OPORTO. 



ORANGE. 



in India. The probability is that, though there may have been 

 places of those names, the names were used to indicate any long 

 voyage, as ships of Tarshish were large ships for loug voyages, as is 

 shown by Solomon having ' a navy of Tarshish ' at sea with that of 

 Hiram, as we now speak of a fleet of East or West Indiameu without 

 meaning to designate any particular port they may be bound to. 



OPORTO (0 PORTO, ' the Port'), a city and sea-port of Portugal, 

 locally situated in the province of Entre Douro e Jlinho, but politically 

 included in the province of Beira as the capital of the minor province 

 of Porto. The city is built on the north bank of the Douro, about 

 2 miles from the mouth of the river, in 41 9' N. lat., 8 37' W. long., 

 175 miles X. by E. from the city of Lisbon. The population, in- 

 cluding the suburb*, is about 80,000. 



The city extends about mile along the bank of the river, ttnd 

 covers the acclivities and partly the summits of the rising ground 

 which flanks the river on the north. Viewed from the south, the city 

 presents a very striking and beautiful appearance. The houses, 

 being all white-washed, give it an air of extreme cleanliness, but many 

 of the streets, especially those on the accent of the hill, are narrow, 

 crooked, and dirty. Oporto is however, on the whole, the cleanest 

 city in Portugal. It contains many broad straight streets, with a 

 number of new and liaudsome houses, with gardens adjoining them 

 tilled with vines, orange-trees, and flowering shrubs. The steep 

 declivity of the hill on which the greater part of the town ia built 

 makes it difficult to ride on horseback or in carriages, though this 

 inconvenience has been somewhat remedied by recent improvements. 

 On the east side of the town houses are built against so steep a part 

 of the hill-side, that they can only be approached by stepa cut out of 

 the rock. 



The river affords a tolerably secure harbour, without any artificial 

 aid except an elevated and walled quay, to which the ships' cables 

 may be fastened during the floods, which often come down with such 

 force, that, without this support, the vessels would inevitably be 

 carried out into the sea. The mouth of the Douro is obstructed by 

 a bar of shifting sand, which renders its entrance difficult. This 

 obstacle once surmounted, the river is well adapted to the purposes 

 of trade, being sufficiently deep in front of the town. Vessels of 

 from '200 to 800 tons can pass over the bar, but only when the tide is 

 nearly full. Vessels drawing above 16 feet water can scarcely ever 

 enter the river. The quay extends the whole length of the town. 



Oporto is defended by a cordon of detached batteries which extend 

 round the city and suburbs. There are some remains of old walls 

 round the ancient part of the city, but they are of no value for 

 purpose* of defence. 



Oporto has four suburbs, besides the town of Villa Nova do Porto, 

 on the south bank of the river. It has 11 public tquares called 

 Campos, or Fracas, of which the moot spacious are those of As Ortas, 

 ^)iie, and Vitoria; 14 hospitals, or charitable asylums; and 

 about SO churches, besideR a large cathedral built by Henry of 

 Be*anc,on, first count of Portugal, in 1105. It had 17 monasteries, tome 

 of which were destroyed during the siege in the civil war of 1832, and 

 the rest have been converted to secular uses. It is the see of a 

 bishop, who resides chiefly at Mezanfrio, but who has a fine modern- 

 built palace within the city. A theatre, in the highest part of the 

 town, built by an Italian architect, is much admired. The English 

 factory is a large and handsome building, with a library, reading-room, 

 and ball-room. The city contains also a new exchange, a mint, and 

 barrack?. There is an Italian opera-house, and the performances are 

 considered little inferior to those of Lisbon. There are numerous 

 public fountains, and a handsome new suspension bridge crosses the 

 river. 



The town of Villa Nova do Porto is somewhat to the east of the 

 city, on the south bank of the river. It is chiefly inhabited by wine- 

 coopers and other people employed by the merchants of Oporto ; and 

 between that town and the suburb of Gaya, on a small plain along the 

 bank of the river, are the immense vaults where the wines are kept. 



The principal trade of Oporto consists in wine, chiefly red, which is 

 made in the province of Tras os Monies, and in some districts of 

 Kiitte Douro e Minho. It is exported in large quantities to various 

 parts of Europe and America, but the greatest consumption is by the 

 inhabitants of Great Britain, where it is known as Port Wine. Oporto 

 ex ported in 1 850 to all parts 37, 4 S> 7 pipes of wine, which was a decrease 

 of 1101 pipe* on the exportation of 1849. The customs duties for the 

 year ending June 1840 amounted to 1,891,347 dollars. There are other 

 articles of export, such as oil, sumach, linen, lemons, and oranges. 

 The imports are woollen, cotton, iron, and hardware manufactures, 

 mainly from Kngland; salt-fish, hemp, and flax; wheat and riro from 

 the United States. There are some manufactures of hats, silks, linen 

 stuffs, and pottery, besides rope-walks and dockyards. 



ito was occasionally the residence of the ancient kings of Por- 

 tugal, until Alfonso I., assisted by a fli-et of English crusaders under 

 the command of William Longsword, wrested Lisbon from the hands 

 of the Almoravides in October, 1147. During the middle ages Oporto 

 was famous for the strength of its fortifications. The walls were high 

 and strong, and flanked by towers, but the city has now extended 

 much beyond them. It was taken by the French in 1808, and i 

 by the Anglo-Portuguese in 1809. It became afterward*, in 1 

 the scene of a fierce contest for the throne of Portugal between Don 



Pedro, the ex-emperor of Brazil, and his brother, Don Miguel, who 

 had usurped the crown from his niece, Dona Maria. During the siege, 

 which lasted upwards of one year, the town of Oporto was partly 

 destroyed by the artillery of the assailants ; and several wealthy mer- 

 cantile houses were entirely ruined by the complete stoppage of trade, 

 and the wanton destruction of property by the troops of the usurper, 

 who on their retreat from before the lines of Oporto blew up with 

 gunpowder several wine-cellars belonging to the merchants of the city. 



