MONEY, WEIGHTS, AND MEASURES.-Accounts are kept in reis and milreis or 1000 reis. The value of the rea is so minute that the milreis is worth only about 4s. 44d. The French metric system of weights and measures was introduced into Portugal between 1860 and 1863; but some of the old measures are still in use. The chief of these are the Portuguese libra 1012 lb. avoirdupois; the almude of Lisbon = 37, of Oporto = 5.6 imperial gallons; the alquiere = 36 of an imperial bushel; the moio = 2.78 quarters.

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RELIGION AND EDUCATION.-The established religion is the Roman Catholic. The Roman Catholic Church in Portugal is governed by a patriarch at Lisbon, two archbishops at Braga and Evora, and fourteen bishops. Conventual establishments were suppressed by decree of 28th May, 1834. Their

revenues were applied to the redemption of the national debt. Their books were collected, and form a library of 30,000 volumes at Lisbon. Though all other religions besides the Roman Catholic are tolerated, the number of dissidents from the established religion is very small. There are only about 500 Protestants, and these are mostly foreigners. Education is under a distinct ministry, and free from the supervision of the church. It is compulsory by law; but the law is not enforced, and according to the most recent information only about one in twenty of the population, or less than one-third of the children of school age, are actually in attendance at school. The only university in the kingdom is that of Coimbra, founded at Lisbon in 1290, and transferred to Coimbra in 1308.

PEOPLE, &c. The population of Portugal is in the main of the same origin as that of Spain, but the Portuguese in general is said to be less distinguished by gravity and solemnity of demeanour than the Spaniard, and the Portuguese peasant bears the character of possessing an inexhaustible fund of gaiety and good humour. The average density of the population is about 120 to the square mile. In the province of Minho it is 362 to the square mile, and in that part

of the country the population is generally in easier circumstances than in any other part, and is also better clothed and better lodged than in the contiguous provinces of Spain. In Alemtejo the density of the population is only about 40 to the square mile. The Portuguese language, originally only a dialect of Spanish, differs from the latter tongue more in its pronunciation than in its elements and structure.

GOVERNMENT AND DEFENCE, &c. The Carta Constitutional of King Pedro IV., granted 29th April, 1826, and amended 5th July, 1852, is the fundamental law of the kingdom. The crown is hereditary both in the male and female line, but with preference of the male. The constitution recognizes four powers in the state the legislative, executive, judicial, and moderating. The last, which is equivalent to prerogative, is vested in the sovereign. There are two chambers, the Camara dos Pares and the Camara dos Deputados. The two are called the Cortes Geraes. The peers are nominated by the sovereign, who also nominates the president and vice-president of the chamber. The peerage is hereditary in the direct line, but no peer can take his seat in the cortes unless he possesses an income of £500, and has taken an academical degree. An income of £22 clear qualifies an elector to vote for a member of the chamber of deputies. A deputy must have £89 per annum. A new parliament is convened without interval on the dissolution of the old. The revenue of Portugal has

been constantly deficient for more than thirty years, and more than two-fifths of it is required to meet the debt charges. The army is raised partly by conscription partly by voluntary enlistment.

COLONIES AND DEPENDENCIES.-The colonial possessions of Portugal were, like those of Spain, at one time much more extensive than they are now. The chief loss was occasioned by the secession of Brazil in 1822. At present the Portuguese colonial possessions consist of-in Asia-Goa, Salsette, Bardez, Daman, and Diu, all in Hindustan, Macao, and other possessions in the Indian Archipelago, having together an area estimated at 6944 square miles, and a population estimated at 772,000: in Africa-Cape Verde, St. Thomas, and Prince's Islands, Senegambia, Guinea, Angola, Benguela, Sofala, and Mozambique, with an aggregate area of 697,180 square miles, and an estimated population of 2,500,000. The total area of the Portuguese dominions therefore amounts to 704,124 square miles, the population to 3,272,000.

