Chapter XXII: Part 22

Galicia is separated from the Castilian plateau by a continuation of the Cantabrian Pyrenees, which here swerve to the south, and through which the Sil has excavated its bed. To the north of that river they culminate in the Pico de Miravalles (6,362 feet), and are crossed by the Pass of Predrafita (3,600 feet), through which runs the main road from Leon to Galicia.

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In Galicia the hills rarely form well-defined chains, and mostly consist of {452} primitive rocks or small table-lands, with peaks or summits rising a few hundred feet above the general level of the country. The disposition of the small ranges generally corresponds with that of the coast. The Sierra de Rañadoiro (3,612 feet), a spur of the Cantabrian Mountains, forms the natural boundary between the {453} Asturias and Galicia. West of it, the Sierra de Meira (2,982 feet) runs in the same direction, but the chains which terminate in Capes Estaca de Vares and Ortegal (_i.e._ Nortegal, “north cape”) run from east to west, and are dominated by the pyramid of Monte Cuadramon (3,342 feet). The hills to the west of the river Miño (Minho) terminate in the famous promontories of Toriñana and Finisterre, or “land’s-end.” This latter, a steep cliff rising boldly above the waters to the west of the wide Bay of Corcubion, formerly bore a temple of the ancient gods, since replaced by a church dedicated to the Virgin.

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{454}

The coast of the Asturias abounds in small bays, or _rias_, bounded by steep cliffs. In Galicia these rias assume vast proportions, and are of great depth. They may fitly be likened to the fiords of Northern Europe, and their origin appears to be the same. The marine fauna of these Galician rias is Britannic rather than Lusitanian, for amongst two hundred species of testacea collected by Mr. MacAndrew there are only twenty-five which were not also found on the coasts of Britain. Moreover, the flora of the Asturian Mountains is very much like that of Ireland; and these facts go far in support of the hypothesis, started by Forbes, that the Azores, Ireland, and Galicia, anterior to the glacial epoch, were connected by land.

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The climate, too, resembles that of Great Britain. The rainfall on the exterior slopes of the mountains is abundant, whilst to the south of them, in the arid plains of Leon and Castile, it hardly rains at all. There are localities in the Asturias where the rainfall amounts to more than six feet annually, a quantity only again met with on the western mountain slopes of Scotland and Norway, and on the southern declivities of the Swiss Alps. There is no season without rain, and {455} droughts are exceedingly rare. Equinoctial storms are frequent in autumn, and render the Bay of Biscay dangerous to mariners. The temperature is equable, and fogs, locally known as _bretimas_, are as frequent as in the British Islands. These fogs exercise a strong influence upon the superstitious minds of the Galicians, who fancy they see magicians, or _nuveiros_, ride upon the clouds, expand into mists, and shrink back into cloudlets. They also believe that the bodies of the dead are conveyed by the mists from cemetery to cemetery, these fearful nocturnal processions being known to them as _estadeas_, or _estadhinas_.[163]

In spite of an abundance of running water, the Cantabrian provinces cannot boast of a single navigable river. In the Asturias the littoral zone is too narrow, and the slope too considerable, to admit of torrents becoming tranquil rivers. Nor are the Tambre and Ulla, in Galicia, of any importance; and the only true river of the country is the Miño, called Minho by the Portuguese on its lower course, where it forms the boundary between the two states of Iberia. The Miño is fed from both slopes of the Cantabrian Mountains, the Miño proper rising on the western slope, whilst the Sil comes from the interior of the country. The latter is the main branch. “The Miño has the reputation,” say the Spaniards, “but the Sil has the water.” The Sil, before leaving the province of Leon, passes through the ancient lake basin of the Vierzo, now shrunk to a small sheet of water known as the Lago de Carrocedo. It then passes in succession through a wild gorge, a second lake basin, the tunnel of Monte Furado (“pierced mountains”), excavated by the Romans to facilitate their mining operations, and finally rushes through a gorge intersecting the Cantabrian Mountains, and one of the wildest in all Spain, with precipitous walls more than 1,000 feet in height. Immediately below the confluence with the Miño a second gorge has to be passed, but then the waters of the river expand, and flow into the sea through a wide estuary. Below Tuy, for a distance of about twenty miles, the river is navigable. But though of small service to navigation, the Miño is nevertheless one of the eight great rivers of the Iberian peninsula, and proportionately to the extent of its basin it is the most copious.[164]

The water of this and other rivers is not needed for agricultural purposes, for it rains abundantly in Galicia and the Asturias, and the emerald meadows of these provinces are as famous as those of England. The flora, however, is upon the {456} whole more southerly in its features than that of the countries to the north of the Bay of Biscay. The orchards produce not only apples, chestnuts, and walnuts, but also oranges, and in a garden at Oviedo dates ripen in the open air. The great moisture, however, prevents certain plants from attaining the commercial importance they would otherwise possess. The mulberry flourishes, but the culture of silk-worms has only yielded indifferent results, and even the grapes, except in a few favoured localities, yield but sour wine of disagreeable flavour. Cider, on the other hand, enjoys a high reputation, and is even exported to America.

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The Asturian boasts of having never submitted to the yoke of Mussulmans. Some of the mountain districts preserved their independence throughout, and nowhere could the Arabs maintain themselves for any length of time. Oviedo was called the “city of bishops,” from the great number of prelates who found a refuge there. The Galicians were equally successful in their resistance to the Moors, and the blood of the Celtic inhabitants of these remote provinces is thus purer than anywhere else in Spain.

In some districts the customs are said to have remained unchanged since {457} the time of the Romans. The herdsmen, or _vaqueros_, of Leitariegos, on the Upper Narcea, form almost a distinct tribe. They keep apart from the rest of the Asturians, and always marry amongst themselves. Old dialects maintain their ground. The peasants on the coast of Cantabria talk their _bable_, and in Galicia the dialects differ even from village to village. The _gallego_, especially as spoken near the Miño, is Portuguese rather than Spanish, but a Lusitanian is nevertheless unable to understand a Galician, owing to the curious sing-song intonation of the latter.

