orous husbandry. Asturia, Estremadura, and the Mediterranean provinces, especially Andalusia and Valencia, have natively an exuberant fertility, and, with moderate cultivation, yield many of the luxuries of life. In the vale of Valencia wheat yields from 20 to 40 for one; barley from 18 to 24; oats from 20 to 30; maize 100; and rice 40. The provinces on the Mediterranean, except Andalusia, especially Valencia and Granada, are under high cultivation, as are also Gallicia, Asturia, Biscay, and Navarre. The agriculture of the other provinces is much neglected. Leon is merely a sheep-pasture. Large uncultivated tracts are spread over NewCastile, and the other provinces. The vine, the olive, maize, wheat, rye, barley, hemp, flax, and saffron, are cultivated in every province. The best wine districts are New Castile, La Mancha, in particular; Malaga, Seville, Cadiz, Valencia, Arragon, and Navarre. Of the three sorts of Malaga wine, Malaga, Mountain, and Tent, about 30,000 ankers are yearly exported; and of the Xeres or Sherry wine, about 20,000 pipes. This is made at Xeres de la Frontera, 10 miles N. E. of Cadiz. A great part of the wine made in Spain is distilled into brandy; of a quality, however, much inferior to the French. The best raisins are made of the grapes of Malaga, Alicant, Valencia, and Granada. Biscay and Asturia abound in orchards, and make the best of cyder in great quantities. The northern provinces raise great quantities of cattle. The sheep are of two kinds, the travelling or Merinos, estimated at 5,000,000 in number, and the stationary at 8,000,000.

Rivers. The only large river that falls into the Mediterranean in Spain, is the Ebro, the ancient Iberus. Its length is about 440 miles. It begins to be navigable at Tudela; and its water is remarkable for its salubrity.

The Guadalquivir runs S. W. through Granada and Andalusia, to the Atlantic, about 20 miles N. W. of Cadiz. Its length is about

340 miles.

The Gaudiana runs S. W. through New-Castile and Estremadura, to Badajos, where it enters the province of Alentejo in Portugal. Thence its course is S. W. and then S. E. till at length it becomes a boundary of the two kingdoms, separating Algarve from Andalusia, and falling into the Atlantic, after a course nearly equal to that of the Ebro. It is navigable to Mertola, about 45 miles.

The Tagus runs W. S. W. through New-Castile and Estremadura, to Alcantara, and entering, flows through Estremadura to the Atlantic by a mouth 4 miles broad, forming the harbor of Lisbon. Its course is rapid and the upper part impeded by cataracts. Its length is about 520 miles, and it is much the largest river of Spain. The tide flows up to Santarem, and the river is navigable for flat vessels about 120 miles.

The Douro runs westward through Old Castile and Leon, to Miranda. Thence S. W. between the two kingdoms, about 80 miles, separating Leon from Tras-os-Montes. Here it enters Portugal, and runs westward to the Atlantic, into which it falls, a little elow Oporto. Its whole course is about 400 miles.

The Minho runs S. W. 180 miles to the Atlantic, into which it falls 15 miles below Tuy. For about 40 miles it constitutes the northern boundary of Portugal. Its waters abound with excellent salmon and sturgeon. Its current is gentle, and it is navigable about 25 miles. A bar at the mouth prevents the entrance of large vessels.

The Tinto is a little river falling into the Atlantic about 25 miles N. W. of the Guadalquivir. Its water is said to be of a deep yel. low color, and to have very singular petrifying powers. It withers all verdure on its banks, and no kind of fish live in its stream.

Mountains. The Pyrenees are between France and Spain and have already been described.

The Cantabrian chain is but a continuation of the Pyrenean chain. The Sierra de Molina is a range branching from the Cantabrian in Old Castile, and running S. E. through that province, and be-tween New Castile and Arragon, and advances towards the Mediterranean in the N. of Valencia.

The mountains of Guadarama break from the last mentioned chain in a W. S. W. direction, separate the two Castiles, and crossing the northern part of Estremadura, enter Portugal, across which they run in a S. W. direction nearly to cape Roca. In Portugal the chain is called *Serra d' Estrella.

The mountains of Toledo, farther south, run nearly parallel with these between the Tagus and Guadiana, across Estremadura and New Castile, and unite also with the range of Molina.

