,
well found, and, as a rule, well managed. The latter are often centres
of good charitable work outside their actual fire service, and they are
valuable as offering a fair and worthy opportunity for the display of
sound public spirit and good feeling.

Though Portuguese laws are, as a rule, admirable in themselves, the
administration thereof is bad in the extreme, and the judiciary have a
reputation for turpitude remarkable even amongst the recognised
corruption of all officials. In Portugal proper there are two judicial
districts--that of Lisbon and that of Oporto. Each has a high court
known as a _Relacao_, and there are inferior courts of various styles
and titles. Above all is the Supreme Tribunal of Justice at Lisbon,
which is the final court of appeal, and the reputation of which is
somewhat better than that of any other tribunal. The administration of
criminal justice is naturally amongst the worst. According to common
repute, the only consideration with the judges is how they are to get
the costs paid--whether they are more likely to obtain them through an
acquittal, which throws them on the prosecutor, or by a conviction.
Also, it is generally said that the police themselves are recruited from
amongst the very lowest classes.

The prisons are described as being something awful, only to be equalled
in Morocco and savage countries. In the market-place of beautiful Cintra
stands the prison, against the barred windows of which crowd the
prisoners, begging for money, cigarettes, and food, which are supplied
to them through the prison bars by their friends and sympathisers, and
by soft-hearted people. Those who are incarcerated in the upper story
have baskets, which they lower by means of strings, so that they may be
supplied in the same manner. This seems to have amused Miss Leck
(_Iberian Sketches_, Chap. VI.), but it assumes a much more serious
aspect when one considers that in those filthy dens all the prisoners
are huddled together--old men and boys, the murderer and the petty
thief, habitual criminals and unfortunate persons taken into custody on
mere suspicion, or charged with an alleged breach of some police or
even railway regulation; for it must be remembered that a station-master
has nearly the same power as a policeman in taking a person into
custody. "No one shall be put in prison," says the Portuguese code,
"except under special circumstances"; but when the exceptions are
considered, they are found t