Lagoa Escura, Serra da Estrela

On the highest mountain in Portugal, Serra da Estrela, there´s this natural pond, Lagoa Escura. According to some ancient legends, there´s an underground connection between this pond and the sea (some 200Km away...) This strange legends is mentioned by Herman Melville in that seminal american novel, Moby Dick, as you can see in the photo bellow (in a portuguese translation; in english books the quote must also be around page 223...)

On July 27 I made the hard walk to Lagoa Escura with some friends, and I even took a swim there. Before entering the water I told my friends that in case I wolud disapere, they should go and look for me in the beaches of Figueira da Foz or Nazaré... But I did not disapere, and everything turn up alright.