183 



ALEMTEJO. 



ALEMTEJO. 



r.9 



Gaul, and made several expeditions into their German domains. 

 In A.D. 357 he beat seven of their chieftains in a sanguinary battle at 

 Strasburg. The third time, A.D. 359, he seems to have attacked 

 them almost without a cause. After some opposition Julian crossed 

 the Rhine ; and eight Alemannic chiefs concluded a peace with him 

 at Mainz. During the latter part of his reign they did not venture 

 to attack the Romans ; but Valentinian I. had almost incessantly to 

 contend with them. Gratian, A.D. 377, fought an obstinately contested 

 battle with them at Argusturia (now Horburg). In the latter part of the 

 4th and the beginning of the 5th centuries, they occupied the southern 

 and western banks of the Rhine, opposite the mouths of the Neckarand 

 the Main. In the middle of the 5th century they spread over Helvetia, 

 as far as the Jura and the Lake of Geneva. After the terrible victory 

 gained by the Prankish king, Clodwig, at Tolbiacum (now Zulpich), 

 in 496, they lost their eastern and western Prankish possessions. 

 Many of them sought refuge with Theodoric the Great, who assigned 

 to them abodes in Rhsetia. In A.D. 536 Vitiges ceded them to the 

 Franks ; and after this they were united to the Suevi, and with them 

 consolidated into a dukedom, called the Duchy of Alemannia. After 

 this period, their history is absorbed in the general history of Germany ; 

 yet from that circumstance, and from the extension which the French 

 have given to their name, we may judge that they were a preponderating 

 tribe among the Germanic nations. 



The Alemauni were a warlike people, and the Romans particularly 

 admired their cavalry. The country was divided into yaucn, by the 

 Romans called pogi ; which had their name either from the tribes 

 who inhabited them, or from the chiefs or dukes, called kings by the 

 Romans, who ruled over them. Each of these had its peculiar con- 

 stitution, and was independent ; in war only they all acted as one 

 people, with united interests, and had one general. The Alemanni 

 had a body of laws given to them by the kings Theodoric, Childebert, 

 and Clothar, and improved by Dagobert. 



ALEMTEJO (a/em Tejo, ' beyond the Tagus'), in Spanish Altntrjo, 

 a province of Portugal, situated between 37 23' and 39 39' N. lat, 

 6 45' and 8 53' W. long., is bounded N. by Beira, S. by Algarve, 

 N.E. and E. by Spanish Estremadura and Andalucia, N.W. and W. by 

 Portuguese Estremadura and the Atlantic Ocean. The length from N. 

 to S. is somewhat more than 150 miles. The eastern and western 

 boundaries are very irregular, but the average width from E. to W. ia 

 about 60 miles. The area is 9982 square miles : the population in 1841 

 was 276,590. The province is divided into three districts, as follows : 



Portnlegre 

 Evora . 

 Bfja 



Area. 

 2382 

 2609 

 4091 



Population. 



80,071 



85,079 



105,440 



8982 276,590 



Portalegre is the northern division, Evora the central, and Beja the 

 southern. The province is subdivided into 13 comarcas, or judiciary 

 divisions, 50 concelhos, or communal divisions, and 315 parishes, as 

 follows : 



fomarcM. Concelhos. I'arishcu. 

 Portalcgrc ... 4 19 94 



Krova 4 14 113 



Bcj 5 17 10S 



13 



50 



315 



Surface. A ridge from the Mountains of Toledo enters Alemtejo 

 near Portalegre, and branches out into several offsets, which fill up 

 the space between the basins of the Tagus and the Guadiana, These 

 mountain-groups extend over the northern, eastern, and central parts 

 of the province. They are not very lofty, the highest summits not 

 much exceeding 2000 feet above the sea-level, and they contain 

 numerous plains and valleys, in which flow the Guadiana and its 

 affluents on the east, and the Aravel, Soro, Zatas, and other rivers on 

 the north. The Serra de Caldeirao and Serra de Monchique are the 

 western continuation of the Sierra Morena, interrupted by the bed of 

 the Guadiana. The Serra de Monchique contains the loftiest summits, 

 the peak called Poya de Monchique having an elevation of 4050 feet. 

 These mountains form the boundary between the provinces of Alemtejo 

 and Algarve, extending from the Guadiana to the western coast, and 

 "loping down to the north and south. The Campo de Ourique, a large 

 plain in the southern part of the province, contains the numerous 

 affluents of the Rio Sado, which reaches the sea at Setubal, in Estre- 

 madura. This plain is very fruitful, especially near the Sado, but is 

 in many parts swampy, and subject to malaria. The plain of Alemtejo, 

 which extends S.W. and W. from the mountains of Portalegre, is 

 the largest plain in Portugal. It collects the numerous affluents of 

 the Zatas on its north side and those of the Almansor on the south, 

 the two main streams reaching the Tagus at nearly the same point, 

 and giving to the western part of the plain the form of a triangle. 

 Some parts of this plain are fruitful, and cultivated to some extent, 

 but others are desolate wastes, almost without inhabitants, but abundant 

 in If.-tth and cistus. 



Alemtejo has about 60 miles of coast, mostly rocky, extending from 

 Piinta de Pesgueira to Odeseixas. The most western part is the pro- 

 montory of Sines. The only harbour worthy of notice is Villa Nora, 

 de Milfontft, which is in the estuary of a small river. The town is on 



the north bank, and at the head of the estuary on the south bank is 

 Villafermosa. Both are small. 



