enclosed by the Lower Tejo and the ocean is attached to the mountain
of Estrella by a ravined plateau of trifling elevation, crossed by the
railway connecting Coimbra with Santarem. From the summit of the Serra
do Aire (“wind mountain,” 2,222 feet) we look down upon the verdant
valley of the Tejo and the reddish-hued plains of Alemtejo beyond it.
Monte Junto (2,185 feet), farther south, is another commanding summit.
The rocky promontory of Carvoeiro is joined to the mainland by a sandy
beach. Upon it stands the little fortress of Peniche, whose inhabitants
lead a life of seclusion, and are engaged in the manufacture of lace. A
submarine plateau connects this promontory with Berlinga Island, with
an old castle now used as a prison, and with the Farilhãos, dreaded by
mariners.
The hills on the narrow peninsula to the north of Lisbon are of small
height, but, owing to their rugged character, they present great
obstacles to intercommunication. It was here Wellington constructed
the famous lines of Torres Vedras, which converted the environs of
Lisbon into a vast entrenched camp. To the south of these rise the
beautiful heights of Cintra, celebrated for their palaces, shady
valleys, delightful climate, and historical associations. Sheets of
basalt, {484} ejected from some ancient volcano, cover the hills
between Lisbon and Sacavem, and the great earthquakes of 1531 and 1755
prove that subterranean forces were then not quite extinct. The second
of these earthquakes was probably the most violent ever witnessed in
Europe. The very first shock destroyed 3,850 houses in Lisbon, burying
15,000 human beings beneath the ruins; a minute afterwards an immense
wave, nearly forty feet in height, swept off the fugitives who crowded
the quay. Only one quarter of the town, that anciently inhabited by the
Moors, escaped destruction. The Marquis de Pombal erected a gallows in
the midst of the ruins to deter plunderers. From the focus of vibration
the oscillations of the soil were propagated over an immense area,
estimated at no less than 1,000,000 square miles. Oporto was destroyed
in part, the harbour of Alvor in Algarve was silted up, and it is said
that nearly all the large towns of Morocco tumbled into ruins.
The gully which connects the open ocean with the inland sea of Lisbon,
and through which the Tejo discharges its waters, separates the
cretaceous hills of Cintra from the isolated Serra da Arabida (1,537
feet), to the west of Setúbal, which belong to the same geological
formation. These two groups of hills were probably portions of one
range at a time when the Tejo still took its course across what are now
the tertiary plains of Alemtejo, and reached the sea much farther to
the south, through the estuary of the Sado.
Lisbon (Lisbõa), though the number of its inhabitants is less than half
what it was in the sixteenth century, exhibits no trace of the havoc
wrought in 1755. Even the central portions of the town have risen from
the ruins, and huge blocks of houses, imposing by their size, if not
by their architecture, have taken the places of the older structures.
The present city extends four miles along the Tejo, but including its
suburbs, between Poco do Bispo and the Tower of Belem, its extent is
nine miles. The city stretches inland a distance of two or three miles,
and, like Rome, is said to be built upon seven hills. A beautiful
promenade connects it with Belem. As seen from the Tejo, or from the
hills opposite, Lisbon, with its towers, cupolas, and public walks,
certainly presents a magnificent spectacle, and there is some truth in
the proverb which says―
“Que não tem visto Lisbõa, Não tem visto cosa bõa !”
(“Who has not seen Lisbon has not seen a thing of beauty.”)
Unfortunately the interior of the superb metropolis does not correspond
with the imposing beauty of its exterior. Lisbon has a noble square,
called Largo do Comercio; it has all the various buildings which one
expects to meet with in the capital of a kingdom and an important
maritime town; but, with the exception of the chapel of São João
Baptista, not one amongst them is remarkable for its architecture. The
only important structure outside the city is the famous aqueduct Os
Arcos das Agoas, which was built by João V., the _Rei Edificador_, in
the beginning of the eighteenth century, and sustained no injury during
the earthquake of 1755. On approaching the city it crosses a valley on
a superb marble bridge of thirty-five arches, the highest of which is
246 feet in height.
[Illustration: LISBON.]
Lisbon is relatively poor in interesting monuments, but few towns can
rival it in natural advantages of soil, climate, and geographical
position. Its situation is {485} most central; its harbour, at the
mouth of a navigable river, is one of the most excellent in the world;
and its entrance can be easily defended, the principal works erected
for that purpose being Fort São Julião and the Tower of Bugio.
