1880 Facts about Port and Madeira by Henry Vizetelly

36

In the Part Wine Country.

servile neighbours of the adjoining province of Entre-Douro-e- Minho. The Transmontanos are a sturdy race, thriving -well on. the salted cod,vegetables,and rye-bread which form their staple fare. They are strict Catholics, and the majority of them think it essential to attend the missa das almas, or early morning mass,regularly every Monday before commencing work for the week. Among the peasantry marriage contracts are unknown, yet the men rarely abandon the women they take up with. Children are numerous,but only of recent years have steps been taken to secirre them some kind of education. To-day, however, nearly every little village in the AltoDouro has its pubhc school, at which attendance is obligatory, as most parents prefer then children earning afew pence daily to receiving insti-uction which they do not conceive tends to any pecuniary advantage. When there is a funeral in the Alto Douro a kind of procession is formed,headed by boys; afterwards comes the corpse, attired in ordinary garments,and inclosed in a covered wooden box; next follow the priest and his assistants,and then the male rela tives and friends of the deceased, a crowd of women singing hymns bringing up the rear. At a funeral which we chanced to witness, the body, before being consigned to the grave, was removed from its wooden receptacle,the latter to all appearances being simply intended for the conveyance of the corpse to the chirrchyard. The peasants of Traz-os-Montes are gradually abandoning their ancient superstitions. Formerly they were devout be lievers in "bruxas," or witches, and in the"lobis-homen," or wehr-wolf, but to-day these merely serve the purpose of the traditional bogie of the English nursery. Among the women a behef in ghosts is still prevalent, and no Alto Douro peasant hkes to hear a dog whine or the screeching of an owl at night time in the village, as to his mind both of these sounds indicate bad news,and possibly a death. Thelobis-homen,according to one account,is a young man or girl who being subject to a spell is obhged when night sets in to take the form of a horse and gallop wildly on until daybreak. Formerly when