Portpatrick was long resorted to as the Gretna Green for Ireland, and was celebrated for its runaway, or irregular, marriages. The lowest sum charged was 107, payable to the parochial clergyman, who performed the marriage ceremony, and 14. to the session-clerk. The practice was aban-sides the river, which is here crossed by 2 stone doned in 1826, owing to the interference of the church courts; but in the records of these marriages during the preceding period of 50 years, there occur the names of 198 gentlemen, 15 officers of the army or navy, and 13 noblemen.

Notwithstanding Porto-Bello was formerly very strongly fortified, it was taken, with little loss, by Admiral Vernon in 1739. The importance of this exploit, and the abilities of the admiral, were, at the time, much overrated; and it was supposed that if he were furnished with an adequate force he would have little difficulty in reducing all the Spanish settlements in this quarter. But the events that took place during the next two years, and especially the failure of the attack on Carthagena, undeceived the public.

Porto-Bello was discovered, in 1502, by Columbus, its name being derived from the excellence of its harbour.

on its E. side. Where widest it is nearly 2 m. [ it is probable that Porto-Bello may recover some across; area 2,970 acres. Pop. 8,468 in 1861. The portion of its former importance. The climate is island consists of a vast mass of freestone, rising said to have been improved by an opening made in its highest point to about 450 ft. above the level in the mountains that encircle the town, and by of the sea. Its quarries, which have long been the cutting down of a portion of the adjacent famous, have furnished the stone used in the forests. building of St. Paul's cathedral and many other edifices. It has a village, several hamlets, a prison for convicts, with churches, schools, and two old castles. It is well watered, and the soil, though in most parts thin and light, is fertile, yielding fine herbage, with wheat and other grain, but not in sufficient quantities for the supply of the inhabs, The custom of gavelkind prevails in the island. Near its S. extremity, denominated Portland Bill,' in lat. 50° 31′ 22′′ N., long. 2° 26′ 49′′ W., 'are 2 lighthouses with fixed lights, elevated 198 ft, above high water. The Race of Portland' lies to the S. of the Bill. It is a ripling of the water, occasioned by the ruggedness of the ground, which impedes and breaks the course of the tide. At springs it is rather dangerous, at least for small loaded vessels. In the angle between the N. coast of the island and the opposite shore of the mainland, is Portland or Weymouth Roads, where there is excellent anchorage, with W. or N. winds, for the largest ships. But gales from the SSE., SE., and E., throw in a very heavy sea; and to protect the roads from their influence, a gigantic breakwater is now being constructed, for a notice of which see WEYMOUTH. The sea is perpetually encroaching on this island; and in 1665, 1734, and 1792, portions of the cliffs and of the land, having been undermined, fell into the sea, and sunk to a lower level. The Isle of Portland has been made a depôt for convicts, who are employed on the breakwater.

PORTOBELLO, a parl. bor. and sea-port of Scotland, co, Mid Lothian, in a plain on the S. bank of the Frith of Forth, 2 m. E. Edinburgh, on the Edinburgh and Berwick railway. Pop. 4,366 in 1861; but in summer its pop., owing to the influx of visitors from Edinburgh, is much larger. The bor. has a chapel of ease attached to the establishment, a Free church, and chapels belonging to the Episcopalians, Independents, and Relief. The main street lies along the line of the public road running E. and W.; a number of cross streets diverge from it, leading down to the sea beach, or stretching in the opposite direction. Some of these consist of lines of detached villas. Separate villas, also, abound throughout the town, some of them fronting the sea. No fixed plan has been observed in laying out the town, which has a straggling appearance, and some of the older parts are very mean.

an eligible permanent residence.

Portobello derives its name from the first house having been built by an individual who had been with Admiral Vernon, in 1739, at Portobello.' The Reform Act united it with Leith and Musselburgh in sending 1 mem. to the H. of C. Registered electors in the united bor. 2,501 in 1861. Municipal councillors, 9.

