remarkable aqueduct, 4 miles in length, and supported by three arches one over the other. The population is about 16,000.

Coimbra, the capital of Beira, and formerly the residence of the kings of Portugal, is a fortified town 60 miles S. of Oporto, on the north bank of the Mondego, which is here crossed by an elegant stone bridge. The town rises beautifully along the side of a hill in the form of an amphitheatre; but is in the interior narrow, crowded, il paved and dirty. It contains 12,000 inhab itants and a celebrated university.

Braga, 27 miles N. N. E. of Oporto, has 13,000 inhabitants, and a manufactory of small hats which supplies a great part of Portugal. Setubal or St. Ubes, is a considerale town on a bay of the Atlantic, 16 miles S. E. of Lisbon. It has a commodious harbor and an active trade, particularly in bay salt, of which no less than 200,000 tons are made here annually. The population is 12,000 Evora, the capital of Alentejo, is a fortified town, situated on an eminence in a vast elevated plain, 65 miles E. of Lisbon. The population is 12,000. Santarem is a considerable town, on the right bank of the Tagus, 47 miles N. E. of Lisbon. It contains 8,000 inhabitants.

Education. The only university in Portugal is at Coimbra. It consists of 18 colleges and has 39 professors, viz. eight of theology; nine of canon law; eight of civil law; six of medicine, four of mathematics and four of philosophy. The average number of students is 300. Education, generally, is very much neglected, although within a few years many improvements have been adopted. Schools on the plan of Bell and Lancaster have been introduced, and in 1820 they contained nearly 5,000 pupils.

Population.] The population, according to an estimate founded on the last return of the number of houses, in 1798, was 3,683,000. The province of Entre Duero é Minho is much the most populous, and next to this are Beira, and Estremadura.. The southern provinces are very thinly peopled. With respect to rank, the higher classes are divided as in Spain into the Titulados or high nobility, and the Fidalgos or gentry. The peasantry, though not in a state of servitude, are subject to a system of mismanagement, the effects of which are nearly as bad as those of direct oppression.

Character The national character of the Portuguese is similar to that of the Spaniards; their bigotry and superstition, their indolence, their temperance in eating and drinking, and their predilection for the amusement of bull-fighting are strong points of resemblance. There is a great difference of character, however, in different provinces. The inhabitants of the northern provinces are much more industrious than those in the south, The industry of the inhabitants of Entre Duero è Minho would not suffer on a comparison with those of the more northern countries of Europe, and accordingly they are possessed of opulence, and enjoy all the comforts and luxuries of life. Those of Trasps-Montes are a hardy race, and industrious also, in spite of their

barren and mountainous regions. In Alentejo are more wander ing beggars than in all the rest of the kingdom. The best mariners come from Algarve. The Portuguese generally are inferior in stature to the Spaniards. Their complexion is swarthy, approaching to an olive. They have, generally, graceful forms, regular features, and dark, brilliant, expressive eyes.

Language.] The Portuguese language strongly resembles the Spanish; both are derived chiefly from the Latin; but the latter is more remote from it and harsher to the ear than the former. They have both about the same proportion of Arabic words; but the Portuguese has borrowed none of the guttural sounds of that language, which are numerous in the Spanish.

Government.] The government is an hereditary monarchy. Portugal, like Spain, has its Cortes or representative body, consisting of the clergy, the high nobility and the commons, but they were not assembled after 1697, until the recent revolution, similar to that of Spain, restored them to their ancient powers. The kingdom is styled "The United kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the two Algarves." In 1806, when Portugal was invaded by the French, the court and royal family removed to Rio Janeiro in Brazil, but they have now returned to Europe.

Religion. The religion is the Roman Catholic, and was for merly maintained with much intolerance. The inquisition punished heretics with great severity, but it now acts only as an engine of civil police. A great number of monasteries, (above 400) are still kept up, and a large portion of the best land of the kingdom is the property of the church.

