Europe; and the Cabo de Carvoeiro and de S. Maria on the coast of Algarva.

Rivers.] The chief rivers of Portugal have their origin in Spain, and have consequently been already mentioned. The Tajo flows into the sea at Lisbon, where its estuary forms the harbour belonging to that city.— The Douro, a very rapid stream, falls into the sea at Oporto.-The Guadiana has a small part of its course in this country. It is unnecessary to repeat what has been already said of these rivers. From the small extent of Portugal, it is not to be expected that any river of great size can belong wholly to it. Of those streams which have their sources in this kingdom the chief seem to be the Mondego which has its source near Guarda, in Beira, and falls into the sea below Coimbra; the Cadaen which runs into the Atlantic at Setuval; and the Sora which falls into the Tajo. Lakes.] No lake is found in this country which merits a description. Travellers have astonished the world with the account of fountains on which not even the lightest substance would float: they had perhaps received their accounts from natives who were not able to discover that the appearance which so much astonished them might be produced by a simple vortex. There are some extensive swamps on the coasts of Beira. Portugal abounds in mineral springs.

Climate.] The climate of Portugal is much more agreeable and more healthy than that of the greater part of Spain. Near Lisbon the atmosphere is so remarkably salubrious that invalids often resort thither from different nations. The heat in summer, and the cold in winter, are rendered moderate by the proximity of the Atlantic ocean; the medial degree of temperature is said to be about 60°. At Lisbon, rain is so far from being frequent that the number of days in which it rains constantly is said seldom to exceed 80; the number of days on which it is completely fair is generally about 200. When rain falls it is very violent. Soil, Agriculture, Wines.] The soil of Portugal, like that of Spain, is in general fertile. It is for the most part of a light texture, and might be easily cultivated, but the Portuguese are said to bestow even the little toil which it needs very unwillingly, so that agriculture is little practised or understood. It is owing rather to this than to any deficiency in the soil that Portugal does not produce grain sufficient for its own inhabitants. Wheat and Indian corn are the species of grain which are most cultivated; the bread made of the latter is called broa, and forms the principal food of the common people. Vegetables are everywhere cultivated; but flax and hemp are reared only in very small quantities, and most of the linen and sail-cloth used in this country are imported. Wine is the chief production of the country. Of the Portuguese wines, Mr Henderson remarks, that the choicest growths are seldom to be procured pure. A great company has been long established for managing the wine-trade, and one of their privileges was to fix a maximum on the price of wine. Though at the late revolution this privilege was greatly abridged, yet it is not altogether done away, and the company still retain other privileges highly injurious (as all privileges must be that are inconsistent with the freedom of trade) to the growth of wine. The consequence is that all the produce of the Portugal vineyards is mixed together, and brought to one uniform level. "In this way," Mr Henderson observes, "the finer products of the Douro vintages have remained, in a great measure, unknown to us; and Port wine has come to be considered as a single liquor, if I may use the expression, of nearly uniform flavour and strength-varying, it is true,

to a certain extent, in quality, but still always approaching to a definite standard, and admitting of few degrees of excellence. The manipulations, the admixtures, and, in one word, the adulterations, to which the best wines of the Cima do Douro are subjected, have much the same effect, as if all the growths of Burgundy were to be mingled in one immense vat, and sent into the world as the only true Burgundian wine; the delicious produce of Romanée, Chambertin, and the Clos Vougeot, would disappear; and in their places we should find nothing better than a second rate Beaune or Macon wine." The same cause, namely, the influence of this company, has, according to Mr Henderson, ruined the Portugal white wines. These were formerly excellent, but the farmers being restricted as to the price, extirpated all the finest vines, and substituted others, which produced a larger quantity of wine, but of a coarser quality. Some red wines, resembling port, are imported into this country from Portugal. The principal are from the neighbourhood of Figuera dos Vinhos, near Thomar, and from Colares, near Cintra, about seven leagues from Lisbon. Some of these last are excellent, possessing delicacy, softness, body, and flavour. The white and red wines, chiefly gathered between Oiras and Carcavellos, in Estremadura, are known in England under the general name of Lisbon wines. They are good, wholesome, unsophisticated wines (because not fashionable,) and, when cheap wines are let in-as they should and must eventually be-for the consumption of the middling classes, at an equitable duty, they will come more into deserved notice and favour. The wines of Setuval, 15 miles S. and of Santarem, 45 miles N. W. from Lisbon, are of good quality. There are of these growths dry wines, and also sweet wines of the Muscatel flavour. Bucellas, about five leagues N. of Lisbon, produces a delicate and well-known white wine, resembling Barsac, but stronger, an excellent table-wine when of sufficient age and not spoiled by brandy. Good old Bucellas is scarce, and sells for £42 per pipe. Lisbon wines, red and white, are worth from £28 to £34 in the London market, per pipe, of 140 old, equal to 117 imperial gallons.