PORTO-BELLO, a famous sea-port and town of Colombia, on the Caribbean Sea, on the N. side of the isthmus uniting the two great continents of Adjacent to Portobello is the village of Joppa, N. and S. America, at the point where it is less now almost a part of it. There is no harbour at than 40 m. across; lat. 9° 24′ 29′′ N., long. 79° either place. There are manufactories of bricks, 43' 35" W. The town, now greatly fallen off, is tiles, earthenware, glass, and crystal. Fire-clay built along the shore, at the foot of a mountain abounds on the E. point of Joppa, where fire-bricks range which surrounds and shelters the harbour. are manufactured to a considerable extent. It is But this barrier, at the same time that it protects estimated that the average number of visitors for the port, prevents the circulation of the air, and, sea-bathing in the town, from May to Oct., combined with the heavy periodical rains, the in- amounts to 500 or 600. And, owing to the salufluence of the surrounding forests, and the ex-brity of its situation, many families resort to it as cessive heat, renders this locality a favourite seat of yellow fever, and one of the most unhealthy places in the world. Owing, however, to the excellence of its port, which is one of the finest that can be imagined, and its contiguity to Panama, on the opposite side of the isthmus, it was, for a lengthened period, an important commercial entrepot. Down to 1740, the galleons from Old Spain, with merchandise for the Spanish Main, Peru, and the W. coast of America, used to rendezvous at Porto-Bello, about the same time that the Peru fleet arrived at Panama, the gold and silver, and other produce brought by the latter, being conveyed across the isthmus by means of oxen and conversely. As soon as the galleons had unloaded, and the merchandise from Panama had arrived, a fair was held, which was attended by a great concourse of strangers, and when a deal of business was transacted. But in 1740 the galleons ceased to resort to Porto-Bello, the commerce with Peru and W. America having been since carried on direct by vessels that sailed round Cape Horn. In consequence, the importance of Porto-Bello rapidly declined; and the advantages of its port not being sufficient to countervail the unhealthiness of its climate, it is now comparatively deserted. But should the project for effecting a communication across the isthmus. by canal or railway, take effect,

PORTO FERRAJÓ, a sea-port and the principal town of the island of Elba, which see.

PORTO-RICO (Span. Puerto Rico), one of the W. Indian Islands belonging to Spain, being the smallest and most E. of the Greater Antilles; chiefly between lat. 17° 55' and 18° 30′ N., and long. 65° 40′ and 67° 20′ W.; having N. the Atlantic, and S. the Caribbean Sea, separated on the E. from the Virgin Islands by the Virgin Passage, and from Hayti on the W. by Mona Passage, 80 m. across. Its shape is that of a parallelogram, the length E. to W. being about 100 m., and the breadth about 38 m. Area, 3,700 sq. m. Under the old colonial system of Spain, in 1788, the pop. did not exceed 80,650; whereas it amounted, in 1860, according to the official returns, to 583,308, of whom 300,430 were pure whites,' and 282,878 coloured people. A mountain chain runs E. and W. through the centre of the island; the highest summit of which, at the NE. extremity, is about

nish clothes and money in advance, at an enormous interest, to the cultivators, from whom they receive their crop at a certain price, generally less than half its value. The soil in many places is particularly suitable for the growth of cotton, the culture of which has been very greatly extended within the last half dozen years. Indigo grows spontaneously, but is not cultivated; and few European vegetables are raised, though the greater number might be produced without difficulty.

3000 ft. in height. Numerous rivers have their sources in this chain, flowing on either side to the sea, some of which are navigable for 2 or 3 leagues from their mouth, for schooners and coasting vessels. The coast line is indented with numerous bays and creeks, some of which form excellent harbours for ships of large burden. The surface, which is finely diversified, is well watered, and the soil is generally rich and fertile. The climate is supposed to be less unhealthy, and better adapted to Europeans, than in most of the Antilles; it differs widely, however, in different parts; the N. coast being especially subject to heavy rains, and the S. to droughts. Violent hurricanes often do immense damage. Porto-Rico is singularly destitute of wild animals. There are no indigenous quadrupeds; and scarcely any of the feathered tribe are to be found in the forests. The birds are few both in number and species; and travellers may go whole leagues without seeing a bird or even hearing their chirp. On the rivers there are a few water-fowl, and in the forests the green parrot. Almost every other island in the W. Indies is infested by snakes, and other noxious reptiles. Here are none. But rats of an enormous size, and in great numbers, infest the country, and sometimes commit dreadful ravages on the sugar-poorer landowners, giving them cows, and calves canes; and although continually persecuted, their numbers do not decrease.

