o,the produce ofwhich Messrs.Sandeman contract to purchase. Prom Sidro the road winds in the direction of the Douro, where the craggy'height of Sao Salvador do Mundo,with a series oflittle chapels perched at intervals up its side, detaches itself from the surrounding hills. When near the summit we dis mount, and, picking our way through tangled underwood and jutting boulders, arrive near the verge of a precipice, whence one looks down upon the foaming Doui-o, here shut in by tall precipitous granite rocks. This is the dreaded Cachao da Valleira—a long and narrow gorge, through which in former years the river dashed and foamed and tumbled headlong, a roaring cataract. At the close of the last century the rocks which caused this fall and rendered navigation impossible were demolished, and now boats can pass down the Douro,although not without danger,from the Spanish frontier to the sea. As they approach this perilous gorge, and the church of Sao Sal vador comes in sight, the boatmen invariably bare their heads and utter a brief prayer. When the water is at its ordinary level the chances are that the passage will be safely effected; but at high water, when the current is extremely rapid,it is attended with great risk, and is at times even impossible. It was in navigating this dangerous channel that Baron FoiTestei', to whom the Alto Doui-o owes so much,lost his valuable life. Prom Sao Salvador you catch a glimpse to the westward of a few vineyards climbing the lower slopes of the hills which