Revenue, Army, &c.] The revenue amounts to between £3,000,000 and £4,000,000, a considerable portion of which is derived from Brazil. The debt is small, not exceeding £12,000.000. The army contains 56,000 regular troops, of whom 24,000 are in Brazil. The navy consists of 9 ships of the line, 14 frigates and many smaller vessels, manned by 12,000 sailors.

Manufactures and Commerce.] Manufactures are in a very backward state, the establishments being on a small scale, and confined to a few of the large towns. The commerce of the kingdom is more considerable, but for a long time past both the import and export trade have been managed chiefly by foreign merchants, particularly British, settled at Lisbon and Oporto. The exports consist almost entirely of raw produce, viz. wine, salt, wool and fruits. Of wine the average annual value exported is nearly £2,000,000; of salt, fully £300,000; of wool, below £100,000. The imports are very various, viz. corn, flour, fish, woollens, linen, cotton goods, hard-ware and British manufactures of almost every kind. The whole value of the imports is about £3,000,000. The intercourse with Brazil, which was formerly restricted to Portuguese merchants, is now open to all nations.

ITALY.

Situation, and Extent.] Italy is a large peninsula surrounded on all sides by natural boundaries; the Alps separating it from France on the west, Switzerland on the north, and Germany on the north-east, while on all other sides it is washed by the Adriatic sea and the Mediterranean. It extends from 37° 50' to

46° 50' N. lat. and from 6° to 19° E. lon. Its greatest length from N. W. to S. E. is 700 miles. The area, including the islands of Sicily and Sardinia, is estimated at 117,090 square miles. The shape of the continental part resembles that of a boot.

Divisions.] Italy is at present divided into nine independent states as exhibited in the following table.

Bays and Straits.] The gulf of Venice or Adriatic sea washes the whole eastern coast. The gulf of Taranto is a large bay on the southern coast of the kingdom of Naples. The part of the Mediterranean which washes the coast of the kingdom of Sardinia is called the gulf of Genoa, and the part included between the island of Corsica and the coast of Tuscany, the Tuscan or Etrurian sea. The strait of Messina is between the southern extremity of Italy and the island of Sicily; and the strait of Bonifacio, between the islands of Corsica and Sardinia.

Mountains.] The great mountain ranges of Italy are the Alps and the Apennines. The Alps commence on the coast of the Mediterranean, near the southern extremity of the kingdom of Sardinia, and after stretching far to the north and still farther to the east, take a southerly direction and terminate in Istria on the gulf of Venice, forming a vast semicircular barrier to Italy on the side of France, Switzerland and Germany. In different parts of its course, the range has different names. The part at the S. W. extremity, from the Mediterranean to Mont Viso, is called the

Maritime Alps; from Mont Viso to Mont Cenis it is called the Cottian Alps; and the part north of Mont Cenis for some distance is called the Graian Alps. The next divisions are the Pennine, Lepontine, and Rhaetian Alps, which lie principally in Switzerland; after which follow the Noric, Carnic, and Julian Alps on the side of Germany. The highest summit, and the highest mountain in Europe, is Mont Blanc, in the Pennine Alps, which reaches an elevation of 14,676 feet above the level of the sea. There are numerous summits in almost every part of the range which exceed 9,000 feet.

The Apennines may be considered as a continuation of the Maritime Alps. They leave that chain in lat. 44° 12′ N. and after running for a considerable distance to the east, turn gradually to the south, separate Tuscany from the States of the church, and after traversing the latter country and Naples in their whole extent, divide into two branches, one of which stretches along the eastern side of the gulf of Taranto, and terminates at Capo di Leuca, while the other proceeds on the west side of the same gulf, and terminates near the strait of Messina at the S. W. extremity of Calabria. The mountains in the island of Sicily are sometimes considered as a continuation of the Apennines.