The country supports a dense population, but there are few towns. Many of these consist merely of a church, a town-hall, and an inn. The homesteads are scattered over the whole country. This may be due to an innate love of nature, or perhaps, as in the Basque provinces, to the security which the country has enjoyed during centuries. Foreign and civil wars have scarcely ever affected these outlying provinces of Spain. The manners are gentle, and the bloodthirsty bull-fights of the Castilians unknown. The isolation and peace in which the Cantabrians were permitted to exist did not, however, prove of advantage in all respects. Elsewhere in Europe, nobles, priests, citizens, and the peasantry, when threatened by danger, felt constrained to make concessions to each other. Not so in the Asturias, where the peasants were reduced to the condition of serfs, and sold with the land. At the commencement of this century nearly the whole of the land in the two Asturias was in the hands of twenty-four proprietors, and in the neighbouring Galicia the conditions were not much more favourable. Matters have changed since then. The lords have grown poor, the monasteries have been suppressed, and the industrious Asturians and Galicians have invested their hard-earned savings in land. Formerly the feudal lords leased the land to the cultivators, who rendered homage and paid a quit-rent, the lease remaining in force during the reign of two or three kings, for a hundred years, or even for three hundred and twenty-nine years, according to the custom of different districts. These leases, however, frequently led to disputes; the leaseholders, on the expiration of their leases, often refused to surrender possession, and in numerous instances the law courts sustained them in this refusal.

The Galicians on the coast divide their time between the cultivation of the land and fishing. During the season no less than 20,000 men, with 3,000 or 4,000 boats, spread their nets in the Bays of La Coruña, Arosa, Pontevedra, and Vigo, where tunny-fish and sardines abound. The local consumption of sardines is enormous, and La Coruña alone exports about 17,000 tons annually to America. These pursuits, however, are not capable of supporting an increasing population, and thousands of Galicians emigrate annually. Thrifty and clannish, they usually succeed in amassing a small competency, and those among them who return exercise a civilising influence upon their less-cultivated countrymen. Ignorance and poverty, with all their attendant evils, are great in Galicia, and leprosy and elephantiasis are common diseases.

One great hindrance to the development of the resources of the country consists in the paucity of roads and railways. A beginning has been made, but, looking to the financial condition of Spain, progress will hardly be rapid. {458}

Most of the towns of the Asturias are close to the coast. Castro-Urdiales, Laredo, and Santoña, immediately to the west of the Basque provinces, have frequently served as naval stations. The roadstead of Santoña is one of the most commodious and best sheltered of the peninsula, and when Napoleon gave Spain to his brother Joseph he retained possession of that place, and began fortifications which would have converted it into a French Gibraltar.

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The great commercial port of the country is Santander, with its excellent harbour, quays, docks, and warehouses, built upon land won from the sea. Santander is the natural outlet of the Castiles, and exports the flour of Valladolid and Palencia, as well as the woollen stuffs known as _sorianas_ and _leonesas_ from the places where they are manufactured. It supplies the interior with the colonial produce of Cuba and Puerto Rico, and its merchants keep up regular intercourse with France, England, Hamburg, and Scandinavia.[165] The ship-building yards at the head of the bay have lost their former importance, and the manufacture of cigars is now the great industry of the country. Sardinero, a bathing-place to the north of the town, and the hot springs of Alcedo, Ontaneda, Las Caldas de Besaya, in the hills to the south, are favourite places of resort.

Along the coast to the west of Santander, as far as Gijon, we only meet with {459} villages, such as San Martin de la Arena (the port of the decayed town of Santillana), San Vicente de la Barquera, Llanes, Rivadesella, and Lástres. Nor is Gijon, with its huge tobacco factory, a place of importance, though formerly it was the capital of all Asturias. It exports, however, the coal brought by rail from Sarna (Langres), and with Aviles, on the other side of the elevated Cabo de Peñas, enjoys the advantage of being the port of Oviedo, situated in a tributary valley of the Nalon, fifteen miles in the interior. Oviedo has flourishing iron-works, a university, and a fine Gothic cathedral, said to be richer in relics than any other church in the world. The mountain of Naronca shelters the town against northerly winds, and its climate is delicious. The environs abound in delightful spots. At Cangas de Onis, which was the first capital of the kingdom, founded by St. Pelagius, but now merely a village in a charming valley, are the caverns of Covadonga, in which the ashes of the saint have found a last resting-place, and which are consequently objects of the highest veneration to patriotic Spaniards. Trubia, the Government gun and small-arms factory, lies seven miles to the west of Oviedo.

Cudillero, Luarca, Navia (a place said to have been founded by Ham, the son of Noah), Castropol, and Galician Rivadeo are mere fishing villages, and only when we reach the magnificent rias opening out into the Atlantic do we again meet with real towns. The first of these is Ferrol, which was only a village up to the middle of last century, but has since been converted into a great naval station and fortress, bristling with guns, and containing dockyards and arsenals.

La Coruña, the Groyne of English sailors, depends rather upon commerce, manufactures, and fishing than upon its military establishments and fortifications. It is one of the most picturesque towns of Spain, and its favourable geographical position will enable it, on the completion of the railway now building, considerably to extend its commerce, which at present is almost confined to England.[166] On a small island near it stands the Tower of Hercules, the foundations of which date back to the Romans, if not Phœnicians. It was from the ria of Coruña that the “Invincible Armada” set out upon its disastrous expedition.