The resources of Porto-Rico are wholly agricultural; no manufactures exist, nor have any mines of gold or silver, or other mineral products, been hitherto explored.

Agriculture is in a very backward state, and the island suffers greatly from want of roads. Mr. Cowper, British consul at Porto-Rico, in his 'Report on the Trade of Porto-Rico for the Year, 1864' (Commercial Reports received at the Foreign Office, Oct. 1865), says, that if good roads were made throughout the country, the cultivation of the land would greatly increase, for at present a large amount of rich and fertile land in the interior is left uncultivated through the want of roads. The south coast of the island is generally occupied with sugar plantations, but most other parts of the island exhibit a promiscuous cultivation, plantations of sugar being intermixed with those of coffee, and with field-rice, maize, plantains, tobacco, and pasture. Artificial irrigation is nowhere practised; but notwithstanding the drought which prevails in the S., plenty of water for the cane is found at about 2 ft. below the surface. The average produce of sugar per acre, for the whole of Porto-Rico, is estimated at 30 cwt., being more than double the quantity raised on the best lands in the most favoured of the British Antilles. The coffee is of a peculiarly good quality, much care being taken in plucking and preparing it. The trees, which mostly belong to small proprietors, grow to a great height, and sometimes yield from 20 to 40 lbs. each. Every poor family has 20 or 30 trees; and even in the woods trees are to be found in a wild state, laden with coffee. The labourers at the harvest come into the market, some with 50 lbs.. others with a cwt., and so on, being the surplus of their little crops, after leaving enough for the use of their families for the season. This they sell to the merchants, to purchase articles of clothing. The plant on the large estates is pruned and cut low, and yields, at an average, 1 lb. per tree. The tobacco of Porto-Rico, which is but little inferior to that of Cuba, is wholly the produce of free labour. Poor families, white and black, plantor acre, and cure and dispose of the produce to the shopkeepers in the villages, who are generally agents for the more extensive merchants of the capital. These shopkeepers fur

The pasture lands in the N. and E. are superior to any in the W. Indies for breeding and fattening cattle. Cattle-breeding is, perhaps, more profitable here than any other branch of agriculture, but, owing to the subdivision of property, few individuals possess so many as 1,000 head of cattle. In the breeding districts, where there are no arable lands, the cattle are permitted to roam at large, as on the American continent, but on a smaller scale; elsewhere they are penned up in enclosed meadows. They are mostly reared in the valleys distant from the coast, whence the carriage of sugar and coffee would be too expensive for the cultivator. The larger proprietors, who have from 100 to 150 head, if they have not sufficient pasture land of their own, divide their stock among the

already weaned, to be taken care of; and dividing the produce of the animals, when sold, with them, in a certain proportion. The cattle are turned into the fattening pastures at a year old, and in 3 or 4 months are fit for sale. A considerable traffic has long been carried on in cattle from this island with the French, English, and Danish W. I. Islands; for, in consequence of their being tamer, they are easier managed on board ship, and are not so liable to die or fall off at sea as the wilder cattle of the American continent. The home supplies of cheese and butter are insufficient for the consumption. The island is not adapted for wool growing, the fleece of the sheep degenerating into a species of hair; but the mutton is excellent. The numbers of sheep, goats, hogs, mules, and asses are, however, very limited; but there are, probably, above 80,000 horses of a tolerably good breed. The forests in the interior supply timber of the best quality for ship and house building; and to prevent their decrease, the government has ordered that three trees should be planted for every one cut down.

Previously to 1815, Porto-Rico, being excluded from all direct intercourse with other countries excepting Old Spain, was either stationary or but slowly progressive, the entire value of the exports in that year having amounted to only 65,274 dollars. But at that epoch a royal decree appeared, which exempted the trade between Spain and the Spanish colonies and Porto-Rico from all duties for 15 years; and she was then, also, permitted to carry on a free trade, under reasonable duties, with other countries. In consequence principally of these liberal measures, but partly also, of a considerable immigration of rich Spanish colonists from S. America, Porto-Rico has latterly made a most extraordinary progress. Great improvements have been effected in the police and internal administration, and roads have been constructed in some parts of the island. But at present,' says Mr. Cowper, writing in 1865, there are no railways, canals, drains, telegraphs, or waterworks, all of which are greatly needed to ensure the health, happiness, and prosperity of the people. None of these can be done without foreigners and their capital of this the Spanish gov. is well aware.'

