554 PORTUGAL. 



rior, an aged person, or a stranger, without giving him the right- 

 hand side, as a mark of respect. He never passes by a human be- 

 ing without taking off his hat, and saluting him with these words, 

 The Lord preserve you for many years I In speaking of an absent 

 friend he always says ; I die with impatience to see him." Tney all 

 imagine their country is the blessed Elysium, and that Lisbon is the 

 greatest city in the world." 



Cities, chief towns, edifices. ...There are in Portugal, 22 cities, 

 and 541 towns. Lisbon, the capital of the kingdom, is situated on the 

 north side ot the mouth of the Tagus. It stands on seven hills, and 

 contains many grand edifices, among which one of the principal is the 

 patriarchal church. The treasures of sacred relics, gold, silver, pre- 

 cious stones and costly furniture of this venerable edifice, are im- 

 mense. The new square called Pracado Comercio, is 615 feet long, 

 and 550 broad ; in the centre is a noble equestrian statue of bronze 

 of Joseph I. The new church, built by her present majesty, is the 

 largest and most magnificent edifice erected in Lisbon since the earth- 

 quake in 1755, the fatal effects of which are still visible in many parts 

 of the city, and never fail to impress every spectator with an awful 

 remembrance of that disaster ; according to the most accurate ac- 

 counts, there were not less than 24,000 victims to it. The Portuguese 

 have, however, availed themselves of this misfortune and, like the 

 English after the destructive fire ol 1666, have turned the temporal 

 evil into a permanent good. All the new streets erected in Lisbon, 

 in the place of the old, are capacious, regular, and well paved, with 

 convenient foot-paths for passengers, as in the streets of London. In 

 point ol cleanliness, Lisbon is no longer a subject of so much animad- 

 version to strangers as formerly ; but all is not yet done, as it still 

 wants common-sewers, pipe-waters, and privies. Lisbon is deserved- 

 ly accounted the greatest port in Europe, next to London and Am- 

 sterdam. The harbour is spacious and secure, and the city itself is 

 guarded from any sudden attack towards the sea by forts, though 

 they would make but a poor defence against ships of war. 



Of the population of this city no exact account has been recently 

 published ; and the rapid increase of its inhabitants of late years, 

 must render any calculation of that kind very uncertain. In the yea* 

 1774, the forty parishes into which Lisbon is divided, were found to 

 contain S3,764 houses ; and in the year 1790, they amounted to 38,102. 

 In the latter year the population was supposed to exceed 240,000. 

 Later accounts state the number of housts at 44,057, and the popula- 

 tion at 350,000. From the magnitude of the city, indeed, we should 

 be induced to suppose that its population was considerably more than 

 above stated ; for it is computed to be four miles long, by one and 

 a half broad ; but many of the houses have large gardens, and such 

 as have not are, in general, laid out upon a large scale, on account of 

 the heat of the climate. 



The church and monastery near Lisbon, where the kings of Por- 

 tugal are buried, are inexpressibly magnificent, and several monas- 

 teries in Portugal are dug out of the hard rock. The chapel of St. 

 Roch is probably one of the finest and richest in the world ; the paint- 

 ings are mosaic work, so curiously wrought with stones of all colours, 

 as to astonish the beholders. 



The second city in this kingdom is Oporto, which is computed to 

 contain 70,000 inhabitants. The number of houses exceeds 15,000, 

 including 10 churches, 12 convents and 9 hospitals. The chief article 



