648 



PORTLAND PORTSMOUTH. 



sion of Pitt, the duke acted with the whig opposi- 

 tion until 1792, when he was elected chancellor ol 

 Oxford, and, joining with Mr Burke in his alarm at 

 tin- French revolution, he supported administration 

 He was accordingly, in 1794, made secretary ol 

 state for the home department, which he held until 

 the resignation of Mr Pitt, 1801, and was then ap- 

 pointed president of the council, which he held until 

 1805. On the resignation of Lord Grenviile, in 



1807, he was appointed first lord of the treasury, 

 which office he resigned soon after, and died in 



1 808. The present duke of Portland (born in 1 768) 

 was lord privy seal in Canning's administration, 

 and lord president of the council in that of Goderich. 



PORTLAND ; a post-town, port of entry and 

 commercial metropolis of tlje state of Maine, North 

 America. It stands on a peninsula in Casco bay, 

 and has a beautiful and healthy situation, and one 

 of the best harbours in America ; north-north-east 

 from Boston, 1 10 miles ; from Washington, 542 ; 

 population, in 1820, 8,581 ; in 1830, 12,601. 



PORTLAND STONE is a dull, whitish species, 

 much used in buildings about London. It is com- 

 posed of a coarse grit cemented together by an 

 earthy spar. 



PORTLAND VASE (formerly called the Bar- 

 lerini Vase) ; one of the most beautiful relics of 

 antiquity of the kind. It is a funeral vase, and was 

 discovered near Rome, during the pontificate (1622 

 1644) of Urban VIII. (Barberini), in a sarco- 

 phagus, which is supposed to have been that of 

 Alexander Severus and Julia Mammaea, his mother. 

 It was bought of the Barberini family in 1786, by 

 the late duke of Portland, for 1000 guineas. Its 

 height is about ten inches, and its diameter, where 

 broadest, six. There are several figures on it of 

 exquisite workmanship, in basso relievo, in white 

 opaque glass, on a ground of deep blue glass, which 

 appears black, except when held against the light. 

 Veltheim (Hist, und Antiq. Abhandl., 1800) thinks 

 that it represents the history of Alceste, who is re- 

 stored to Admetus by Hercules, but that on the 

 sarcophagus, which is still in the Vatican, is repre- 

 sented the quarrel of Achilles and Agamemnon 

 about Briseis. See Wedgwood's Description of the 

 Portland Vase (London, 1790, 4to.) 



PORTO. See Oporto. 



PORTO-BELLO, (properly Puerto Velo) ; a 

 harbour and city of New Grenada, on the isthmus 

 of Panama, forty-five miles N. W. of the city of 

 Panama. It is situated on the Caribbean sea, and 

 has a large and safe harbour ; lat. 90 24' N. ; Ion. 

 79 43' W. It was never very populous, even in 

 its most flourishing period, and its population is 

 now much reduced ; we have no precise data rela- 

 tive to it. The Spanish galleons formerly came 

 here annually to receive on board the rich exports 

 of Peru and Chile, which were landed at Panama, 

 and transported across the isthmus ; but it was 

 captured several times by the British ; and, in 

 1740, its fortifications were destroyed by admiral 

 Vernon, from which period the articles above-men- 

 tioned were carried round cape Horn. See Pana- 

 ma, Isthmus of. 



PORTO-BELLO; a flourishing and handsome 

 modern town in the parish of Duddingston, and coun- 

 ty of Edinburgh, situated on the coast of the firth of 

 Forth, about 2 miles east from the capital. Before 

 1740, it had no existence, its first house being a 

 cottage built by a retired sailor, who had been with 

 Admiral Vernon at the siege of Porto-Bello, (see 

 above) and hence named the place. It is much fre 

 quented for sea-bathing. Population in 1841, 3,588. 



PORTO C ABELLO, OR PUERTO C ABELLO ; 

 a town of Venezuela, on the Caribbean sea ; lat. 



10 28' N. ; Ion. 68 17' W. It. is built partly on 

 a small islnnd, which communicates with the con- 

 tinent by a bridge. It has a capacious and safe 

 harbour, and a population of less than 5,000. 

 PORTO SANTO. See Madeira. 

 PORT-PATRICK ; a sea-port in Wigtonshirc, 

 Scotland, distant from Edinburgh, 133 miles ; from 

 Glasgow, eighty-nine. It lies on the shore of the 

 Irish sea, and forms the nearest point of Great Britain 

 to Ireland, the distance here between the two islands 

 being only twenty-one miles. The town is most 

 pleasantly situated, with an aspect open towards 

 the south, and defended on the opposite quarter by a 

 semi-circular range of hills. It is an excellent 

 place for sea-bathing,and during the summer months, 

 it attracts a great number of visiters. The harbour 

 was formerly small and inconvenient, being a mere 

 inlet between projecting ridges of rock ; but there 

 is now one of the best quays in the kingdom, with 

 a reflecting lighthouse. Steam-boats, with the 

 mail-bags and passengers, pass regularly between 

 this port and Donaghadee, in Ireland ; arid mail- 

 coaches are established from London and Edinburgh 

 to Port-Patrick, and from Dublin to Donaghadee. 

 Population of town and parish, in 1821, 1818 ; in 

 1831, 2239. 



PORTS, CINQUE. See Cinque Ports. 

 PORTSEA ; an island of Southamptonshire, Eng- 

 land, extending from north to south about five miles, 

 and from east to west about three. It comprises the 

 borough and sea-port town of Portsmouth, the town 

 of Portsea, and several villages. The land is flat 

 and the soil in general fertile. The coasts of the 

 island are defended by several detached forts and 

 castles, the most important of which are Fort Cum- 

 berland, Southsea Castle, and Hillsea. See Ports- 

 mouth. 



PORTSMOUTH ; a noted seaport in the Eng- 

 lish channel, being the principal rendezvous of the 

 British navy. It is situated on the western side of 

 the island of Portsea, at the mouth of the bay term- 

 ed Portsmouth harbour, 72 miles south-west of Lon- 

 don, Ion. 1 6' W. ; lat. 50 47' N ; and consists 

 of the old town of Portsmouth, included within its 

 fortified walls, and the new towns of Portsea and 

 Southsea, which were only begun about a century 

 ago, on commons to the north and south of the 

 town, but have already out-grown in size, popula- 

 tion and importance the parent town itself. Ports- 

 mouth harbour excels, decidedly, every other in 

 Great Britain for its capaciousness, depth and se- 

 curity. At its entrance, the harbour is very nar- 

 row, but it soon expands to a great width. Every 

 where the anchorage is good, the depth sufficient 

 for ships of any size, the shelter complete, and the 

 extent sufficient to contain almost the whole navy 

 of Britain. The famous roadstead of Spithead, 

 t>etween Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight, can 

 contain 1000 sail of vessels hi the greatest security 

 Portsmouth harbour is well protected from assaults 

 iy the number and strength of its batteries. The 

 'orlii'ications were begun by Edward IV. The 

 dock-yard, being the grand naval arsenal of Bri- 

 .ain and the general rendezvous of the British fleet, 

 is by far the largest in the kingdom, including an 

 area of 100 acres. In the naval college, the num- 

 ber of scholars is limited to 100 in time of war, and 

 seventy in time of peace, of whom thirty, the sons 

 of officers of the navy, are maintained and educated 

 free of expense. On the anchor-wharf, hundreds 

 of anchors are piled up ready for immediate service. 

 The ropery is three stories high, fifty-four feet broad 

 and 1094 feet long. In the vast building called 

 the smithery, anchors are wrought weighing from 

 seventy to ninety cwts. each. The gun-wharf is 