The Sierra Morena, a third parallel range between the waters of the Guadiana and the Guadalquivir, separates New Castile and Estremadura from Andalusia, and, after being pierced by the Gua diana, enters Portugal, and serves as the northern boundary of the province of Algarve. The chain in Portugal runs from E. to W. the whole width of the kingdom, and is called Serra de Monchique.

The Sierra Nivada, or Snowy Mountains, run between the Guadalquivir and the Mediterranean, nearly parallel with the latter, through Andalusia and Granada; and, at length turn northward, bounding Murcia on the W.

Montserrat, or the Sawed Mountain, so called on account of its jagged pyramidal summits, lies about 30 miles N. W. of Barcelona. It is a detached solitary rock more than 11,000 feet high, and about 104 miles in circumference, from the top of which Majorca and Minorca are distinctly visible, at the distance of 50 leagues. It is composed of limestone and gravel united by a calcareous cement A large convent of Benedictines has been built upon it, to which a miraculous image of the Virgin Mary, discovered by some shepherds in 880, attracts an immense number of pilgrims.

Minerals. Spain was anciently celebrated for its mines of gold and silver, which were long wrought by the Carthaginians, and proved the sinews of their wars. But since the discovery of simijar mines in America, those of Spain have not been worth working,

Sierra in Spanish, and Serra in Portuguese, are general denominations of chains of mountains, the successive peaks of which present the resemblance of

a.saw.

and now lie neglected. The iron, copper, tin, lead, and quicksilver mines, on the contrary, are worked with great advantage, though mostly by English, French, and German miners.

SPANISH ISLES.

MAJORCA, Minorca, and Ivica, the ancient Baleares, are the chief Spanish isles in Europe.

Majorca, the largest, lies between the other two, 23 miles S. W. of Minorca, 46 N. E. of Ivica, 92 from Barcelona, and 120 from Valencia. It is 55 miles long, and 46 broad, containing about 1200 square miles, with a population of 135,900. The N. W. part is hilly, but has many rich and fertile tracts. The S and E. parts are laid out in arable lands, pastures, vineyards, and orchards. The chief productions are corn, wine, oil, honey, fruits, capers, almonds, figs, saffron, fish, and game. The capital, Majorca, not long since called Palma, is a large and elegant town, on a handsome bay, on the S. W. coast. It has a good harbor, defended by three citadels. The streets are broad, and the squares spacious, and the houses are well built of stone. It contains a university, a magnilicent cathedral, and 22 other churches, 6 hospitals, an exchange, a palace, several silk and woollen manufactories, and 29.259 inhabitants. The governor, the audience, and the bishop of the province reside here. The other towns are Alcudia, 32 miles N. W. of Palma, with 7000 inhabitants, and Porto Pedro on the S. E. having a safe and spacious harbor, defended by a fort. The climate of the island is warm, but healthy. There are no rivers, but excellent and numerous wells and springs.

Minorca is 37 miles by 14, and has about 30,000 inhabitants. The south shore is smooth, the north is rugged, with deep and swampy vales, and many creeks and inlets. Mount Toro, in the centre, can be seen 18 miles out at sea. The inhabitants depend on their cisterns for their fresh water. The soil is moderately fertile. The annual value of the growth of the vine is estimated at 30,000l. sterling. The fishery on the coasts is valuable, and the oysters are delicious. The minerals are iron, copper, lead, and marble, and great quantities of salt collected in the cavities. The exports are wine, oil, wood, salt, and cheese, and are nearly balanced by the imports. The inhabitants live mostly on vegetables, have a turn for poetry, and are still celebrated as slingers, Port-Mahon, the capital, stands at the foot of a mountain on an excellent harbor on the S. E. side. Civitadella on the N. W. was formerly the capital. The English owned Minorca with one short interruption from 1708 to 1781, since Spain has possessed it.

Ivica is 15 miles long and 12 wide. The soil is fertile and produces corn, grapes, figs, and other fruits, the wild olive and the pine. The inhabitants are occupied in making salt, highly esteemed for its whiteness, of which great quantities are exported. Ivica, the capital, is on the S. E. side. It is little more than a garrison.

THE FORTRESS OF GIBRALTER.

