Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 19.djvu/556

Rh 536 POETUGAL PART I. GEOGRAPHY AND STATISTICS. fTlHE kingdom of Portugal, which is geographically a Plate IV. ~ province of the Iberian Peninsula on its west coast, Bound- is bounded on the N. by the Spanish province of Galicia, aries. on the E. by the Spanish provinces of Leon, Estremadura, and Andalusia, and on the S. and W. by the Atlantic Ocean. It lies between 36 56 and 42 10 N. lat. and 6 15 and 9 30 W. long. It is 362 miles in length by 140 in breadth, and contained by the latest (1878) corn- Coasts, putation l 34,41 9J square miles. Its coast-line is nearly 500 miles in length, and only one province, Tras-os-Montes, is not washed by the sea. On the extreme north the coast is low, but farther south it becomes rocky and steep for a few miles near Povoa de Varzim. From that town to Cape Carboeiro the coast of Beira is flat, sandy, and marshy, closely resembling the French Landes ; after another stretch of dunes it again becomes steep and rugged from Cape Roca to Cape Espichel, and along the northern side of the Bay of Setubal, and then remains low throughout the rest of the coast-line of Estremadura (Portuguese). In Alemtejo the coast is low and in places rocky and full of shallows ; and, although at Cape St Vincent the cliffs are steep and inaccessible, the general coast -line of Algarves, the southernmost province of Portugal, is low and sandy. Capes. The chief capes, which form the only cliffs on the other wise flat and sandy coast, are Cape Mondego, Cape Car boeiro, Cape Roca, Cape Espichel, Cape Sines, Cape St Vincent, and Cape Santa Maria, and the chief bays are those of Figueira, Ericeira, Setubal, and Sines. The only Islands, islands off the coast are the dangerous Farilhoes and the Berlengas off Cape Carboeiro, which would be uninhabited but for an old castle, now used as a prison, on the largest island of the latter group. Mount- The mountain-systems of Portugal can only be adequately ains - treated under SPAIN (q.v. as they are in every instance continuations to the west or south-west of the great Spanish ranges. Thus the mountains of the Cantabrian Pyrenees in Galicia spread themselves over the two northern provinces of Portugal, Entre Minho e Douro and Tras-os- Montes, in various short ranges, of which the most im portant are the Serra do Gerez (4815 feet) and the Serra de Marao (4665 feet), the latter extending down the left bank of the Tameja and sheltering the wine -districts of Tras-os-Montes from the east winds. In Beira the granite Serra da Estrella (6540 feet), the loftiest range in Por tugal, forms part of the system of the Guadarramas and a continuation of the Sierra de Gata, and terminates in the Serra de Lousilo (3940 feet), while the chalk mountains in the south of the province, such as the Monte Junto near Santarem (2185 feet) and the Serra de Cintra, which runs into the sea at Cape Roca, belong to a different geological period. The chalk mountains of the Serra de Arrabida (1537 feet) to the south of the Tagus correspond with the Serra de Cintra, and form Cape Espichel ; but the other low ranges to the south of the river in Alemtejo, such as the Serra de San Mamede (3363 feet) and the Serra de Ossa (2130 feet), belong to the system of the mountains of Toledo. The continuation of the Sierra Morefia, which separates Algarves from the rest of Portugal, forms various small ranges and isolated mountains, such as the Serra do Malhfio (1886 feet) and Monte Figo, and then closes with the Serra de Monchique (2963 feet) and runs into the sea in the steep cliffs of Cape St Vincent. Rivers. The river-system of Portugal is also merely a portion of_tha/t of Spain. Its three most important rivers, the 1 Strelbitsky, Supei-ficie de I Europe, 1882. Douro, the Tagus, and the Guadiana, all rise in Spain and flow through that country ; but they all enter the sea in Portugal, and at the mouths of the Douro and the Tagus are situated the two most important cities of the kingdom, Oporto and Lisbon. The chief Portuguese tributaries of the Douro are the Tameja, the Tua, and the Sabor on the north, and the Agueda, the Coa, and the Paiva on the south ; of the Tagus, the Elja, the Ponsul, and the Zezere on the north, and the Niza, the Sorraya, and the Canha on the south ; while into the Guadiana, on its right or Port- uguese bank, flow the Caia, the Oeiras, and the Vascao. The other important rivers are the Minho, which forms the boundary of Portugal and Galicia in the lower part of its course, the Limia, the Cavado, the Vouga, and the Mondego to the north of the Tagus, and the Sado, the Mira, the Odelouca, and the Silves to the south of it. Important as are the rivers of Portugal, it has no inland lakes worthy of mention, though it abounds in hot and other medicinal springs, such as the Caldas de Monchique ; and beautiful little mountain -lakes are numerous on the tops of the Serra da Estrella. The climate of Portugal is particularly equable and Climai temperate, and its salubrious qualities were recognized by the English doctors of the 18th century, who used to send many patients to winter there, including Fielding the novelist ; and, though Portugal has been superseded as a winter resort by the Riviera and Algiers, there are signs that it may again become a European health-resort of the first importance. To prove the temperate nature of the climate it is not enough to state that the average mean temperatures of Lisbon, Coimbra, and Oporto are 61 3, 61 l, and 60 2 Fahr. respectively; more instruct ive is it to mention that the mean average temperature for the month of January is only 50 &quot;2 at both Coimbra and Oporto, and for July only 69 4 and 70 3 for the same two cities, showing a difference between summer and winter of about 20. This equability of temperature is partly caused by the very heavy rainfall which is pre cipitated on Portugal as one of the most westerly king doms of Europe and one most exposed to the Atlantic, and which has reached as much as 16 feet in a year; but it is noticeable that this heavy rainfall comes down in gradual showers spread over the whole year, and not in the torrents of the tropics. This great humidity has its drawbacks as well as its advantages, for, though it makes the soil rich, it produces also heavy fogs, which render the Portuguese coast exceedingly dangerous to ships. This charming climate and equability of temperature are not, however, universal in Portugal; they are to be enjoyed mainly in the highlands of Beira, Estremadura, and in the northern provinces, especially at Cintra and Coimbra. In the deep valleys, even of those favoured provinces where the mountains keep off the cool winds, it is ex cessively hot in summer; while on the summits of the mountains snow lies for many months, and it is often extraordinarily cold. Even in Lisbon itself the tempera ture, though its mean is only the same as that of Coimbra, varies from 38 l in January to 90 6 Fahr. in July, a difference of more than 50. In Alemtejo the climate is very unfavourable, and, though the heat is not so great as in Algarves, the country presents a far more deserted and African appearance, while in winter, when heavy rains swell the Tagus and make it overflow its banks, damp unhealthy swamps are left, which breed malaria. Not withstanding that Algarves is hotter than Alemtejo, and