[Illustration: Fig. 199.—PENICHE AND THE BERLINGAS.
Scale 1 : 142,860.]
Lisbon is important not only as regards Portugal, but also, on account
of its position, with reference to the rest of Europe—nay, of the
entire world. As long as the Mediterranean was the theatre of human
history it remained in obscurity, but no sooner had mariners ventured
beyond the columns of Hercules than the beautiful harbour at the mouth
of the Tejo became one of the principal points of departure for vessels
starting upon voyages of discovery. Lisbon became the most advanced
outpost of Europe on the Atlantic, for it offered greater facilities
than any other port for voyages directed to the Azores, Madeira,
the Canaries, and the western coasts of Africa. The achievements of
Portuguese mariners have passed into history. Vast territories in every
quarter of the globe became tributary to little Portugal, and it needed
the epic force of a Camões to celebrate these wonderful conquests.
That age of glory lasted but a short time, for proud Lisbon, which had
become known to Eastern nations as the “City of the Franks,” as if it
were the capital of Europe, lost its pre-eminent position towards the
close of the sixteenth century. {486} Portugal capsized suddenly, like
a small barge overcrowded with sails. Crushed by the terrible reign of
Philip II., enervated by luxury, and grown disdainful of honest labour,
as slaveholders always will, Lisbon was constrained to see much of
its commerce and most of its valued colonies pass into the hands of
Spaniards and Dutchmen. But, in spite of these disasters, Lisbon is
still a commercial port of great importance, although as yet no direct
line of railway connects it with Madrid and the rest of Europe. England
occupies the foremost position amongst the customers of the town, and
the Brazilians, whose severance from the mother country was at first
looked upon as an irremediable disaster, follow next.[177] Spain,
though it borders upon Portugal for several hundred miles, scarcely
enters into commercial relations with it. Civil wars have, however,
driven many Spanish exiles to Lisbon, and these have already exercised
a considerable influence upon manners. Formerly only men were to be
seen in the streets of Lisbon, the women being confined almost with the
same rigour as in a Mohammedan city, but the example set by Spanish
ladies has found many imitators amongst their Portuguese sisters. The
towns in the immediate vicinity of Lisbon are celebrated for their
picturesque beauties.
[Illustration: Fig. 200.—MOUTH OR THE TEJO (TAGUS).
Scale 1 : 162,400.]
Portuguese Estremadura, which neither suffers from northern frosts nor
from fogs and aridity, can boast of a climate approaching that of the
fabled Islands of the Happy. At Lisbon snow, or “white rain,” as it
is called, falls {487} rarely, but it may be seen glittering on the
summits of the Serras da Estrella and de Lousão. Its fall near the
sea-coast is looked upon as an evil omen, and a heavy snow-storm, as
recently as last century, frightened the inhabitants of Lisbon to such
an extent that they fancied the day of judgment had come, and rushed
into the churches.
The regular alternation between land and sea breezes is likewise an
advantage possessed by the neighbourhood of Lisbon. From the beginning
of May throughout the fine season the wind blows from the land in the
morning, by noon it has shifted to the south, in the evening it blows
from the west and north-west, and during the night from the north.
Hence its name of _viento roteiro_; that is, “rotary wind.” As to the
winds forming part of the regular system of atmospheric circulation,
they blow with far less regularity. The polar winds, stopped by the
transversal mountain ranges of the country, either follow the direction
of the coast or are diverted to the plateaux of Spain, and make
their appearance in Portugal as easterly winds. It is these latter
which render the summer oppressively hot. At Lisbon the thermometer
rises occasionally to 100° F., and in 1798 even 104° were observed.
Experience has taught us that although the heat at Rio de Janeiro is
in excess of that of Lisbon, the dog-days at the latter place are more
unbearable.[178]
The vegetation of the happy district where the climate of North and
South intermingle is twofold in its aspect. The date-palm makes its
appearance in the gardens of Lower Estremadura; the dwarf palm grows
in the open air along the coast; the agave raises its candelabra-like
branches as on the coast of Mexico; the camellias are more beautiful
than anywhere else in Europe; and the hedges are composed of prickly
cacti (_Nopal_), as in Sicily and Algeria. The fruits of the
Mediterranean ripen to perfection; and even the mango of the Antilles,
only recently introduced, has found a congenial climate. Oranges are
known as _portogalli_ in several countries as far as Egypt, as if the
inhabitants of Portugal had been the first to whom these golden apples
were known; and even the word _chintarah_, or _chantarah_, by which the
orange is known in some parts of India, is supposed to be a corruption
of the name of the Portuguese town of Cintra.
