Yet such it was in the time of the
Romans, who, as they were a people not much guided by caprice, had
doubtless very excellent reasons for the preference which they gave
to the locality.
There are many Roman remains in the vicinity of this place, the
most remarkable of which are the ruins of the ancient medicinal
baths, which stand on the southern side of the river Minho, which
creeps through the valley beneath the town. The Minho in this
place is a dark and sullen stream, with high, precipitous, and
thickly wooded banks.
One evening I visited the baths, accompanied by my friend the
bookseller. They had been built over warm springs which flow into
the river. Notwithstanding their ruinous condition, they were
crowded with sick, hoping to derive benefit from the waters, which
are still famed for their sanative power. These patients exhibited
a strange spectacle as, wrapped in flannel gowns much resembling
shrouds, they lay immersed in the tepid waters amongst disjointed
stones, and overhung with steam and reek.
Three or four days after my arrival I was seated in the corridor
which, as I have already observed, occupied the entire front of the
house.