Each of the rias of Southern Galicia has its port or ports. That of Corcubion is sheltered by the Cape of Finisterre; on the ria of Noya are the small towns of Noya and Muros; that of Arosa is frequented by vessels which convey emigrants from the ports of Padron and Carril to La Plata; the ria of Pontevedra extends to the town after which it is named; and farther south still, the towns of Vigo and Bayona rise on the shore of a magnificent bay, protected by a group of islands known to the ancients as “Isles of the Gods.” Vigo, with its excellent harbour, has become the great commercial port of the country,[167] but is, perhaps, better known on account of the galleons sunk by Dutch and English privateers.

Three of the principal inland towns of Galicia—viz. Lugo, Orense, and Tuy—rise on the banks of the Miño. The old Roman city of Lugo (Lucus Augusti) is enclosed within mediæval walls, and has warm sulphur springs. Orense, with its superb old bridge, is likewise celebrated for its hot springs, or _burgas_, which are {460} said to raise sensibly the temperature of the plain in winter, and supply the whole town with water for domestic purposes. Tuy, opposite the Portuguese town of Valença do Minho, is important only as a frontier fortress. Santiago de Compostela, the famous old capital of Galicia, on a hill near the winding banks of the Saria, is the most populous town of North-western Spain. It was here the grave of St. James the apostle was discovered in the ninth century. The attraction which it formerly exercised upon pilgrims was immense.[168]

IX.—THE PRESENT AND FUTURE OF SPAIN.

Contemporaneous Spain is full of disorder. The political, financial, and social machinery is out of joint, and civil war, active or latent, is carried on almost in every province. The ruin wrought by these incessant domestic wars is incalculable.

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Successive Governments have had recourse to miserable expedients without being able to disguise the bankrupt condition of the country. The creditors of the State, no less than the Government officials, remained unpaid, and even schools had to be closed because the pittance due to the schoolmaster was not forthcoming.

But in spite of this apparent ruin real progress has been made. In order to fairly judge Spain we must remember that the period when the Inquisition was permitted to commit its judicial murders is not very remote. In 1780 a woman of Seville was burnt at the stake for “sorcery and witchcraft.” At that time the greater part of Spain was held in mortmain, and the cultivation of the remainder {461} was very indifferently attended to. Ignorance was universal, more especially at the universities, where science was held in derision.

The great events in the beginning of the nineteenth century have roused the Spaniards from their torpor, and the country, in spite of temporary checks, has increased in population and wealth. Labour is more highly respected now than it was formerly, and whilst monasteries and convents have been emptied, the factories are crowded with workmen. For much of this progress Spain is indebted to foreigners. Millions have been invested by them, and, though the expected profits have scarcely ever been realised, the country at large has permanently profited from this inflow of capital. The English have given an immense impetus to agriculture by buying the wines of Andalusia, the corn and flour of the Castilians, and the cattle of the Galicians. They have likewise developed the mining industry of Huelva, Linares, Cartagena, and Somorrostro. The French have vastly aided the manufacturing industry. Foreign capitalists and engineers have established steamboat lines and railways. The small towns of the interior are awakening from their lethargy, and modern life is beginning to pulsate through their veins.[169]

In intellectual matters Spain has made even greater progress. Ignorance is still a great power, especially in the Castiles, where schoolmasters are little respected, populous towns are without libraries, and catechisms and almanacs are the only literature of the peasantry. But the position which Spain now holds in literature and the arts sufficiently proves that the country of Cervantes and Velasquez is about to resume its place amongst the other countries of Europe. In science, however, Spain lags far behind, and Michael Servetus is the only Christian Spaniard whose works mark an epoch in the progress of human knowledge. But the spirit of inquiry at one time alive amongst the Moors of Andalusia may possibly revive amongst their descendants.

It is very much to be desired that intellectual progress should mollify the manners of the people.[170] It is a scandal that the “noble science of bull-baiting” should still meet with so large a measure of support in Spain. These bull-fights, as well as the cock-fights so popular in Andalusia, are sports unworthy a great nation, and should be put down, just as _autos da fé_ have been put down.

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Since a generation or two Spain has got rid of most of her colonies, which only {462} hindered her moral and material progress. The metropolis is no longer called upon to uphold slavery, the Inquisition, commercial monopolies, and similar institutions, “devised to insure the happy government of these colonies.” These {463} latter certainly have had their revolutions and counter-revolutions, but they have made some progress in population and wealth. Unfortunately the entire colonial empire was not lost. Cuba and the Philippine Islands are frequently represented {464} as adding to the wealth of Spain, and large sums have certainly been paid by them into the treasury. But these results have been achieved at the cost of fearful suffering and demoralisation to governors and governed, and unless Spain adopts the colonial system of England, by granting self-government to colonies, it will to a certainty lose the last shreds of its colonial empire, after having exhausted its strength in vain efforts to maintain it.

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But though the colonies be lost, the influence of Spain upon the rest of the world will endure for centuries. Spain has impressed her genius upon every country subjected at one time or other to her power. Sicily, Naples, Sardinia, and even Lombardy still exhibit traces of Spanish influence in their architecture and customs. In Spanish America we find towns inhabited by Indians which are quite Spanish in their aspect, and almost resemble detached portions of Badajoz and Valladolid. The Indians themselves have adopted the Castilian tongue, and with it Castilian manners and modes of thought. A vast territory, twice the size of Europe, and capable of supporting millions of inhabitants, is occupied now by Spanish-speaking peoples. {465}

X.—GOVERNMENT AND ADMINISTRATION.

Since September, 1868, when a revolution upset the Government of Isabella II., Spain has passed through a series of revolutions and convulsions, terminating in December, 1874, in the accession of Alfonso XII., a son of Isabella. Soon afterwards the revolt in the Basque provinces raised by Don Carlos, the “legitimate” king of the country, was suppressed, and the work of internal organization could begin. The legislative power is vested in the King and the Cortes. These latter include a Senate and a House of Deputies. The Senate consists of hereditary members (such as royal princes and grandees), of life members chosen by the King, and of senators elected by corporations. The members of the House of Deputies are elected for five years. The President and Vice-President of the Senate are appointed by the King, who enjoys the right of dissolving the Cortes on condition of fresh elections being ordered within three months.