Belem (Bethlehem) is the nearest of the suburban towns of Lisbon, being
separated from it merely by a rivulet named Alcántara, after an old
Moorish bridge. It is the first place beheld by a mariner approaching
Lisbon, and its square tower, built by King John the Perfect, is seen
from afar. It was hence Vasco da Gama started upon the memorable
expedition which taught the Portuguese the road to India, and a
magnificent monastery, now converted into an educational institution,
was built in commemoration of this glorious event.
Oeiras, at the mouth of a small rivulet coming down from the heights of
Cintra, defends the entrance to the Tejo by means of Fort São Julião;
Carcavellos, noted for its wines, lies farther on; and Cascães, with
a small harbour defended by a citadel, brings us to the open ocean.
The coast beyond this is protected by {488} towers, but there are no
inhabitants. The hills of Cintra, however are one of the most populous
districts of the country, and they are much frequented by foreigners.
Whether we follow the carriage road or the tramroad from Lisbon, we
pass the castles and villas of Bomfica, the royal palace of Queluz, and
the country seats of Bellas, the fountain of which supplies the capital
with water. Cintra itself is surrounded by hotels and gardens. On a
hill to the south of it stands the sumptuous Castle de la Penha, whose
eccentricities of architecture are softened down by luxuriant masses of
vegetation. Strangers likewise visit the ruins of an old Moorish castle
and the caverns of the “Monastery of Cork,” thus named because its
walls are covered with cork as a protection against damp. The prospect
from all the surrounding heights is magnificent, and most so from the
cliffs terminating in the famous Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point of
continental Europe.
[Illustration: Fig. 201.—ZONES OF VEGETATION IN PORTUGAL.
Scale 1 : 6,000,000.]
The city of Mafra occupies a sterile plateau not far from the seaside
resort of Ericeira. Like Cintra, it boasts of an immense palace,
the Escorial of the kings of the house of Bragança, now used as a
military school. João V., who erected this structure, with its numerous
churches, chapels, and cells, expended for that purpose all the coin
he could command, and when he died there was not enough money left in
the treasury to pay for a mass for the repose of his soul. Far more
{489} curious than this immense barrack, with its 5,200 windows, is
the forsaken monastery of Alcobaça, about sixty miles farther north,
which was built in the twelfth century to commemorate the victories
over the Moors. Near it stands the monastery of Batalha, which recalls
the defeat of the Castilians in the plain of Aljubarrota in 1385. The
portals, cloisters, chapel, and chapter-room abound in sculptures of
marvellous finish, though of doubtful taste.
[Illustration: Fig. 202.—CASTLE DE LA PENHA DE CINTRA.]
Leiria, the town nearest to Batalha, occupies a fine site at the
confluence of the rivers Liz and Lena, and is commanded by a Moorish
castle, the old residence of King Diniz the “Labourer,” who planted the
_pinhal_ of Leiria, the finest forest in Portugal. After a long period
of decadence this portion of the country has entered upon a new epoch
of activity. At Marinha Grande, near it, there are large glass-works,
which communicate by rail with the circular harbour of Concha (shell)
de São Martinho.
Thomar, formerly famous on account of its monastery, stands on the
eastern {490} slope of the hills commanding the plains of Batalha
and Alcobaça. It is the capital of the Knights of Christ, to whom was
conceded the privilege of conquering the Indies and the New World.
They performed great deeds, but in the end their rapacity led to the
decadence of their native country. Thomar is a town of cotton-mills
now, but commerce is more active in the places on the Tejo, and notably
at Santarem, which, from its “marvellous” hill, looks down upon the
verdant isles of the river and the plains of Alemtejo. Santarem and the
neighbouring fortress of Abrantes supply Lisbon with vegetables and
fruit, and the country around them is a veritable forest of olive-trees.
