122 



PORTUGAL. 



Internal 



communi 



ation. 



Portugal, to which it is navigable, and terminates in the Atlantic. 

 It is so distinguished for gold-sand, that many who 

 live on its banks gain a livelihood by collecting that 

 precious article. The Tagus and the Douro also were 

 formerly celebrated for the same quality, but it seems 

 now to have forsaken them. 



Notwithstanding the great number and size of the 

 rivers of Portugal, however, there is an uncommon de- 

 ficiency of internal communication. Few of the rivers 

 are navigable to any extent ; there are no canals ; the 

 number of bridges is extremely small ; and the roads are 

 so exceedingly bad, that in several parts of the kingdom 

 there is no conveyance for goods or travellers by wheel 

 carriages. The extensive and numerous mountain chains 

 tend also, in a great measure, to obstruct communica- 

 tion between the inhabitants of the different districts. 

 The result of this is generally and severely felt. Farm- 

 ers, for example, will not raise a greater quantity of 

 commodities than can be consumed either on their own 

 grounds or in the neighbouring villages, because if their 

 productions exceed a certain limit, there is no possible 

 way of getting them disposed of and consumed from want 

 of internal communication. It was indeed found to be 

 as cheap to import into Lisbon articles from Brazil, as 

 to convey them to that capital by land from the remote 

 eastern boundaries of the kingdom. In this department, 

 however, some improvements have of late taken place, 

 and promise to be progressive. The merchants of Oporto 

 have constructed a road to Lamego for the conveyance 

 of their wines, and are still extending it. A good road 

 has been formed to Mafra, and the government has 

 been occupied in forming one to Coimbra. Much yet 

 remains to be done ; and the time, we hope, is not far 

 distant when Portugal will no longer be regarded, in 

 point of internal intercourse and commerce, as decid- 

 edly the worst country in Europe. 



Portugal, while it abounds with so many copious 

 rivers, possesses nothing that can with propriety be de- 

 nominated a lake. Murphy mentions three merely; 

 and even these Pinkerton regards as not larger, or more 

 worthy of notice, than pools. This kingdom, however, 

 though deficient in lakes, is distinguished by numerous 

 baths and mineral waters. Of the former, the most 

 celebrated are those called Caldas da Rainha, situated 

 about forty-five miles from Lisbon. They were known 

 to the Romans ; and, since that time, they have been 

 frequented, not by the Portuguese only, but by vale- 

 tudinarians from every quarter of Europe. The baths 

 of Chaves were also known to the Romans, and have 

 long been considered the best in the kingdcTn for per- 

 sons affected with nervous complaints. The number of 

 mineral wells are incredibly great, and cannot in this 

 place be specified. Near Estremos is a spring which 

 becomes dry in winter, but pours forth a considerable 

 stream during summer. The waters are of a petrifying 

 nature, in so much, that the wheels of mills which they 

 drive acquire, after a short time, an incrustation of 

 stone. In the neighbourhood of Santarem, there is a 

 spring of salt water, though the distance from the sea 

 is six leagues. Within a short distance of Braga, is a 

 spring, the waters of which, during the most intense 

 heat of summer, are so excessively cold, that the hand 

 cannot be endured in them for many minutes, and if a 

 bottle of wine be immersed in them, it instantly be- 

 comes changed to vinegar. This singular result with 

 regard to wine, is said to take place in various other 

 springs throughout Portugal. 



The mineralogy of Portugal was, in ancient times, 

 much more sedulously cultivated, and more celebrated, 



Mineral 

 water*. 



Mineralo- 

 SY- 



than at present. In the two northern provinces, in par- Portugal, 

 ticular, immense mines are to be seen, supposed to have >-* 

 been wrought by the Romans. The mouth of the largest, 

 cut through the solid rock, is a mile and a half in cir- 

 cumference, and upwards of five hundred feet deep : 

 at the bottom it measures 2400 by 1400. Many sub* 

 terranean passages and chambers of great extent are con- 

 nected with it, and altogether it seems to have been one 

 of the most stupendous works of the kind of which 

 Portugal can boast. The mines of this kingdom, long 

 wrought with great ardour, were neglected so soon as 

 De Gama had opened a way to the East by the Cape of 

 Good Hope, and the Portuguese government had esta- 

 blished a footing in Brazil, it having been found more 

 profitable, and more consistent with the spirit of enter- 

 prise then prevalent, to import the mineral productions 

 of these countries. Though thus neglected, however, 

 the mineral kingdom of Portugal exhibits the most pro- 

 mising and rich indications, and may at no distant pe- 

 riod become a source of immense revenue. Veins of 

 gold have been observed in the Serra de Estrella and 

 elsewhere, and, as a proof that this metal is common, 

 the sands of various rivers are impregnated with it. A 

 silver mine was wrought \n the neighbourhood of Bra- 

 ganza, so lately as the l?th century. Tin, lead, and 

 iron mines, have been discovered in various parts of 

 the kingdom. Coal, however, is by no means abun- 

 dant. Emery, marble, granite, and talc, every where 

 abound. " Amianthus," to use the words of a writer 

 on Portugal, " is discovered in such quantities, that it 

 has been recommended to the artillery in the form of 

 combustible paper." Portugal can also boast of anti- 

 mony, manganese, bismuth, arsenic, quicksilver. Ru- 

 bies, jacinths, beryls, have also been found. This king- 

 dom, it is evident, from this enumeration, is hardly infe- 

 rior to any country in Europe in regard to minerals of 

 almost every description ; and while it is allowed that 

 for centuries back she has neglected to avail herself of 

 the advantages in this department which she so liberal- 

 ly enjoys, it must not at the same time be denied, that 

 a want of fuel, so deeply felt in Portugal, and a want 

 of internal communication would, under any circum- 

 stances, prove an almost insurmountable obstacle to 

 every exertion of industry and enterprise. The great 

 disadvantages, indeed, under which this country la- 

 bours, are, as has already been incidentally hinted, a 

 deficiency in water (particularly in the southern pro- 

 vinces) and in fuel; and from the want of roads, ca- 

 nals, and bridges, an almost total impossibility of in- 

 ternal intercourse and commerce. 



The soil of Portugal is generally light, except per- Soil, agri- 

 haps in some of the extensive valleys formed by the culture, 

 numerous mountain chains with which the country and pro- 

 abounds : but no agricultural means have for centuries ducl '" 

 been used to improve it and promote its fertility. There 

 is probably no quarter in Europe, enjoying equal na- 

 tural advantages, and inhabited by an equally refined 

 and intelligent population, that has been so long and 

 so completely neglected. During the early ages of the 

 Portuguese monarchy, however, agriculture was pa- 

 tronised and flourished, insomuch, that the nation pro- 

 duced corn in abundance, not only for the consump- 

 tion of its inhabitants, but also for exportation. But 

 this promising state of things was counteracted by the 

 first expeditions to Africa, and by the discoveries and 

 conquests made in Asia and America, as the ambition 

 and interest of the Portuguese were thus directed from 

 their own country to distant settlements. The import 

 of the precious metals obtained in remote regions, and 