CHIEF TOWNS.—The only towns of consequence in Portugal are Lisbon, the capital, and Oporto, each of which has a population exceeding 100,000. Lisbon (Portuguese, Lisboa), beautifully situated at the mouth of the Tagus, is a very ancient town, probably of Phoenician origin. It was anciently called Olisipo, and afterwards as a Roman municipium Felicitas Julia. It was taken by the Moors in 716, remained in their possession till 1147, and was made the residence of the kings of Portugal only in 1383. The district in which it lies is subject to earthquakes, and on the first of November, 1755, the city itself was in great part destroyed by one of the most disastrous earthquakes on record, an earthquake in which upwards of 30,000 people are said to have perished. The population, including the suburbs of Olivaes and Belem, is about 265,000. Oporto or Porto

(108,000) has a situation near the mouth of the Douro not unlike that of Lisbon on the Tagus. It occupies two granite hills about 300 feet high, and is connected with its suburb of Villanova de Gaya on the opposite bank of the river by an elegant wire suspension bridge about 750 feet in length. In the interior there are numerous fountains, charming promenades, and various points commanding fine views of the town, the river, and the country round. It is the seat of various industries, the second port in the kingdom (Lisbon being the first), and above all the great place of export for the wines of the Douro, the trade in which is to a large extent in the hands of British merchants. Oporto is the ancient Portus Calensis, and has given its name to the whole kingdom.

HISTORICAL SKETCH.-See SPAIN.

THE AZORES (Portuguese, Açores) are a group of small rocky islands in the

North Atlantic Ocean,

between lat. 36° 59' and 39° 44' N., and lon. 25° 10' and 31° 7' w. They are conical in shape, lofty and precipitous, and of a very rugged but picturesque appearance. The peak of Pico rises to the height of upwards of 7000 feet. The islands are of volcanic origin, and are still subject to volcanic outbursts and earthquakes. Viewed

at a distance they seem

blasted and barren, but

on a close inspection are seen to be covered with luxuriant vegetation. The climate is benign, though somewhat humid, the soil fertile. The principal exports are wine and fruits. The islands were colonized by the Portuguese in the first half of the fifteenth century, and before that time had no human inhabitants, and scarcely any other animals except birds, particularly hawks, whence the name, signifying Hawk Islands. Area, 996 square miles; pop. 264,000.

MADEIRA is an island lying off the north-west coast of Africa, in about lat. 32° 30' N., and lon. 17° 25' w. It consists of a collection of mountains of volcanic origin, the most elevated of which is upwards of 6000 feet high; and the mountains sink in most parts almost precipitously down to the water's edge, leaving only here and there room for small fertile bays, in which the villages of the island are situated. The principal production of the island is wine, but since the appearance of the vine disease in 1852, other objects of cultivation, especially cereals, the sugar-cane, and the cochineal-fig (Opuntia cochinillifera) for the rearing of the cochineal insect, have received a larger share of attention. The sugar-cane

and the cochineal plant were, indeed, first introduced after the date mentioned. The mean annual temperature of Madeira is 65° Fahr.; and the climate, from its constant and temperate warmth, has a remarkably favourable effect on those suffering from pulmonary complaints, which renders the island a favourite resort of invalids from Britain and elsewhere. The capital is Funchal (21,000). The group of the Madeiras includes also the smaller adjacent islets of Porto Santo and the Desertas. The group was colonized by the Portuguese about the same

time as the Azores, and the name of Madeira was given to the principal island because of the magnificent forests of building timber (in Portuguese madeira) which then covered it. Area of the group, 315 square miles; pop. 206,000.

RUSSIA.

The Russian Empire is the most extensive, but not the most populous, dominion in the world, embracing a continuous stretch of territory in Europe and Asia between about lat. 38° and 78° 20' N. and lon. 18° E. and 170° w., besides several large islands in the north and east. The whole area of this territory, exclusive of the Caspian Sea, is about 8,380,000 square miles, or about

one-twentieth more than the area of the British Empire, the total population about 88,000,000, or somewhat more than a third of that of the British Empire, and perhaps only a fifth of that of the Chinese Empire. The European portion of the empire, including Russia Proper, the grand principality of Finland, and the European part of the Caucasian governments, makes up considerably more than a half of the whole area of Europe, but its population is little more than a fourth of that of the whole continent. The present section will embrace only this portion of the empire together with the Asiatic governments of the Caucasus. The length of this portion of the empire on the meridian of 45° E. is rather more than 2000 miles, the breadth on the parallel of 52° N. upwards of 1700 miles.

POLITICAL DIVISIONS.-The following table shows the area and population of the political divisions of European Russia and the governments of the Caucasus:

PHYSICAL FEATURES.-The surface of European Russia, including Finland, consists, in the most general view that can be taken of it, of two immense plains,