The rivers of Alemtejo are numerous, but, with the exception of 

 the Guadiana, not large. The Guadiana and its affluents constitute 

 the river-system of the eastern part of the province. The Guadiana 

 reaches the boundary of Portugal about 5 miles S.W. from Badajoz, 

 whence it flows in a south-westerly direction about 30 miles between 

 Spain and Portugal. It then enters Alemtejo, and flows southward 

 through a plain till it receives on the right bank the Degebe, lower 

 down on the left bank the Ardila, and still lower, on the right, the 

 Odiarca. It then enters a narrow valley, and passing at some distance 

 west of the town of Serpa, separates the Sierra Morena from the Serra 

 de Caldeirao. In this narrow passage it forms a cataract, called the 

 Salto del Lobo (Leap of the Wolf). It afterwards receives the Corbes 

 on the right bank, the Limoas on the left, opposite the town of Mertola, 

 and a little lower down the Oeiras on the right, whence it flows south- 

 east till it receives the Chanza on the left. From this point to the 

 sea, about 30 miles, it forms the boundary between Spain and the 

 province of Algarve. The Guadiana is navigable from the sea to some 

 distance above the mouth of the Chanza. With the exception of two 

 or three short streams on the coast, all the rivers of the south-west 

 part of the province fall into the Sado, which, as before mentioned, 

 reaches the sea near Setubal. The rivers of the northern and western 

 parts of the province are all tributaries of the Tagus. The Tagus 

 itself divides Alemtejo from Beira : its course in this part is about 

 30 miles, and here it receives the Figueira and the Sever. The province 

 is then separated from Estremadura mostly by the Soro and the Zatas, 

 which receive numerous affluents from the mountain-groups of Porta- 

 legre and Estremoz. The other rivers of the province flow westward 

 from the mountains of Evora and Beja ; and ultimately reach the 

 estuary of Setubal by the Sado. 



Climate and Productions. The climate in the more elevated parts 

 is dry and healthy, and the heat is not oppressive. In the lower and 

 flat districts the heat in summer is excessive, and agues and other 

 disorders arising from unhealthy exhalations are frequent. 



The most important products of the soil are olive-oil, rice, chestnuts 

 (of which a large quantity are exported), cork, corn, wine, and abund- 

 ance of fruit, especially oranges, lemons, figs, and pomegranates. 

 Agriculture is in a very depressed state, partly arising from want 

 of labourers, and partly from deficiency of means of transport. A 

 material difference in the price of commodities exists at places only 

 a few miles distant from each other, owing to the want of roads. 

 The importation of corn, flour, and bread into Portugal is pro- 

 hibited, yet Alemtejo does not produce enough for the wants of the 

 inhabitants, and Spanish corn is smuggled to a considerable amount. 

 The population in this province is much thinner than in any of the 

 other provinces of Portugal, being only 27 "7 persons to a square mile, 

 the average for all Portugal being 97'1. Even this population, small 

 as it is, is mostly collected in the towns, leaving large districts, which 

 might be profitably cultivated, almost without an inhabitant. The 

 forests consist, for the most part, of evergreen oaks, cork-trees, chestnuts, 

 and pines. 



Cattle and sheep are not numerous ; but many goats are kept, and 

 goat's-milk cheese is made. On the extensive wastes are seen large 

 droves of swine in groups under the shade of the evergreen oak, and 

 feeding on the mast. On this food they thrive much, and attain a 

 large size. The hams of Alemtejo are said to be excellent. 



There are quarries of marble white, red, and green ; limestone, 

 slate, and freestone. The mountains contain metallic ores, but they 

 are not wrought to any extent. 



There are few manufactures of any kind, and none of consequence, 

 except that of oil. Of wine only enough is made for the supply of the 

 inhabitants of the province. Some coarse woollen cloths are made, 

 also common earthenware, and leather. 



Town*. The capital of the province ia Evora, situated on an 

 eminence surrounded by a fine plain, in 38 38' N. lat., 7 38' W. 

 long., about 80 miles E. from Lisbon. It is surrounded by ramparts 

 flanked with towers, and has a citadel and two forts, but all are in a 

 ruinous state. There is a large square. The streets are narrow and 

 crooked, and the houses old and ill-built There is a large gothic 

 cathedral, of no great beauty, but the altar, which is in the Italian 

 style, is extremely rich, and decorated with various-coloured marbles. 

 There are also four parish churches, two prisons, barracks, a college, 

 and some charitable institutions. Evora is the see of an archbishop, 

 and the archiepiscopal library and museum contain a large collection of 

 books and objects of interest: population, about 12,000. Evora is a 

 very ancient place. By the Romans it was called Liberalitas Julia. 

 Sertorius made it his capital, and surrounded it with walls. There 

 is an ancient aqueduct in good preservation, and also the ruins of a 

 temple said to have been dedicated to Diana, of which some columns 

 are still standing, evidently raised during the best period of Roman 

 architecture. Utja, 40 miles S. from Evora, stands on an eminence, 

 and with its wall and Moorish towers is conspicuous from a distance. 

 It is the seat of a bishop, suffragan of the archbishop of Evora, and 

 contains a cathednil and three parish churches. Beja is an ancient 

 town, and in Roman times was named Pax Julia, and afterwards 

 Pax Augusta. There are remains of a large cloaca, of Roman con- 

 struction, now choked up : population, about 5000. The soil in the 



