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O'Reilly — Milesian Colonization relative to Gold-mining. 57 



Galicia may therefore be assumed as having been occupied by Celts at 

 the time of the arrival of the Phoenicians on their coasts, and that the 

 products exchanged with them were obtained by these Celts, bore 

 therefore Celtic names, and finally that the ports and towns frequented 

 by the Phoenicians in their time had names Celtic in their origin, 

 though also possibly referable to a people still anterior to the Celts. 

 Hence there is an interest to note these names as they occur, and 

 particularly as regards Galicia in general and the valley of the Sil and 

 its tributaries in particular. 



Following, then, the coastline northward of the Minho, that of 

 Galicia presents characteristics which distinguish it from that lying to 

 the south of that river. A series of bays called " rias " or fiords pre- 

 sent themselves, amongst which are four of the finest harbours in 

 Spain, Yigo, Pontevedra, Coruna, and Ferrol. In the Br. Encyclo- 

 pedia (edition of 1855), the following remarks are made regarding the 

 province and its coastline, rivers, &c., p. 372 : — 



"The coast of Galicia is everywhere bold, and may be safely 

 approached by mariners. It is much more broken, however, than the 

 coasts of Astui'ias and Biscay, being more exposed to the violent action 

 of the strong currents of the Atlantic, which run in these latitudes at 

 the rate of half a mile an hour. Hence many secure havens have been 

 in the course of ages scooped out by the storms and currents, and its 

 deep inlets thus formed, with its lofty promontories, give this peculiar 

 feature to this coast. Eivadeo, on the left bank of the Miranda, has a 

 safe and capacious harbour, with three fathoms of water at ebb tide. 

 Vivero Bay is one mile wide and runs three inland, affording good 

 anchorage throughout, with from six to eight fathoms of water. Still 

 further westward the bay of Stanques la Yerre, or inlet of Barquero, 

 on the east side of the punta de la Estaca, is an excellent harbour, 

 three miles wide and six long, with anchorage in six fathoms. The 

 harbour of Eerrol is said to be the best in Europe ; it is ten miles long 

 and from a quarter to half a mile in breadth, with sufficient depth of 

 water to allow the largest vessels to approach the town, which stands 

 five miles from the entrance, and frigates may pass two miles fui'ther 

 up. A long narrow peninsula separates the bays of Betanzos and of 

 Ayres from the harbour of Eerrol, opposite to which stands the port of 

 Coru£a. The great bay which forms the common entrance to all thesis 

 inlets is the Partus Magjms of the ancients. About one mile north of 

 Coruna stands the famous lighthouse, called the Tower of Hercules, or 

 the Iron Tower, which was repaired in 1788. It is 92 feet high, with 

 walls 4|- feet thick. The construction proves clearly that it was built. 