Rivers.] The Po, the principal river in Italy, rises in Mont Vise, in the Cottian Alps, on the borders of France, and running in an easterly direction, passes through the kingdom of Sardinia sepa rates Austrian Italy or the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom from Parma, Modena, and the States of the church, and discharges itself through many mouths into the Adriatic, about 30 miles south of Venice, after a course of more than 500 miles. It is sufficiently deep to bear boats and barges at 30 miles from its source, but the navigation is at all seasons difficult, and not unfrequently hazardens ou account of the rapidity of the current. Its waters are liable to sudden increase from the melting of the snows and from heavy falls of rain, the rivers that flow into it being almost all monntain streams; and in the flat country in the lower part of its course, great dikes are erected on both sides of the river to protect the lands from inundation. During its long course it receives a great number of tributaries, its channel being the final receptacle of almost every stream which rises on the eastern and southern declivities of the Alps, and the northern declivity of the Apennines. Its principal tributaries, beginning in the west, are,the Dora Riparia; the Dora Baltea; the Stura; the Orco; the Sesia; the Tanaro ; the Tesino, which rises in mount St. Gothard in Switzerland, and after flowing through lake Maggiore forms the boundary between Sardinia and the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom; "the Olona, which passes by Milan; the Adda, which also rises in Switzerland, and flowing at first in a westerly direction passes through the lake of Como, after which it turns to the south and joins the Po near Cremona; the Oglio, which rises on the borders of Switzerland and passes through lake Isco; the Mincio, which issues from the southern extremity of the lake of Garda, and after forming the lake and marshes that surround Mantua,

falls into the Po, eight miles below that city; the Crostolo, which rises in the dutchy of Parma, and joins the Po, a little above Guastalla; and the Panaro, which rises in the Apennines and pursuing a northerly course passes by the city of Modena, and falls into an arm of the Po.

The other large rivers in the north of Italy are, the Adige, which rises in the Alps, and passing by Trent and Verona discharges itself into the Adriatic a little north of the mouth of the Po; the Brenta, which rises in the Alps, 7 miles E. of Trent, passes by Padua, and discharges itself into the Adriatic a little S. of Venice; the Piave, and the Tagliamento.

In the centre and south of Italy there are no large streams, the narrowness of the peninsula and the central position of the Apennines, causing the rivers to flow directly into the sea after short courses. The most considerable are, the Arno which traverses the grand dutchy of Tuscany from east to west, passing by the city of Florence, and discharges itself into the Mediterranean 12 miles N. of Leghorn, and 4 below Pisa to which it is navigable for small vessels; and the Tiber, which rises in the Apennines on the borders of Tuscany, and flowing south into the States of the church, passes through the city of Rome, and falls into the Medi

terranean.

Lakes.] The Lago Maggiore, which lies partly in Switzerland but principally in Italy is 27 miles long and on an average 3 broad. It contains the Borromean islands, which are the admiration of every traveller. The lake of Como, lying east of Lago Maggiore, is 36 miles long. The surrounding country is highly picturesque, being covered with vineyards, interspersed with beautiful villas, and skirted by lofty mountains. Still farther to the east is the small lake of Iseo, which is followed by the lake of Garda, an expanse of about 30 miles in length by 8 in breadth. All these lakes discharge their waters into the Po. In the central part of Italy the largest lakes are, the lake of Perugia in the S.E. part of Tuscany, the ancient Thrasimenus, remarkable for the victory gained by Hannibal over the Romans; and the Bolsena, in the States of the church.

Face of the Country.] Italy is surpassed by no country in the beauty and diversity of its natural scenery. Its mountains present every variety of form and elevation, of rugged rocks and precipices, thick and extensive forests, water-falls and all the component parts of picturesque beauty. The country between the Alps and Apennines consists principally of extensive plains, watered by the Po and its numerous branches. In the central and southern parts, the country en both sides of the mountains is sometimes a succession of hills and dales, and at others the vallies widen into plains of singular richness and beauty. The warmth of the climate, the richness of the soil, the frequency of the rains, the number of brooks and rivers, and the remarkable clearness of the atmosphere give a beauty to the Italian landscape which is not known in the rest of Europe.