Animals.] Cattle are in some places of considerable size; but in general the breed is neglected. The heat of summer parches the pasture, and artificial meadows are beyond the sphere of Portuguese agriculture. Mules, as in Spain, are used as beasts of burden; and are of a breed much superior to those found in more northern countries. Sheep are not reared with the same care as in Spain, and are consequently in every respect inferior. They are not numerous. Many hogs are reared; and the bacon of this country is not surpassed by that of any other. The fish upon the coast are numerous and of a good quality.

Minerals.] Portugal, like Spain, was formerly much more productive of the precious metals than it is at present; though it is probable that if these metals were not so easily procured from their colonies, a much greater quantity of them might be found at home than is at present. The Romans had mines which they wrought to a great extent in this country. The remains of what have been supposed to be these mines are still to be seen in the northern provinces. Of these one is described as being cut through the solid rock, upwards of 500 feet deep, and, at the surface, a mile and a half in circumference. The following is a list of the mineral produce of Portugal: gold, silver, tin, lead, copper, iron, coal, emery, marble, granite, talc, amianthus, felspar, fuller's earth, quicksilver, rubies, jacinths, and beryl. Besides these, Portugal produces manganese, bismuth,

and arsenic. Some part of this produce, particularly the iron, might be made the source of considerable wealth, but, unfortunately, fuel is scarce.

CHAP. III-INHABITANTS-MANNERS AND CUSTOMS-LAN

GUAGE-LITERATURE-RELIGION.

THE number of inhabitants in Portugal has been very differently estimated, some calculating the population as low as 1,838,879; Antillon fixing it at 3,683,000; Ebeling at 3,558,712; Soares de Barros, in his Memoria sobre as cauzas da differente populac, as de Portugal, published at Lisbon in 1798, at 3,352,000; while Murphy, upon the authority of other Portuguese writers, makes it to be 2,588,470, Humboldt 3,173,000, and Balbi in 1826, 3,530,000. The towns of Lisbon and Oporto together, comprise a tenth of the whole nation. The last government census makes the population, including 25,000 troops, and 10,000 monks and nuns, to be 3,013,570, distributed as under:

Manners and Customs.] The manners and customs of the Portuguese are discriminated into those of the northern and southern provinces; the inhabitants of the former being more industrious and sincere,-those of the latter more polite and elegant. In general, the Portuguese are a handsome race, with regular features, and dark expressive eyes. The prejudices of nobility are as common and pernicious here as in Spain; nor does that general intercourse between the different ranks of society which imparts knowledge and vigour to society exist here. All ranks seem fond of retirement and silence, and little inclined to social pleasures. The women are of small stature; but graceful and beautiful. Ladies of rank still imitate the industry of their ancestors in spinning flax from the distaff; and the oriental manner of sitting on cushions on the floor is often practised. The dress resembles the Spanish; but the men generally prefer the French costume, with the exception of a large loose cloak. The general dress is of woollen, and almost always black. The common people, in many cases, retain the ancient national habit, the petticoat and jacket. The fashions, among all ranks indeed, are much more permanent here than in more northern countries. "The form of their dress," says Murphy, "does not undergo a change perhaps once in an age; milliners, perfumers, and fancy-dress-makers, are professions as unknown in Lisbon as in ancient Lacedæmon." To visit any one above the rank of a tradesman, says the same traveller, it is necessary to wear a sword and chapeau; if the family you visit be in mourning, you must also wear black; the servants would not consider a visitant as a gentleman unless he came in a coach; to visit in boots would be an unpardonable offence, unless you wear spurs at the same time. The master of the house precedes the visitant on going out, the contrary order takes place in coming in." The

last-mentioned ceremony is likewise prevalent in Spain. The women in Portugal are no less closely confined than in Spain. They seldom leave their own apartment, except for a short time each day, when they go to church for the purpose of performing their devotions. If we may believe Murphy, the Portuguese ladies' are chaste, modest, and extremely affectionate to their kindred;' but certainly the close confinement which is imposed upon them is not fitted to make a stranger believe that the Portuguese themselves entertain an equally high opinion of their countrywomen. When a woman is married, she retains her own name without assuming that of her husband. Instead of the surname, the Christian name is made use of when addressing an individual. To the surname and Christian name, another is often added, derived, for the most part, from circumstances peculiar to the individual; and it is not uncommon to add the name of the parents to that of the child. In their marriages, christenings, and funerals, the Portuguese are as fond of show and as extravagant as their continental neighbours. It is only on these extraordinary occasions, however, that the Portuguese lose sight of that temperance which is said to be habitual to them. Wine is seldom used by the men, and never by the women.