The sandy soil and shallow rivers bounded by marshes of the country to
the south of the Tejo oppose serious obstacles to the establishment of
important towns, and if it were not for the vicinity of Lisbon it would
probably be uninhabited. Almada, opposite Lisbon, Seixal, Barreiro,
Aldea Gallega, and Alcochete are mere suburbs of the capital, and share
in its prosperity or adversity. Setúbal, or St. Ives, however, which
lies farther to the south, on the estuary of the Sado, and which has an
excellent harbour, suffers from too great a proximity to Lisbon, for
Portugal is not rich enough to feed two ports so close to each other.
Cezimbra, on the steep coast which terminates in Cape Espichel, to the
west of Setúbal, is likewise a decayed place, and Troja, which preceded
Setúbal as the emporium of the Sado, now lies buried beneath the dunes.
Excavations recently made on its site have led to the discovery of
Roman mosaics and of a street laid out, perhaps, by the Phœnicians; and
Link, the botanist, who visited the spot at the end of last century,
still found there the ruined courts of Moorish houses.
Setúbal, though its commercial activity is very much inferior to that
of Lisbon, still exports muscat wines, delicious oranges, and salt
procured from the ponds in its vicinity.[179] The sea near Setúbal and
Cezimbra abounds in fish and other marine animals, and in comparison
with it the Mediterranean and Bay of Biscay may almost be described
as deserts. Long before scientific men explored the bottom of the sea
the fishermen of Setúbal hauled up from a depth of 300 fathoms immense
sharks. Ordinary fish are caught in myriads, and the inhabitants of
Cezimbra feed their pigs upon sardines. When Portugal was at the
height of its commercial prosperity it supplied a considerable portion
of Europe with fish, and almost enjoyed a monopoly in cod, which was
exported even to Norway.[180]
IV.—SOUTHERN PORTUGAL. ALEMTEJO AND ALGARVE.
The mountains beyond the Tejo rarely assume the aspect of chains. For
the most part they rise but little above the surrounding plateau. This
region is the least attractive of all Portugal, and between the Tejo
and the mountains of Algarve there are only plains, monotonous hills,
woods, and naked landes. Human habitations are few and far between. The
lowlands along the Tejo and {491} the coast are covered with a thick
layer of fine sand resting upon clay, and they still exhibit clumps of
maritime pines and holm-oaks, the remains of the ancient forests which
formerly covered the whole of the country. Farther inland we reach
the great landes, or _charnecas_, covered with an infinite variety of
plants. There are heaths growing sometimes to a height of six feet,
rock-roses, juniper-trees, rosemary, and creeping oaks. But the general
aspect of the country is dreary, in spite of the white and yellow
flowers which cover it until the middle of winter, for there are hardly
any cultivated fields. The hills consist for the most part of micaceous
schists, and are covered with a monotonous growth of labdanum-yielding
rock-roses. This is a western extension of the zone of _jarales_, which
covers so many hundred square miles of the Sierra Morena and other
mountain regions of Spain.
[Illustration: Fig. 203.—MONASTERY OF THE KNIGHTS OF CHRIST AT THOMAR.]
The Serra de São Mamede (3,363 feet), on the confines of Portugal,
between the valleys of the Tejo and Guadiana, is the highest mountain
mass of Southern Portugal; but its granitic ridges, enclosing narrow
valleys between them, hardly {492} rise 1,500 feet above the general
level of the plateau. A second granitic mountain mass rises to the
south of the depression crossed by the railway from Lisbon to Badajoz.
This is the Serra de Ossa (2,130 feet). An undulating tract of country
joins it to other serras, forming steep escarpments towards the valleys
of the Guadiana and Sadão, and the monotonous plain known as Campo de
Beja (870 feet). The famous Campo de Ourique (700 feet), upon which
200,000 Moors, commanded by five kings, were defeated by the Portuguese
in the middle of the twelfth century, forms a southern continuation
of that plain. This battle, and the massacres which succeeded it,
converted the plains to the south of the Tejo into deserts.
[Illustration: Fig. 204—ESTUARY OF THE SADO.
Scale 1 : 350,000.]
The hills of that portion of Alemtejo which lies to the east of the
Guadiana belong to the system of the Sierra Morena of Spain. The
river, which separates them from the hills and plateaux of the west,
is confined in a deep and narrow gorge. At the _Pulo do Lobo_ (“wolf’s
leap”) it still descends in cataracts, and becomes navigable only at
Mertola, thirty-seven miles above its mouth.