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These governmental revolutions scarcely affected the administration of the country. The treasury is always empty, the annual receipts do not suffice to pay the interest upon the national debt, taxes have increased, the conscription demands more men than ever, and the schools diminish in numbers.[171] {466}

The political and administrative divisions of the country have remained the same since 1841. Spain is divided into forty-nine provinces, including the Canaries. Each province is subdivided into districts, and has its civil governor. The communes are governed by an _alcalde_, or mayor, assisted by an _ayuntamiento_, or municipal council, of from four to twenty-eight members. The judicial administration is modelled on that of France. There are 9,400 justices of the peace (one for each commune), about 500 inferior courts, 15 courts of appeal, and a supreme court sitting at Madrid.

For military purposes continental Spain is divided into twelve districts, each under a captain-general. These are New Castile, Catalonia, Aragon, Andalusia, Valencia with Múrcia, Galicia, Granada, Old Castile, Estremadura, Burgos, Navarra, and the Basque provinces. The Balearic Isles, the Canaries, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines constitute five additional districts. Military service is compulsory, but substitutes are admitted on payment of a heavy ransom. The annual levy varies exceedingly, and as many as 80,000 men are officially stated to have been levied in a single year, though 60,000 would appear to be the utmost the population can supply. The term of service is seven years in the cavalry and artillery, eight years in the infantry, of which three are passed in the “provincial militia.” About 100,000 men are supposed to be actually under arms in the {467} peninsula, 130,000 are on furlough, and 70,000 men are stationed in the colonies, mostly in Cuba, where about one-fourth of the total strength perish annually.

The principal fortresses are St. Sebastian, Santoña, and Santander, on the Bay of Biscay; Ferrol, La Coruña, and Vigo, on the rias of Galicia; Ciudad Rodrigo, on the Portuguese frontier; Cádiz and Tarifa, at the entrance of the Strait of Gibraltar; Málaga, Cartagena, Alicante, and Barcelona, on the Mediterranean; Figueras, Pamplona, and Zaragoza, at the foot of the Pyrenees.

The navy consists of 123 steamers, propelled by engines of 24,694 horse-power, armed with 755 guns, and manned by 14,000 sailors and 5,500 marines. Six of these vessels are ironclad frigates. The number of superior officers is exceedingly large, and their salaries weigh heavily upon the treasury.

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Officially the privileges of the nobility have been abrogated. The number of “noblemen” is, perhaps, larger in Spain than anywhere else in Europe, for the population of entire provinces, such as the Vascongadas and the Asturias, claims to have “blue blood” in its veins. In 1787 no less than 480,000 “gentlemen” were enumerated, not including minors, and if the proportion is the same now, there must exist at the least 3,000,000 Spaniards who claim to be _hidalgos_, or “sons of somebody.” About 1,500 grandees are privileged by custom to remain covered in the presence of the King, and about 200 of these belong to the highest rank. All of these do not, however, owe their rank to birth, for many plebeians, taking advantage of the financial miseries of the country, have succeeded in getting themselves ennobled. The order of the Golden Fleece, founded in 1431 by Philip the Good, is one of the distinctions most coveted by princes and diplomatists. {468}

The Roman Catholic religion is that of the State, and its prelates enjoy great privileges, but all other confessions are supposed to be tolerated. The schools, unfortunately, still remain in the hands of ecclesiastics, who likewise exercise a censorship with respect to pieces to be produced on the stage. Formerly Spain was the most priest-ridden country in Europe. At the close of last century there were 144,000 priests, 71,000 monks, and 35,000 nuns, but only 34,000 merchants. War and revolutions played havoc with the conventual institutions, but as recently as 1835 they still harboured 50,000 inmates. Subsequently the whole of them were suppressed, and in 1869 the last Spanish monk retired from the Carthusian monastery of Granada to find a refuge in Belgium. Since then, however, the laws of the land have again been relaxed in favor of monks and priests. There are 9 archbishops and 54 bishops.

AREA AND POPULATION OF SPAIN AND ITS COLONIES.

Area. Population
Sq. m. (1870). Density.
NEW CASTILE (Castilla):―

Madrid 2,997 487,482 162
Toledo 5,586 342,272 61
Guadalajara 4,870 208,638 41
Cuenca 6,725 238,731 35
Cuidad Real 7,840 264,649 34

OLD CASTILE:―

Santander 2,113 241,581 114
Burgos 5,650 353,560 62
Logroño 1,945 182,941 94
Ávila 2,981 175,219 60
Segovia 2,714 150,812 53
Soria 3,836 158,699 41
Palencia 3,126 184,668 59
Valladolid 3,043 242,384 80

LEON:―

Salamanca 4,940 280,870 57
Zamora 4,135 250,968 61
Leon 6,167 350,992 56

ESTREMADURA:―

Cáceres 8,013 302,455 34
Badajoz 8,687 431,922 49

ANDALUSIA:―

Almería 3,302 361,553 110
Cádiz 2,809 426,499 152
Córdova 5,190 382,652 73
Granada 4,937 485,346 98
Huelva 4,122 196,469 48
Jaen 5,184 392,100 75
Málaga 2,824 505,010 180
Seville 5,295 515,011 97

VALENCIA:―

Castellon de la Plana 2,446 296,222 121
Valencia 4,352 665,141 153
Alicante 2,098 440,470 210

MURCIA:―

Albacete 5,972 220,973 37
Murcia 4,478 439,067 98

BALEARIC ISLES:―

Baleares 1,860 289,225 155

CATALONIA (Cataluña):―

Lérida 4,775 330,348 69
Gerona 2,272 325,110 143
Barcelona 2,985 762,555 256
Tarragona 2,451 350,395 143