This fortress, though a part of Spain, has so long been in possession of England, that a separate account of it seems to be proper. It lies at the southern extremity of Spain in lat. 36 6 30 N. It is an immense rock rising perpendicularly about 440 yards, measuring 2 miles from N. to S. and 1 from E. to W. On the E. of the rock is the Mediterranean; on the W. Gibralter bay, a beautiful sheet of water, 9 miles long and 5 broad, receiving several small rivers, more than 100 fathoms deep in the middle, and well defended against every wind. This bay makes a small harbor on the N. W. side of the rock, commodious for small vessels. The southern extremity of the rock is called Europa point. The town lies along the bay on a declivity of the rock, and contains about 500 houses, chiefly of stone and brick, and in 1806, 8500 inhabitants. They are supplied with fruits, vegetables, and fresh provisions from the coast of Barbary. At the extremity of a rock, which advances into the sea, is a large fort covering a mole, made to facilitate the anchoring of vessels. The garrison consists of about 5000 men, with upwards of 300 pieces of cannon.

This important fortress first attracted attention as a place of consequence, in 712, when it was taken possession of by the Moors, who kept it till 1462. In July, 1704, the English under Sir George Rooke took it from the Spaniards, and have retained it ever since. In July, 1779, commenced the celebrated siege by the combined forces of Spain and France. The reduction of the fortress was a darling object with the former power, and every scheme which ingenuity could devise, which rashness could hazard, or force execute, was tried by the besiegers to no purpose. The siege lasted till February, 1783, and general Elliot and his brave companions received the applauses of Europe.*

Brazil, now become the seat of the empire.

• For a more full account of this celebrated fortress, see the Gazetteer of the Eastern Continent, article Gibralter.

PORTUGAL.

Extent. PORTUGAL lies between lat. 36 56 34 and 42 7 Se N. and between lon. 9 35 30 and 6 W. Its length from N. to S. is 360 miles; its greatest breadth in the N. is 150 miles; its least, in Algarve, 90. The area, according to Ebeling, is 35,998 square miles.

Boundaries. Gallicia and a part of Leon in Spain lie on the N. Leon and Estremadura in the same kingdom on the E. the gulf of Cadiz on the S. and the Atlantic on the W.

Historical Epochs. Portugal was a part of Spain, and shared the same fate under the Carthaginians, the Romans, the Vandals, the Visigoths, and the Moors. In the 11th century it began to be a separate state. Since that period its chief historical epochs are the following:

1. The grant of Portugal to Henry, a grandson of Robert I. duke of Burgundy, by Alphonso VI. of Castile, near the close of the 11th century.

2. The erection of the country into a kingdom by Alphonso I son of Henry, after the battle of Ourique, in 1139.

3. The conquest of Algarve, and the final expulsion of the Moors by Alphonso III. in 1254.

4. The discovery of the passage to the East-Indies by Vasco de Gama, in 1498, in the reign of Emmanuel. This at once diverted the trade of Asia from its old channel across the isthmus of Suez, and down the Red Sca, and, at a stroke, destroyed the commercial preeminence of Venice. By the wise and resolute measures of their magnanimous sovereign, the Portuguese in 24 years erected a commercial empire in the east, which, for its extent, its opulence, and its splendor, had had no rival in the history of nations. In the same reign Brazil was discovered, and taken possession of by the Portuguese.

5. The introduction of the inquisition into the kingdom with the consent of John III.- A. D. 1526; after which event the monarchy rapidly declined in wealth, in power, and commercial enterprize.

6. The idle expedition of Sebastian, the son of John III. into Africa, in 1577, where he and his army were destroyed by Muley Moloch, emperor of Morocco. This event so weakened the kingdom, that, two years after, Philip II. of Spain found little difficulty in maintaining his right to the throne, and thus the country, in 1580,again became a part of Spain.

7. The revolution of 1640, in which John, duke of Braganza, was declared king by the title of John IV.

8. The invasion of the country by the French, in November, 1807, and the consequent removal of the Portuguese government, and a great multitude of the nation, to Brazil, on the 20th of that month. Since that event, the English, who, from the marriage of Charles II. with the princess Catherine, had been the steady allies of Portugal, have driven the invaders out of the kingdom; and the Portuguese, under the auspices of Wellington, have recovered the