The hills of Southern Alemtejo and Algarve, to the west of the
Guadiana, are at first mere swellings of the ground known as
_cumeadas_, or “heights of land,” but in the Serra do Malhão (1,886
feet) and the Serra da Mezquita they attain some height. A plateau,
traversed by the upper affluents of the Mira, joins the range last
mentioned to the Serra Caldeirão (1,272 feet), supposed to be named
after some ancient crater, or “caldron,” which terminates, to the
north of Cape Sines, with the Atalaya, or Sentinel (1,010 feet).
The principal range continues towards the west, and in the Serra
de Monchique (2,963 feet), a mountain mass filling up the {493}
south-western corner of Portugal, it attains its culminating point. A
steep ridge, known as Espinhaço de Cão (“dog’s back”), extends from the
latter in the direction of the Capes of St. Vincent and Sagres.
The latter was selected by Henry the Navigator as the seat of the
naval school founded by him, and from its heights he watched for the
return of the vessels which he dispatched on exploratory expeditions.
Associations such as these are far more pleasurable than those
connected with the neighbouring Cape St. Vincent, where Admiral Jervis,
in 1797, destroyed a Spanish fleet.
[Illustration: Fig. 205.—SERRA DE MONCHIQUE AND PROMONTORY OF SAGRES.
Scale 1 : 500,000.]
The hills of Sagres are of volcanic origin, and the subsidence of
portions of the coast of Algarve appears to prove that subterranean
forces are still active. Wherever this subsidence has been observed the
coast is fringed by sand-banks, thrown up by the waves of the sea, the
channel separating them from the mainland being navigable for small
vessels.
If a traveller ascend one of the culminating points of the mountains
of Algarve, he cannot fail to be struck with the remarkable contrast
existing between the districts to the north and south of him. On the
one side he looks down upon vast solitudes resembling deserts; on
the other he perceives forests of chestnut-trees, numerous villages,
towns bordering the seashore, and fleets of fishing-boats rocking
upon the blue waves. The contrasts between the inhabitants of these
two districts {494} are scarcely less striking. The inhabitants of
Alemtejo are the most solemn of Portuguese, and even object to dancing.
Very thinly scattered over the landes which they inhabit, they either
engage in agriculture or follow their herds of pigs and sheep into
the forests of holm-oaks and thickets of rock-roses. In summer they
cross the Tejo with their pigs, and pasture them in the mountains of
Beira. The population of Algarve, on the other hand, is thrice as
dense as that of Alemtejo, and not only are fields, vineyards, and
orchards carefully tended, but the sea likewise is made to yield a
portion of its food. The contrast between the two provinces is partly
accounted for by the fact that most of the great battles were fought
on the undulating plains of Alemtejo. When the Romans held the country
Alemtejo supported a numerous population, as is proved by the large
number of inscriptions found.
[Illustration: Fig. 206.—GEOLOGY OF ALGARVE.
Scale 1 : 1,500,000.]
Differences of altitude and geographical position sufficiently account
for the differences of climate existing between the two provinces.
Alemtejo, with its monotonous plains and stunted vegetation, is almost
African in its aspect, whilst Algarve, with its forests of olive-trees,
groves of date-palms, agaves, and prickly cacti, presents us with
tropical features. The mean temperature near the coast is probably no
less than 68° F. The Serra de Monchique bars the cool winds of the
north, whilst the sandy islands fringing a portion of the coast keep
off refreshing sea breezes. The hottest wind of all is that which blows
from the east. It is often laden with fever-breeding miasmata, and a
proverb says, _De Espanha nem bom vento nem bom casamento_: “Neither
good winds nor good weddings are bred in Spain.”
Villanova de Portimão, to the south of the Serra de Monchique, has
long been looked upon as the hottest place in Europe; there are,
however, several localities in Spain which rival it in that respect.
Thus much is certain, that Algarve, with {495} the lower valley of
the Guadalquivir and the southern coasts of Andalusia and Murcia,
constitutes the most torrid portion of Europe. The Arabs were quite
right when they designated Southern Lusitania and the opposite shore of
Morocco by the same name of “el Gharb;” that is, the two Algarves, or
“eastern districts.” Portuguese Algarve, in spite of the conversion of
its inhabitants to Christianity, has retained its ancient Moorish name;
and the Berber and Semitic blood is very conspicuous there.