Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/756

 736 PORTUGAL Portsmouth proper, and covers 120 acres, en- closed by walls. On the mainland opposite is the town of Gosport, with a population in 1871 of 7,366. The channel between these two C 1 ices forms the entrance to Portsmouth har- r, here defended by South Sea castle on the east, and Moncton fort on the west, and extend- ing several miles between the island of Portsea and the mainland, and gradually widening till it attains a breadth of about 3 m. at its N. ex- tremity. The depth of water is sufficient for vessels of the largest class, and the harbor Portsmouth. opens into the roadstead of Spithead sheltered by the isle of Wight. The imports of foreign and colonial merchandise at the port in 1872 were valued at 282,041, the exports at 15,- 670. The number of vessels entering the port in 1871 was 418, tonnage 38,600; cleared 370, tonnage 31,064. The earliest notice of Ports- mouth (in 501) occurs in the " Saxon Chroni- cle," where it is called Portsmuthe. During the reign of Alfred a fleet of nine ships was fitted out at the port, which defeated the Danes; and before the Norman conquest a large number of vessels were sent from it to intercept the invaders. The French landed and burned a great part of the town in 1377, but were ultimately defeated with heavy loss. After this disaster the fortifications were ex- tended and improved, and have continued to receive additions up to the present time. PORTUGAL (from Portus Gale, the ancient name of the town of Oporto ; anc. Lusitania), a kingdom of Europe, occupying most of the W. portion of the Iberian peninsula. It is bounded N. and E. by Spain, and S. and W. by the Atlantic, and extends from lat. 36 57' to 42 8' N., and from Ion. 6 12' to 9 32' W. Its greatest length from N. to S. is 366 m. ; great- est breadth from E. to W. 137 m., general breadth about 100 m. The length of the coast line is about 500 m., of which 100 m. is on the south. The extreme S. W. point of Europe is formed by the elevated cliffs of Cape St. Vin- cent, whence the shores decline by a gentle slope, which on the north terminates. in the low and flat region surrounding the laguna of Setubal, and on the southeast ends near Cape Santa Maria, the most southerly point of the kingdom. This latter part of the coast is fringed by numerous islands, of one of which the cape just mentioned forms a part. N. W. of the laguna of Setubal rises the Serra da Ar- rabida, which, from an elevation of less than 2,000 ft., gradually sinks to less than 700 ft. at Cape Espichel, where it terminates. Thence northward to the mouth of the Tagus the coast is generally low, but N. and W. of Lisbon the space between the river and the Atlantic is oc- cupied by the mountain ranges of Torres Ve- dras, Mafra, and Cintra, which terminate W. of Lisbon in the Cabo da Roca, the most west- erly promontory of the continent, nearly 2,000 ft. high. N. of this to the mouth of the Mon- dego the coast is generally rugged, though low, but from the Mondego to the Douro it is flat and sometimes swampy. N. of Oporto is another rise in the coast, which again sub- sides on approaching the Minho. The only islands of the W. coast are the Berlingas, 10 m. N". W. of the Peniche peninsula. The har- bors are comparatively few, the principal being Lisbon, Oporto, Setubal, Aveiro, Figueira, and Viana, and nearly all have bars which render them inaccessible with westerly and southerlj winds, on account of the terrible surf. The surface of Portugal may be considered as a continuation of that of Spain, from which it is not divided by natural boundaries. Spurs of the Pyrenees enter the provinces of Tras os Montes and Minho from the Spanish province of Galicia. One of them, the Serra de Acoba, extends into Beira, and terminates in a low coast chain, the extreme S. W. point of which is Cape Mondego. A much more extensive mountain system almost bisects the kingdom