The ranks of men in Portugal-as, indeed, in the greater part of European nations-consist of the nobility, the clergy, the traders, and the peasants or labouring people. These different ranks, as in every other place, vary from each other in their manners and customs; and owing to several moral causes, differ in some respects from those of the same ranks in some other nations.

If extent of possession could make them rich, few nobles could be considered as being wealthier than those of Portugal, since their estates are said to be in general very large: but the value of landed property consists not in its extent, nor even in its intrinsic fertility, but depends on the state of that country in which it is situated. Besides, the Portuguese nobles are far from being greatly attached to their landed possessions. They value themselves on being born in Lisbon, and in spending their days in that city: many of them being ignorant of the extent of their possessions, and paying little other attention to them than receiving the scanty rent which the oppressed labourer is with difficulty able to pay. A particular college has been founded in Lisbon for the education of the nobles; but they appear to pay little attention to literature. Few of them can boast of great acquired abilities; their lives are generally spent without ostentation, in the calm of domestic comfort, without many of the tumultuous enjoyments and with few of the polished vices of more refined society.

The merchants are said to be attentive to business, and generally in their dealings to evince that honesty and candour by which mercantile transactions ought always to be characterised. Bankruptcies are uncommon. "A Lisbon merchant," says Murphy, "passes his hours in the following manner: he goes to prayers at eight o'clock, to Change at eleven, dines at one, sleeps till three, eats fruit at four, and sups at nine: the intermediate hours are employed in the counting-house, in paying visits, or in playing at cards."

Mr Kinsey represents the peasantry as a race possessed of many noble qualities to conciliate the good opinion of a stranger, but whose condition is embittered by every species of discomfort that can originate in oppression and misrule. Superadded to their political evils, is that pitiable

thraldom of reason, which the ministers of superstition have imposed, and the prescription of centuries has sanctioned. Such is the deplorable state of things where the moral interests of a people are intrusted to the untoward guidance of a worldly-minded priesthood, who are active only in hostility to the progress of knowledge and the advance of civilization. The class which consists of what in other countries would be called gentlemen, that is, men of independent fortunes but without titles or any pretensions to nobility, contains few individuals. They are described, however, as being the most amiable class of the community. Their property is seldom large, and has generally been acquired by the arts of commerce, or by saving the profits of an employment under government. Their minds are generally more enlightened than those of either the higher or the lower ranks; and they have, consequently, fewer of the prejudices peculiar to their country.

In Portugal, as in other nations, there are many small peculiarities in the customs of common life, which have at first commenced in some trivial circumstance, and have afterwards been confirmed by habit. Such customs sometimes give, when properly described, a more lively picture of a people than circumstances generally esteemed of more importance. "Their cars," says Murphy, "have the rude appearance of the earliest ages: these vehicles are slowly drawn by two stout oxen. The corn is shelled by the treading of the same animals, as in the days of the Israelites; hence, probably, the Scripture precept, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn.' They have many other customs which to us appear very singular; for example, women sit with the left side towards the horse's head when they ride. A postillion rides on the left horse. Footmen play at cards while they are waiting for their masters. A tailor sits at his work like a shoemaker. A hairdresser appears on Sundays with a sword, a cockade, and two watches, or, at least, two watch-chains. A tavern is known by a vine bush. A house to be let, by a piece of blank paper. An accoucheuse' door, by a white cross. And a Jew is known by his extra-catholic devotion."

The higher ranks in Portugal are little acquainted with the sports of hunting and fishing. For the former species of amusement their horses are said to be unfit; and for the same reason horse-racing is unknown. Riding out for recreation is seldom practised. Leak says, that neither fine paintings nor taste are to be found in Portugal. The games are billiards, backgammon, cards, and dice. The common people play at quarterstaff; but bull-fights here, as in Spain, constitute the great national amusement.1

The following lively account of the manner of conducting these bull-fights in the Lisbon amphitheatre, is given by a very recent writer.

"The first bull afforded little sport; but the second, as soon as the door was opened, rushed in with the utmost fury, pursued the first capinha that attracted his notice, and missed him only by a hair's breadth. A picador on horseback then rode up to him, struck a barbed spear into his neck, broke the shaft, rode off-the bull in the utmost fury pursued him, caught the horse with his horns under the flank, and nearly brought him and his rider to the ground. The horse seemed not at all fond of the sport and kept his distance for some time, till at last the picador, watching the opportunity, struck a second and third and fourth arrow into his neck. The bull again pursued him, but was attracted by flags and scarfs ; he vented his fury on them for some time, and pawed the ground with rage. When well-exhausted by similar attacks, and chasing the horse round the arena, one of the homens de forca turned out to the middle of the arena to catch him by the horns. This is an attempt of great danger, for if the forcador misses his aim the bull is certain to overturn him-as was the case in this instance. The forcador stood with open arms daring him to the contest, and he was