ARAGON:―

Huesca 5,878 274,623 47
Zaragoza (Saragossa) 6,607 401,894 61
Teruel 5,491 252,201 46

NAVARRA AND BASQUE PROVINCES (Vascongadas):―

Navarra 4,046 318,687 80
Vizcaya (Biscay) 849 187,926 221
Guipúzcoa 728 180,743 248
Alava 1,205 103,320 86

ASTURIAS:―

Oviedo 4,091 610,883 152

GALICIA:―

Orense 2,739 402,796 147
Pontevedra 1,739 480,145 282
La Coruña 3,079 630,504 210
Lugo 3,787 475,836 126
――――――― ――――――――――
TOTAL SPAIN 192,959 16,835,506 87
――――――― ――――――――――

AFRICA:―

Canaries 2,808 283,859 101
West Coast 850 35,000 41

AMERICA:―

Cuba 45,983 1,400,000 30
Puerto Rico 3,596 625,000 173

OCEANIA:―

Philippines 65,870 6,000,000 91
Carolines 534 18,800 35
Pelew Islands 345 10,000 29
Marianas 417 8,000 19
――――――― ―――――――――
TOTAL COLONIES 120,403 8,380,659 70
――――――― ―――――――――

SPAIN AND COLONIES 313,362 25,216,165 80

{469}

PORTUGAL.[172]

I.—GENERAL ASPECTS.

Portugal, one of the smallest states of Europe, was nevertheless during a short epoch one of the most powerful.

It might appear at the first glance that Portugal ought to be a member of a state including the whole of the Iberian peninsula; but it is neither to chance nor to events purely historical that Portugal owes its separate existence. The country is one by its climate, fauna, and vegetation, and the inhabitants dwelling within it naturally adopted the same sort of life, nourished the same ideas, and joined in the same body politic. It was by advancing along the coast, from river to river, from the Douro to the Minho and Tejo, from the Tejo to the Guadiana, that Portugal constituted itself an independent state.

Soil and climate mark off Portugal very distinctly from the rest of the Iberian peninsula. Speaking generally, that country embraces the Atlantic slopes of the plateau of Spain, and the limit of the heavy rains brought by westerly winds coincides very nearly with the political boundary between the two countries. On one side of the line we have a humid atmosphere, frequent rains, and luxuriant forests; on the other a brazen sky, a parched soil, naked rocks, and treeless plains. These abundant rains convert the feeble streams flowing from the plateau into great rivers. The natural obstacles, such as rapids, which obstruct the principal amongst them, are met with near the political frontier of the country. The harbour of Lisbon was the kernel, as it were, around which the rest of the country has become crystallized. Its power of attraction proved equal to that which caused the rest of the peninsula to gravitate towards Madrid and Toledo.

As frequently happens where neighbouring nations obey different laws and are made to fight each other at the caprice of their sovereigns, there is no love lost between Spaniards and Portuguese. The former, being the stronger, sneer at “Portugueses pocos y locos” (small and crack-brained). The Portuguese are far more demonstrative in giving expression to their aversion. Formerly “Murderer {470} of the Castilians” was a favourite sign-board of houses of entertainment, and the national poetry breathes passionate hatred of the Spaniard. This animosity must interfere with the Iberian union, advocated only by a handful of people.

According to Jelinek and Hann. Scale 1 : 10,300,000.]

Ancient Lusitania was inhabited by Celtic and Iberian tribes, who resisted for a considerable time the conquering arms of Rome. Those dwelling near the coast had been subjected to the influence of Greek, Phœnician, and Carthaginian colonists; but the influence exercised by the Romans, who forced their language and form of government upon the people, was far more durable. Suevi and Visigoths have left but few traces of their presence. The Mohammedans of various races have largely modified the blood and manners of the inhabitants, especially in Algarve, where they maintained themselves to the middle of the thirteenth century. The numerous ruins of fortresses existing throughout the country bear witness to the severe struggles which took place between these races before uniformity of government and religion was established.

The Kings of Portugal, taking the advice of the Inquisition, expelled all heretics. The persecution of the Moors was pitiless, but the Jews were occasionally granted a respite. The Spanish Jews settled near the frontier, having outwardly embraced {471} the Christian religion, were permitted to remain; but the more conscientious Jews kept true to their faith, and carried the knowledge they possessed to other countries of Europe and to the East. At the time of their exile they were engaged in literature, medicine, and law, as well as in commerce; at Lisbon they had founded an academy of high repute; it was a Jew who introduced the art of printing into Portugal; and Spinoza, that noble and powerful thinker, was a Jew of Portuguese extraction.

But the Portuguese have not only the blood of Arabs, Berbers, and Jews in their veins, they are likewise much mixed with negroes, more particularly in the south and along the coast. The slave trade existed long before the negroes of Guinea were exported to the plantations of America. Damianus a Goes estimated the number of blacks imported into Lisbon alone during the sixteenth century at 10,000 or 12,000 per annum. If contemporary eye-witnesses can be trusted, the number of blacks met with in the streets of Lisbon equalled that of the whites. Not a house but had its negro servants, and the wealthy owned entire gangs of them. The immunity of Portuguese immigrants who face the deadly climates of the tropics is sometimes ascribed to this infusion of negro blood, but erroneously as we think. Most of these immigrants come from the mountains of the north, where the race is almost pure; and if the Portuguese become acclimatized more rapidly than individuals of other nations, they owe it to their sobriety.

At the present day it is the Galicians who exercise most influence upon the population of Lusitania. They immigrate in large numbers to Lisbon and other towns, where they gain their living as bakers, porters, doorkeepers, and domestic servants. Being ridiculed on account of their uncouth language and rustic manners, they mix but little with the rest of the population. Their numbers, however, are ever increasing, and their thrift and industry soon place them in a position of ease.

