We are indebted for our Engraving to this valuable work.
To economize time and space we must quit this enchanting spot. Gondolas,
like those at Venice, are used on the river, but will not suffice for
our celerity. We must reach at once the point of our Engraving. The view
is taken from Villa Nova, an important suburb of Oporto, on the opposite
bank of the river. The city may be divided into the high and the low
town. It contains, in a civil sense, five wards, or _bairros_, of which
the Se, or cathedral hill, and the Vittoria, or height opposite to the
Se, (and crowned by a church, which was founded in commemoration of a
celebrated battle fought on the spot with the Moors, which terminated in
their defeat and expulsion from the place,) form the town properly
called Oporto; and it is possible still to trace the remains of the old
wall, which formerly surrounded and defended the place. The three other
quarters, San Idelfonso, Miragaya, and Villa Nova, are open. The latter
is connected with the principal town by a bridge of boats, which is so
badly constructed as to be scarcely able to sustain the violent power of
the river when swelled by winter torrents.
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