Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 16.djvu/344

* PORTUGUESE EAST AFRICA. 290 PORTUGUESE LANGUAGE. to ,111 altitude of nearly 9000 feet. In the south- ern part the ascent' is more gradual. The chief elevations here arc the ilanica plateau, with ilouiit Doc rising to nearly 8.000 feet, the Gorangoza i)lateau, and the Lehoniho Mountains. The principal rivers are the Kovunia, whirl) forms part of the northern boundary of the colony, the Zambesi, the .Shire, the Pungwe, the Sabi, and the Limpopo. There are, besides, many small streams along the coast. The climate of the region, except in the mountainous districts, is malaiial and subject to wide fluctuations. The mean annual temperature at Quilimane, near the coast, is 85° F., ranging from 100° to 49°. The rainy season lasts from December to ilarch. The vegetation is tropical. The coast region yields cocoanuts, indigo, tobacco, coffee, and rub- ber. Wheat, corn, beans, sugar cane, and rice are also grown to some extent. The country possesses great mineral wealth, including gold, iron, and coal. The gold deposits are found prin- cipally in JIanica, near the frontier of Rhodesia, and are exploited almost exclusively by British subjects. Iron is extracted to some extent by the Makwas. The exploitation of the jnineral resources of the coimtry as well as its entire economic development is greatly obstructed by the lack of transportation facilities and the un- favorable climatic conditions, which prevent an extensive European immigration. The Mozam- bique Company, organized largely with British capital, secured a royal charter for the adminis- tration of the Manica and Sofala regions for a period of 50 years beginning with 1891. The >ryassa Company controls the region between the Eovuma, Lake Xyassa, and the Lurio. The commerce of the colony amounted in 1900 to .$18,801,189, of which two-thirds represented imports, chiefly for reexport. The imports are composed mainly of cotton goods, iron products, and beverages. The principal exports are rub- ber, wax, ivory, and minerals. jMost of the trade passes through the ports of Lourenco ilarques, Beira, and Mozambique. The colony has two railway lines, one connecting Beira with Rhodesia, 222 miles in the colony, and another leading from Lourenco Marques to the Transvaal Colony (57 miles in the colony ). The colony is under the administration of a Governor-General and is divided into the districts of Lourenco IMarques, Mozambique, Zambezia, Gaza, and Inhambane. The estimated revenue and expenditures for 1901- 02 were $3,004,548 and .$3,294,325 respectively. The population is estimated at over 3,000.000. The principal tribes are the Makwas and the Ajaus in the north, both belonging to the Bantu race: the Tavalas in the central part; and the Vatwas, a Zulu tribe, and the Tongas, a tribe of mixed origin, in the south. The seat of adminis- tration is Lourenco Marques. The occupation of the eastern coast of Africa by the Portuguese dates from 1498. when Vasco da Gaina landed at one of the mouths of the Zambezi. A number of settlements were founded along the coast during the first decade of the sixteenth century, and the military post of Tete, on the Zambesi, was found- ed in 1032. Slavery was abloished in 1878. The boundaries of the colony were fixed by agree- ments with Great Britain in 1891 and with Ger- many in 1880 and 1890. Consult: Andrade Corvo, Ent lidos sohrr nx Proviiiries Vltramnrinns (4 vols., Lisbon, 1883-87) ; Oliveira Martins, Portugal em Africa (Porto, 1891) ; Theal, The Porluguese in tiuuth Africa (London. 1890). PORTUGUESE GUINEA, gin'e. A colony of Portugal in Xorthwest Africa, bounded on the north by Senegal, on the east and south by French Guinea, on the west by the At- lantic (ilap: Africa, C 3). The boundary with French Guinea was established by con- vention in 1886. Area, 14,205 square miles. Xumerous islands which belong to the col- ony, including the Bissagos, line the coast. The shores are dilticult of access. The land rises gradually from the flat coast region to the mountains of French Guinea, and is generally fertile. The Rio Grande is the largest river. In the lower part of its course it forms a wide inlet of the sea. The climate is excessively hot. The average annual temperature is 78.8'' F. The rainy season is between ilay and Novem- ber. The flora and faiuia are tropical. The palm tree abounds. The forests contain a large variety of valuable woods. Rice and millet are the cliief crops. The French control the commerce. Bulama, the capital, oil the island of the same name, has a safe harbor, and divides the commerce with two other ports, including Bissao. The annual for- eign commerce is above $1,100,000, the exports averaging about one-third of the imports. Ivory, wa.x. nuts, and India-rubber are exported. About 150 vessels, with some 00,000 tonnage, yearly visit the ports, excluding the coasting trade. The government is practically a Portuguese protecto- rate. There are a governor and a council. The estimated revenue for 1902-03 was $140,400, the expenditure .$232,000. The military force is very light. The population is probabl.v about 200,000, and consists of portions of many races, including the Fulbe. Portuguese Guinea was a bone of contention between Portugal and Great Britain between 1792 and 1870, in which latter year the L'nited States Government as arbiter justified the claims of the former. PORTUGUESE LANGUAGE. One of the Romance languages, or modern descendants of Latin, spoken in Portugal, Brazil, the Spanish Province of Galicia (with archaic and dialectal elements), the Cape Verde Islands, Portuguese Guinea, and other Portuguese colonies. As in the case of the sister languages, Spanish, French, Italian, etc., Portuguese is derived from the popular Latin of the Roman soldiery and colo- nists rather than from the classic speech of Rome. In its form it resembles the Spanish, its nearest neighbor, more than it does an.y one of the other Romance tongues. Its literature is much less im- portant than that of the French, Spanish, or Italian, because it has been too largely imitative and too frequently subordinated to influences from France and Spain, and onl.v exceptionally original in tone and content. Even the Portu- guese vocabulary betrays considerable borrowing from France. A description of the phonological conditions of the language is made somewhat difficult bv the fact that the alphabetical notation is not .strictl.v accurate from the phonetic point of view, since one and the same letter may denote different sounds. ^loreover. even the most competent ob- servers differ in their account of the various vowel and consonant elements of the speech. Ac- cording to the best estimate, there seem to be