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Fig. 194.—DUNES OF AVEIRO.

Scale 1 : 400,000.

The current of the rivers of Northern Portugal is too great to permit of their being uti­lised as high-roads of commerce. They have ports at their mouths, but the Douro, which drains nearly a sixth of the Iberian pe­nin­sula, is the only one amongst them which fa­ci­li­tates access to an inland dis­trict. Mariners dread to approach the coast when the wind blows on shore. Be­tween the Minho and Cabo Car­voeiro, a dis­tance of 200 miles, the coast presents features very much like those of the French landes. Its original in­den­ta­tions and ir­reg­u­lar­i­ties have been ob­li­ter­ated by bar­riers of sand. The lower valley of the Vouga was for­mer­ly an in­let of the sea ex­tending far inland. The basin of Aveiro re­sembles geo­logi­cal­ly that of Arcachon. Its wa­ters abound in fish, but the Douro is the south­ern­most ri­ver of Europe visited by salmon. The abundance of life in cer­tain localities of it is fig­ur­a­tive­ly ex­pressed by a Spa­nish pro­verb, which says, “The water of the Douro is not wa­ter, but broth.”

The rec­ti­lin­ear beach of Beira-mar is lined for the most part with dunes, the old gulfs behind which are gradually being con­verted into in­sa­lub­rious swamps, fringed by heath, ferns, strawberry-trees, and broom, whilst the neigh­bour­ing forests consist of oaks and pines. Formerly these dunes invaded the cul­ti­vated portions of the country, as they still do in France, where like geological causes have produced like results. But long before a similar plan was thought of in France these Por­tu­guese dunes were planted with pines, and as early as the reign of King Diniz “the Labourer,” at the be­gin­ning of the four­teenth cen­tury, they had ceased to “march.” {477}

The population of the cultivable portions of the basins of the Minho and Douro is very dense, and in order to maintain themselves the inhabitants are forced to work zealously. Their country is the most carefully cultivated of the peninsula. In a large measure this industry is due to the fact of the peasantry being the owners of the land they cultivate, or at least affarádos—that is, copyholders—who only pay a few shillings annually to the lords of the manors. Many of the peasants are wealthy, and the women are fond of loading themselves with jewellery, amongst which necklaces made in the Moorish taste are most prominent. The cultivation of the fields is attended to with scrupulous care; and the most ingenious methods are employed for the irrigation of the upper slopes of the hills, which are frequently cut up into terraces, or geios. These Northern Portuguese are as distinguished for moral excellence as they are for industry. Their sweetness of disposition, gaiety and kindliness are the theme of universal praise, and as regards their love of dancing and music they are veritable Theocritan shepherds. Challenges in improvised verses form one of the amusements of young men. Nor is the population devoid of physical beauty. The women of Aveiro, though often enfeebled by malaria, have the reputation of being the prettiest in all Portugal.

The cultivation of the vine and the making of port wine constitute the principal branch of industry of the country. The chief vine-growing district, ordinarily known as Paiz do Vinho, lies to the north of the Douro, between the Serra de Marão and the Tua, and is exposed to the full force of the rays of the summer sun. In the middle of the seventeenth century the cultivation of this district had hardly begun. The English had not then learnt to appreciate these growths, and were content with the various Portuguese wines shipped from Lisbon. It was only after the treaty concluded by Lord Methuen in 1702 that the cultivation of the vine assumed certain dimensions in the district of the Douro, and ever since the reputation of port has been on the increase. The Marquis of Pombal founded a company for the production of wine, and the small town of Pezo da Regoa, on the Corgo, then became famous for its wine fairs, at which fortunes were lost and won, and a town of wine cellars and stores sprang up opposite the town of Porto, or Oporto, near the mouth of the Douro. For more than a hundred years port and sherry have kept their place on the tables of English gentlemen, and nearly all the wine produced on the banks of the Dóuro finds its way to England or to British colonies. Indeed, up to 1852 the best quality, known as “factory wine,” could be exported to England alone. Next to the English the Brazilians are the best customers of Oporto: they receive nearly 1,000,000 gallons of wine annually.[174]

The breeding of mules and fattening of Spanish cattle for the London market yield considerable profit. Early vegetables are forwarded not only to London but also to Rio de Janeiro. Manufactures were already of some importance in the {478} Middle Ages, and have recently been much developed by enterprising English capitalists. Oporto has cotton, linen, silk, and woollen mills, foundries and sugar refineries, and its jewellers and glove-makers enjoy a good repute. But agriculture, industry and legitimate commerce, and even the smuggling carried on in the frontier district of Bragança, do not suffice to support the ever-increasing population, and thousands emigrate annually to Lisbon and Brazil.

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