The mixture of these diverse elements has not produced a handsome race. The Portuguese possess but rarely the noble mien of the Spaniard. Their features, as a rule, are irregular, the nose is turned up, and the lips are thick. Cripples are rare amongst them, but so are tall men. Squat and short, they are inclined to corpulency. The women cannot boast the fiery beauty of the Spaniards, but have brilliant eyes, an abundance of hair, animated features, and amiable manners.

Travellers speak highly of the manners, civility, and kindness of the peasantry not yet contaminated by commerce. The cruelties committed by Portuguese conquerors in the Indies and the New World have given the nation a bad reputation, though, as a rule, the Portuguese has compassion for all sorts of suffering. He is a gambler, but never quarrels; he is fond of bull-fights, but takes care to wrap up the bull’s horns in cork, in order that the animal may be saved for future contests; and he is exceedingly kind to domestic animals. In their intercourse the Portuguese are good-tempered, obliging, and polished. To tell a Lusitanian that he has been “brought up badly” is to offend him most seriously. Their oratory is elegant, though ceremonious. Even the peasants express themselves with a facility and command of words remarkable in a people so badly educated. Oaths {472} and indecent expressions scarcely ever pass their mouth, and, though great talkers, and even boasters, they are most guarded in their conversation. Portugal has {473} produced great orators, and one of her poets, Camões, is amongst the most illustrious the world has ever seen. On the other hand, Portugal has given birth to no great artist, for Gran Vasco is a mythical personage. Camões himself avows this when he says, “Our nation is the first because of its great qualities. Our men are more heroic than other men; our women better-looking than other women; and we excel in all the arts of peace and war, excepting in the art of painting.”

Portuguese is very much like Castilian as far as root-words and general construction are concerned, but is far less voluminous and sonorous. Nasal and hissing sounds, which a foreigner finds it difficult to pronounce, abound, but there are no gutturals. Arab words are less numerous in Portuguese than in Castilian, but the Lusitanians, as well as the Spaniards, still swear by the god of the Mohammedans—_Oxala_ (_Ojalà_); that is, “If Allah wills it.”

The Portuguese cannot compare in numbers with the other nations of Europe, and their influence upon the destinies of the world is consequently small. At one time of their history, however, they surpassed all other nations by their maritime enterprise. The Spaniards certainly shared in the great discoveries of the fifteenth century, but it was the Portuguese who made them possible by first venturing to navigate the open ocean. It was a Portuguese, Magalhães, who undertook the first voyage round the world, terminated only after his death. A similar pre-eminence amongst nations will never be met with again, for the increased facilities of communication exercise a levelling influence upon all. Portugal, therefore, can never again hope to resume the national status which she held formerly, but her great natural resources and favourable geographical position at the extremity of the continent must always insure her an honourable place amongst them.

II.—NORTHERN PORTUGAL. THE VALLEYS OF THE MINHO, DOURO, AND MONDEGO.

The mountains of Lusitania are a portion of the great orographical system of the whole peninsula; but they are not mere spurs, gradually sinking down towards the sea, for they rise into independent ranges; and the individuality of Portugal is manifested in the relief of its soil quite as much as in the history of its inhabitants.

The mountains rising in the north-eastern corner of Portugal, to the south of the Minho, may be looked upon as the outer barrier of an ancient lake, which formerly covered the whole of the plains of Old Castile. From the Pyrenees to the Sierra de Gata this barrier was continuous, and the breaches now existing date only from a comparatively recent epoch, and are due to the erosive action of torrents. The most considerable of these breaches, that of the Douro, could have been effected only by overcoming most formidable obstacles.

The most northern mountain mass of Portugal, that of the Peneda of Gavieiro (4,727 feet), rises abruptly beyond the region of forest, and commands the Sierra Peñagache (4,065 feet) on the Spanish frontier to the east, as well as the hills of Santa Luzia (1,814 feet) and others near the coast. Another mountain mass rises {474} immediately to the south of the gorge through which the Limia passes after leaving Spain. This is the Serra do Gerez (4,815 feet), a range of twisted, grotesquely shaped mountains, the only counterpart of which in the peninsula is the famous Serranía de Ronda. This range, together with the Larouco (5,184 feet), to the east of it, must be looked upon as the western extremity of the Cantabrian Pyrenees, and like them it consists of granitic rocks.

The flora of these northern frontier mountains of Portugal much resembles that of Galicia, and on their slopes the botanist meets with a curious intermingling of the vegetation of France, and even Germany, with that of the Pyrenees, Biscay, and the Portuguese lowlands. On the southern summits, however, and more especially on the Serra de Marão (4,665 feet), which forms a bold promontory between the Douro and its important tributary the Tamega, and shelters the wine districts of Oporto from north-westerly winds, the opportunities for examining into the arborescent flora are but few, for the forests which once clad them have disappeared. The schistose plateaux to the east of them and to the north of the Douro have likewise been robbed of their forests to make room for vineyards. Most wild animals have disappeared with the forests, but wolves are still numerous, and are much dreaded by the herdsmen. The mountain goat (_Capra ægagrus_), which existed until towards the close of last century in the Serra do Gerez, has become extinct. The Serra da Cabreira (4,196 feet), to the east of Braga, is probably indebted for its name to these wild goats.

