Southey undertook excursions that enabled him to expand his network of contacts. In Coimbra, he was welcomed by scholars who familiarised him with the city: "Our letters went to Francisco Soares Franco—a doctor—and to the Professor of Botany, Felix Avelar Brotero, from whom we experienced all the useful and alternative civility. They guided us to the Botanical Garden, the Museum, and the University Press [...]" (Idem [1800], p. 26). In Beja, he was received by the renowned Manoel do Cenáculo Vilas-Boas, Bishop of the city, described as "small, cheerful, with big eyes—a little saint with a staff, they call him—loved and recognised by everyone around him" (Idem [1801], pp. 38-39). After his visit to Beja, Southey sent a letter to the bishop, written in Portuguese, demonstrating both his fluency in the language and his occasional lapses in spelling and grammar (Idem [1801], p. 163).

The warm reception from Portuguese literati reflects their interest in the composition of a scholarly and philosophical history of the nation. Within the Royal Academy of Sciences in Lisbon, founded in 1779, efforts were underway in the Portuguese Literature Class to produce such a work (T. Silva, Maquinações da Razão Discreta ... [Machinations of Discrete Reason...], 2010). For Southey, the historiographical aims of the academics closely aligned with his own project, leading him to acknowledge: "The Academy made my work much easier by publishing many of its old chronicles at a purchasable price, as well as the laws of Portugal" (R. Southey, Journals of a Residence in Portugal 1800-1801... , 1960 [1801], p. 138). This praise was also extended to the University of Coimbra, which had "acted very wisely" in publishing the “Ordenações de Afonso 5º” [Ordinances of Afonso V] (Idem [1801], p. 119).

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