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 PORTUGAL

297

PORTUGAL

episcopal residence and a large hall adjoining, which, with the cathedral, form a group of buildings artistic in design, and architecturally, the most noteworthy structure, among the ecclesiastical buildings in the Bor- ough of Portsmouth. The Diocesan college at Wool- hampton was extended as regards accommodation, and the buildings reconstructed through the generositj' of a benefactress. The bishop's influence in Ports- mouth was great. He was well known in all branches of public life, and at his death the esteem in which he was held bj- the people of the borough, was attested by their liberal subscriptions to his memorial chapel in the cathedral. He was succeeded by his auxiliarj- bishop and \-icar-general. John Baptist Cahill (1841- 1910), a man of exceptional administrative abihty.

Bishop Cahill had been Rector of Ryde since 1S6S, and ^near-general of the diocese since its foundation, he was consecrated coadjutor (titular of Thagora) only three weeks before the death of Bishop Virtue. The ten years of his episcopate were marked by the same steadj' progress that characterized h i s predecessor's. He completed the cathe- dral by adding the west front, and car- ried out several im- portant changes in the interior. His episcopate was par- ticularly marked by the influx of reli- gious communities, owing to the French persecutions. It was thus that the diocese was enriched by the presence of such con- gregations as the Benedictines of So- lesmes, both monks and nuns. Five Abbeys (Douai, Quarr, Farn- borough, Ryde, and East Cowes) have been founded in the diocese. The good which they and the other exiled religious are doing should alone suffice to perpetuate the memorj- of Bishop Cahill. He died 2 .\ugust, 1910, and was succeeded by hisfriend and auxiliarj-, WilUam Timothy Cotter (1866) who was educated at Majiiooth for the Diocese of Clo>Tie (Ireland), but afterwards came to the English Mis- sion. He was consecrated auxiliarj- to Bishop Cahill. 19 March, 1905, as titular Bishop of Clazomence, and was transferred to Portsmouth, 24 Xovember, 1910. The statistics of 1910 were: churches, 100; secular clerg}', 70; regulars, 203; communities of men, 21; of women, 43. The estimated CathoUc population, 45,000.

John Hexry Kixg.

Portugal. — I. Geography and Physical Characteristics. — Portugal is situated on the west of the Iberian Peninsula, being bounded on the north and east by Spain and on the west and south by the Atlantic Ocean. It lies between latitudes 37 and 42 north, and longitudes 6?i and 9' 2 ^^st of Greenwich. The form is approximately rectangular, with a maxi- mum length of 362 miles, a maximum breadth of 140 miles, and an area of 35,490 square miles. For purposes of administration it is officiaUy di\'ided into districts, but the old di\-ision into provinces (which originated in the differences of soil, climate, and character of the population) has not lost its meaning and is still employed in common parlance. The names of these provinces are Entre-Douro-e-Minho, Traz-os-Montes, Beira, Estremadura, Alemtejo, and

The Ruins of Xetley .\bbet,

Algarve. The island groups of Madeira vrith Porto Santo and the Azores are considered as part of Con- tinental Portugal, the other possessions being colo- nies. Excluding these islands, Portugal has a sea- board of nearly 500 miles and a land frontier of about 620 miles, the greater part of which is marked by rivers or mountains. But though only a small por- tion of this frontier is conventional, Portugal and Spain are not separated by a strongly marked natural boundary such as di%ndes some countries; indeed they are geographically one.

As regards the nature of the soil, Portugal may be roughly divided into three zones: (1) the northern, which is mountainous and rises from 1800 to 500(3 feet, including the Serra do Gerez, notable for its vegetation and thermal springs; (2) the central, a zone of extensive plains divided by mountain ranges, among the latter being the Serra da Estrella (6540 feet), the highest and largest in the country; (3) the southern, the most extensive of the three, almost entire- ly composed of low- lying plains and plateaus of small altitude. In all these regions the moun- tains are usually pro- longations of Span- ish systems. The only independent range of importance is the Serra de Mon- chique. Briefly, in the north, Portugal has many chains of mountains, plateaus of considerable height, and deep narrow valleys ; in the centre, together with high and ex- tensive mountains, we find broad valleys and large plains. Lastly, south of the Tagus, the country is one of plains throughout the Alemtejo, but in the Algarve it again becomes hilly, though thealtitudesare rarely considerable. The chief rivers are: (a) the Minho, which forms the northern frontier; (b) the Douro, which rises in Spain and enters the sea near Oporto, about one-third of its course being in Portugal; (c) the Mondego, the largest river rising in Portugal, which enters the sea at Figueira after a course of 140 miles; (d) the Tagus, which rises in Spain, forms above Lisbon a gulf more than eight miles wide, and enters the sea below that city, after a total course of nearly 500 miles, about one- third in Portugal; (e) the Sado, which flows out in a large estuary at Setubal; (f) the Guadiana, which serves in part as frontier between the two countries. The Tagus is na\-igable for small vessels as far as Santarem; the Guadiana, as far as Mertola. There are no lakes worthy of mention, the ria at Aveiro connecting with the sea.

Portugal has few good natural harbours. That of Lisbon is the best, and indeed one of the largest in Europe, and is of easy access at all times. The bar of the Douro is shallow and difficult; a fine artificial port has therefore been built at Leixoes to serve Oporto. Setubal is a fair harbour, as is Villa Realde S. .\ntonio, in the Algarve, while Lagos Bay, in the same province, affords a secure anchorage for a nu- merous fleet. The other ports are only suitable for small craft and are continually being blocked by sand. Portugal is rich in metalliferous deposits, including antimony, copper, manganese, uranium, lead, tin, and iron. Coal is scarce and of poor quality. The country has more than a hundred mineral springs.

SorTH.\MPTON", England