If the Serra do Gerez may be looked upon as the western extremity of the Pyrenean system, the magnificent Serra da Estrella (6,540 feet), which rises between the Douro and Tejo, is undoubtedly a western prolongation of the great central range of Spain which separates the plateaux of the two Castiles. These “Star Mountains” are attached to the mountains of Spain by a rugged table-land, or _mesa_, of comparatively small height. The great granitic Serra da Estrella rises gently above the broken ground which gives birth to the Mondego. It can easily be ascended from that side, and is hence known as the _Serra Mansa_, “the tame mountain.” On the south, however, above the valley of the Zezere, the slopes are abrupt and difficult of access, and are known for that reason as _Serra Brava_; that is, “wild mountain.” Delightful lakelets, similar to those of the Pyrenees and Carpathians, are met with near the highest summit of the range, the Malhão de Serra. The tops of the Serra da Estrella remain covered with snow during four months of the year, and supply the inhabitants of Lisbon with the ice required for the preparation of their favourite sherbet. The orographical system of the Estrella ends with the Serra de Lousão (3,940 feet), for the hills of Estremadura, which terminate in the Cabo da Roca, a landmark well known to mariners, belong to another geological formation, and consist for the most part of Jurassic strata overlying the cretaceous formation.

The mountains of Beira and Entre Douro e Minho are exposed to the full influence of the moisture-laden south-westerly winds, and the rainfall is considerable. The rain does not descend in torrents, as in tropical countries, but pours down steadily. It is more abundant in winter and spring, but not a month passes {475} without it. Fogs are frequent at the mouths of valleys and along the coast as far south as the latitude of Coimbra. At that place as much as sixteen feet of rain has fallen in a single year, an amount only to be equalled within the tropics.

Scale 1 : 300,000.]

The humidity of the air accounts for the great equability of the climate of Northern Portugal. At Coimbra the difference between the coldest and warmest month amounts to but 20° F. Frosts are severe only on the plateaux exposed to the north-easterly winds, and the heat becomes unbearable in deep valleys alone, where the air cannot circulate freely.[173] At Penafiel, where the rays of the sun are thrown back by the rocky precipices, the heat is almost that of a furnace. This, however, is an exception, and the climate generally can be described as temperate.

Running water is abundant. Camões has sung the beauties of the fields of Coimbra watered by the Mondego, the charms of cascades sparkling amidst foliage, and the purity of the springs bursting forth from rocks clad with verdure. The Vouga, the affluents of the Douro, the Ave, Cavado, and Lima, likewise take their {476} devious courses through smiling landscapes whose beauties are set off by rocks and mountains. The Lima, whose delights might well cause Roman soldiers to forget the rivers of their own country, is the only river of the peninsula still in a state of geological transition. All others have drained the lakes which gave birth to them, but in the case of the Lima that old lake basin is still occupied by a swamp, known as Laguna Beon, or Antela, the only remains of a mountain-girt inland lake as large as that of Geneva.

Scale 1 : 400,000.]

The current of the rivers of Northern Portugal is too great to permit of their being utilised as high-roads of commerce. They have ports at their mouths, but the Douro, which drains nearly a sixth of the Iberian peninsula, is the only one amongst them which facilitates access to an inland district. Mariners dread to approach the coast when the wind blows on shore. Between the Minho and Cabo Carvoeiro, a distance of 200 miles, the coast presents features very much like those of the French landes. Its original indentations and irregularities have been obliterated by barriers of sand. The lower valley of the Vouga was formerly an inlet of the sea extending far inland. The basin of Aveiro resembles geologically that of Arcachon. Its waters abound in fish, but the Douro is the southernmost river of Europe visited by salmon. The abundance of life in certain localities of it is figuratively expressed by a Spanish proverb, which says, “The water of the Douro is not water, but broth.”

The rectilinear beach of Beira-mar is lined for the most part with dunes, the old gulfs behind which are gradually being converted into insalubrious swamps, fringed by heath, ferns, strawberry-trees, and broom, whilst the neighbouring forests consist of oaks and pines. Formerly these dunes invaded the cultivated portions of the country, as they still do in France, where like geological causes have produced like results. But long before a similar plan was thought of in France these Portuguese dunes were planted with pines, and as early as the reign of King Diniz “the Labourer,” at the beginning of the fourteenth century, they had ceased to “march.” {477}

The population of the cultivable portions of the basins of the Minho and Douro is very dense, and in order to maintain themselves the inhabitants are forced to work zealously. Their country is the most carefully cultivated of the peninsula. In a large measure this industry is due to the fact of the peasantry being the owners of the land they cultivate, or at least _affarádos_—that is, copyholders—who only pay a few shillings annually to the lords of the manors. Many of the peasants are wealthy, and the women are fond of loading themselves with jewellery, amongst which necklaces made in the Moorish taste are most prominent. The cultivation of the fields is attended to with scrupulous care; and the most ingenious methods are employed for the irrigation of the upper slopes of the hills, which are frequently cut up into terraces, or _geios_. These Northern Portuguese are as distinguished for moral excellence as they are for industry. Their sweetness of disposition, gaiety and kindliness are the theme of universal praise, and as regards their love of dancing and music they are veritable Theocritan shepherds. Challenges in improvised verses form one of the amusements of young men. Nor is the population devoid of physical beauty. The women of Aveiro, though often enfeebled by malaria, have the reputation of being the prettiest in all Portugal.

The cultivation of the vine and the making of port wine constitute the principal branch of industry of the country. The chief vine-growing district, ordinarily known as _Paiz do Vinho_, lies to the north of the Douro, between the Serra de Marão and the Tua, and is exposed to the full force of the rays of the summer sun. In the middle of the seventeenth century the cultivation of this district had hardly begun. The English had not then learnt to appreciate these growths, and were content with the various Portuguese wines shipped from Lisbon. It was only after the treaty concluded by Lord Methuen in 1702 that the cultivation of the vine assumed certain dimensions in the district of the Douro, and ever since the reputation of port has been on the increase. The Marquis of Pombal founded a company for the production of wine, and the small town of Pezo da Regoa, on the Corgo, then became famous for its wine fairs, at which fortunes were lost and won, and a town of wine cellars and stores sprang up opposite the town of Porto, or Oporto, near the mouth of the Douro. For more than a hundred years port and sherry have kept their place on the tables of English gentlemen, and nearly all the wine produced on the banks of the Dóuro finds its way to England or to British colonies. Indeed, up to 1852 the best quality, known as “factory wine,” could be exported to England alone. Next to the English the Brazilians are the best customers of Oporto: they receive nearly 1,000,000 gallons of wine annually.[174]

The breeding of mules and fattening of Spanish cattle for the London market yield considerable profit. Early vegetables are forwarded not only to London but also to Rio de Janeiro. Manufactures were already of some importance in the {478} Middle Ages, and have recently been much developed by enterprising English capitalists. Oporto has cotton, linen, silk, and woollen mills, foundries and sugar refineries, and its jewellers and glove-makers enjoy a good repute. But agriculture, industry and legitimate commerce, and even the smuggling carried on in the frontier district of Bragança, do not suffice to support the ever-increasing population, and thousands emigrate annually to Lisbon and Brazil.