(Minano, Diccionario de Espana y Portugal; La Clede, Sutoire 

 Ginerale de Portugal, vol. ii. ; Link, Travels.) 



OPPELN, one of the four governments of Prussian Silesia, comprises 

 the greater part of Upper Silesia, and almost wholly consists of hills 

 and mountains. It is bouuded"N. by the government of Breslau, E. 

 by Poland, S. by Galicia, andW. by Austrian Silesia. Its area is 5143 

 square miles, and the population in 1847 was 987,318, nine-tenths of 

 whom are Catholics. It has extensive forests of fine timber, and 

 abounds in valuable minerals coal, irou, zinc, &c. This part of tho 

 province is less fertile and much colder than Lower Silesia ; the valley* 

 however are very fertile, although the grain-produce of the country is 

 insufficient for the consumption. Cattle and sheep are numerous. 

 Many of the mountaineers are weavers of linen. Hardware, steam- 

 engines, leather, and woollen goods also are manufactured. The snow 

 falls early and lies late. There are many tarns and ponds which give 

 rise to numerous small streams. Tho Oder traverses the country iu 

 its whole extent. The Vistula runs ou the south-eastern boundary. 

 The Neisse, a feeder of the Oder, drains the west of the government, 

 and forms part of the boundary ou the north-west. [SILESIA.] The 

 government is traversed by the railway from Vienna to Berlin through 

 Breslau, from which branches run to Neisse and Cracow. 



The administrative capital of the government, Oppeln, is situated ou 

 the Oder, 51 miles S.E. from Breslau by the Breslau-Vienua railroad, 

 and has about 8000 inhabitants, who manufacture linen, tape, leather, 

 and earthenware, and trade in timber, zinc, lead, hardware, woollen 

 cloth, and Hungarian wines. The town is walled and entered by four 

 gates, and connected by bridges with an island in the river which is 

 laid out as a park. It possesses several churches, a synagogue, a 

 gymnasium, and a school of midwifery. Neiite, at the confluence of 

 the Biela with the Neisse, a feeder of the Oder, is about 50 miles W. 

 by S. from Oppeln, and has a population of 12,000. It is a clean well- 

 built fortified town, but the site is marshy and unhealthy. The 

 episcopal palace, six Catholic churches, a Protestant church, a syna- 

 gogue, and town-hall, are the principal buildings. This towu has a 

 gymnasium, a royal manufactory of arms, a powder-mill, several 

 breweries, and manufactures of liuen and woollen stuffs, ribands, 

 stockings, and yarn. A branch railway, 29 miles in length, connects 

 Neisse with the Brieg station on the Breslau-Vienua railway. The 

 other towns are : Gleiwitz, 50 miles by the Cracow railway S.E. from 

 Oppeln, which has a population of 7400, a gymnasium, and great iron- 

 foundries : there are valuable coal-mines in the neighbourhood. 

 Lobichut:, 30 miles S. from Oppelu, has a gymnasium, a handicraft 

 school, manufactures of linen, woollen cloth, stocking*, and leather ; 

 and a population of 5781. Katlbor, a station ou the Breslau- Vienna 

 railroad, on the left bank of the Oder, is a walled town, entered by 

 four gates, with a gymnasium, and a population of about 8000, who 

 manufacture cloth, linen, earthenware, beer, leather, &c. 



OPPENHEIM. [HESSK DARMSTADT.] 



OPPIDO. [CALABRIA.] 



ORAN. [ALofciiiE.] 



ORAN-ELF. [BoTHHiA.] 



ORANGE, the Principality of, included the town and neighbour- 

 hood of Orange in the south of France. Rene" de Nassau, nephew and 

 successor of Philibert de Challon, prince of Orange, was killed at the 

 siege of St-Dizier in 1544, and left his heritage to his cousin William 

 of Nassau, the founder of the republic of the Dutch United Provinces. 

 After the death of William III., king of England, the principality 

 passed to Frederick, king of Prussia, William's eldest sister's sou, whose 

 successor, Frederick- William, ceded it to Louis XIV. at the peace of 

 Utrecht. The principality then merged in the province of Dauphine", 

 and is now included in the department of Vauclause. 



ORANGE, the ancient A rausio, an ill-built town, with a tribunal 

 of first instance and a college, is situated in the French department of 

 Vaucluse, near the left bank of the Rhone, iu a beautiful plain 

 watered by the Aigue and several other small streams, in 44 8' 

 N. lat, 4 48' 38' E. long., at a distance of 16 miles by railway N. 

 from Avignon, 147 feet above the sea luvel, and has 9204 inhabitants 

 in the commune. The town has gome manufactures of printed cottons, 

 handkerchiefs, serge, and silk ; it has also a good trade in wine, brandy, 

 oil, madder, saffron, honey, wool, corn, truffles, essences, &c. It abounds 

 in Roman remains. A triumphal arch, commonly called the Arch of 

 Marios, CO feet high, consisting of a central arcade and two smaller 

 lateral ones, separated by four Corinthian pillars spans tho high road 

 at the northern entrance to the town, and is justly dear to archaeolo- 

 gists for the beauty of its architecture and the rich sculptures of its 

 illustrative bas-reliefs. The northern facade of the theatre, which still 

 stands in the centre of the town, and presents a gigantic rectangle 485 

 feet long and 115 feet high, is a most magnificent piece of masonry. 

 It consists of five stories, and ia built of large uucemeuted stones. The 

 at story has a grand entrance gateway in the centre supported 