Scale 1 : 1,000,000.]

Northern Portugal may be described as the cradle of the existing kingdom, and it was Porto Cale, on the site of Villanova de Gaia, the southern suburb of Oporto, which gave a name to all Lusitania. At Lamego, to the south of the Douro, the Cortes met, according to tradition, in 1143, and constituted the new kingdom of which Oporto became the capital. When the country recovered its independence after the short dominion of Spain, the Dukes of Bragança were invested with the regal power. Though Lisbon occupies a more central position than Oporto, the latter frequently takes the initiative in political movements, and the success of any revolution is said to depend upon the side taken by the energetic population of the north. If we may accept the estimate of the _Portuenses_, they are morally and physically the superiors of the _Lisbonenses_. They alone are the true sons of the great people whose vessels ploughed the ocean during the age of discoveries, and there can be no doubt that their gait is more determined, their speech and their glance more open, than those of the inhabitants of the capital. In vulgar parlance, people of Oporto and Lisbon are known as _tripeiros_ and _alfasinhos_; that is, tripe and lettuce eaters.

Porto, or O Porto, the “Port” _par excellence_, is the natural capital of Northern Lusitania, the second city of Portugal on account of its population and commerce, the first in manufactures. As seen from the banks of the Douro, here hardly {479} more than 200 yards in width, and spanned by a magnificent railway bridge, it rises like a double amphitheatre, whose summits are crowned by the cathedral and the belfry _dos Clerigos_, and the narrow valley separating them covered with houses. The lower town has broad streets, intersecting each other at right angles, but the streets climbing the hills are narrow and tortuous, and even stairs have frequently to be ascended in order to reach the more elevated quarters of the town. Cleanliness is attended to throughout, and the citizens are most anxious in that respect to insure the praises of their numerous English visitors. Gaia, a long suburb, occupies the opposite side of the river. It abounds in factories and storehouses, and its vast cellars are stated on an average to contain 80,000 pipes of wine. Beautiful walks extend along the river bank and its terraces, and the long reaches of the stream are covered with shipping, and fringed with gardens and villas. The hills in the distance are crowned with ancient convents, fortifications, and villages half hidden amongst verdure. Avintes, famous for the beauty of its women, who supply the town daily with _broa_, or maize bread, is one of them. Suburbs extend along both banks of the river in the direction of the sea. The river at its mouth is only two fathoms in depth during low water, and dangerous of access when the wind blows from the west. Even at Oporto vessels of 400 or 500 tons are exposed to danger from sudden floods of the river, which cause them to drag their anchors. The port of the Douro has therefore to contend with great difficulties in its rivalry with Lisbon.[175]

The small town of São João da Foz, at the mouth of the Douro, has a lighthouse, but carries on no commerce. Near it are Mattozinhos and Leça, the latter of which boasts of an ancient monastery resembling a fortress, and is much frequented on account of its fine beach and refreshing sea breezes. Espinho, to the south of the Douro, is another favourite seaside resort, in spite of the all-pervading smell of sardines. The small ports to the north of the Douro are frequented only by coasting vessels or by seaside visitors. The entrance to the Minho is defended by the castle of Insua, on a small island, as its name implies, and by the insignificant fortress of Caminha. The river is accessible only to vessels drawing less than six feet. The mouth of the Lima, though even more difficult of access, is nevertheless occupied by a town of some importance—coquettish Vianna do Castello, beautifully ensconced amidst the verdure of its fertile plain. Other towns are Espozende, at the mouth of the Cávado, and Villa do Conde, at that of the Ave. Formerly most of the vessels engaged in the slave trade and those employed in the great maritime enterprises of the Portuguese were built here, and it still boasts of a few ship-yards.

Amongst the inland towns of Entre Douro e Minho are Ponte de Lima, famous for the beauty of the surrounding country; Barcellos, overhanging the shady banks of the Cávado; and Amarante, celebrated for its wines and peaches, and proud of a fine bridge spanning the Tamega. But the only towns important on account of their population are Braga and Guimarães, both placed on commanding heights overlooking a most fertile country. Braga (Bracara Augusta), an ancient Roman colony, the capital of the Galicians, then of the Suevi, and later on the residence of {480} the Kings of Portugal, became the primatial city of the whole of the peninsula when the two kingdoms were temporarily united under the same sovereign. But Braga is not only a town of the past, it is even now a bustling place, where hats, linens, arms, and beautiful filigree are manufactured for exportation to the rest of Portugal and the Portuguese colonies. Guimarães is equally as interesting as Braga on account of its monuments and mediæval legends. Visitors are still shown the sacred olive-tree which sprang from a seed placed in the soil by King Wamba, when still a common labourer; and Affonso, the founder of the Portuguese monarchy, was born in the old castle. Guimarães is a busy manufacturing town; it produces cutlery, hardware, and table-linen, and English visitors never fail to purchase there a curiously ornamented box of prunes. Near it are much-frequented sulphur springs, known to the Romans as _Aquæ Levæ_. But the most famous mineral springs of modern Portugal are the Caldas do Gerez, in a tributary valley of the Upper Cávado.