The following table, taken from the official report of Mr. Cowper, British consul at Porto-Rico, shows the value of the imports and exports of the

different ports of the island of Porto-Rico in the cavala duties were abolished in 1815, and the subyear 1864

IMPORTATION

Ports

EXPORTATION

Total

Dolls Cta 925,597 72

971,646 06

Ponce

3,564,774 69 Ponce

822,309 49

341,679 55

Arroyo.

449,691 87

Naguabo
Arecibo

316,152 70
331,921 51
264,395 78
201,176 82

57,613 50

Total in 1864 9,932,600 41 Total in 1864 4,787,582 36
1863 10,513,765 87
1863 5,557,194 79
769,612 43

Decrease

581,165 46 Decrease

sidy, or direct contribution on landed property, established instead. The total revenue of the colony was set down, in the Spanish budget of 1862–63, at 2,000,000 reales. The chief towns of the island are San Juan de Porto-Rico, the cap., Mayaguez, Ponce, Aguadilla, and Fagardo.

Porto-Rico, when discovered by Columbus, in 1493, is supposed, though probably on no very good grounds, to have had 600,000 inhabs., who were, in no very long time, almost exterminated. In the latter part of the 17th century it was taken by the English; but, from the prevalence of dysentery, they were soon after obliged to abandon it; since which time it has been mostly in the quiet posses105,397 35 sion of Spain. A revolutionary movement, which broke out in 1820, was put an end to in 1823. PORTO-RICO (SAN JUAN DE), the principal city and sea-port of the above island, of which it is the cap., on rising ground, at the extremity of a peninsula, joined to the land by a narrow isthmus; lat. 18° 29' 10" N., long, 66° 7' 2" W. Pop. 21,190 in 1860. The town, which lies along the E. side of the harbour, is strongly fortified. The streets cross each other at right angles: being on a declivity it is well drained, and may be considered as one of the best and healthiest towns in the W. Indies. In the earlier part of the present century, most of the houses were of wood; but at present, except in the suburbs, not a wooden house is to be seen, and they are principally two stories high. There are some good public buildings, including the bishop's palace, and seminary; the royal military hospital, with 350 beds; public gaol, house of correction, a handsome theatre, town-house, with a magnificent public hall, and several convents. The

Among the leading articles imported are cotton manufactures, woollen do., drapery goods, and silk manufactures.

The necessaries, and many of the comforts, of life are enjoyed by the great majority of the inhabs. of Porto-Rico. The Xivaros, a name applied to all the whites below the better classes, swing themselves to and fro in their hammocks all day long, smoking their cigars, and scraping a guitar. A few coffee plants and plantain trees, a cow and a horse, an acre of land, in corn or sweet potatoes, constitute the property of what would be denominated a comfortable Xivaro; who, mounted on his meagre and hard-worked horse, with his long sword protruding from his basket, dressed in a broad-government house, though old and sombre-looking, brimmed straw hat, cotton jacket, clean shirt, and check pantaloons, sallies forth from his cabin to mass, to a cock-fight, or to a dance, thinking himself the most independent and happy being in existence. The houses of all classes, in the country, are usually built of wood. The windows have no glass; they are shut with sliding boards; so that when it rains, or when the wind blows with violence, the family remains in darkness. The roofs of the better class of houses are covered with wooden shingles. There are scarcely any inns for travellers either in the towns or country.

has some fine apartments. The cathedral is a large, unfinished, heavy fabric; there are several other churches, with a custom-house and arsenal. The harbour has a striking resemblance to that of the Havannah, to which it is but little inferior. Its entrance, about 300 fathoms in width, has the Morro Castle, at the NW. corner of the city, on its E. side, and is defended on the W., or opposite side, by forts erected on two small islands. Within it expands into a capacious basin, the depth of water varying from 5 to 6 and 7 fathoms. On its W. side, opposite to the city, there are extensive sandThe government, laws, and institutions are nearly banks; but the entrance to the harbour, and the similar to those established by Spain in the rest of harbour itself, is unobstructed by any bar or shallow. her Transatlantic colonies. Porto-Rico is governed Porto-Rico is the residence of the governor, and by a captain-general, whose authority is supreme the seat of the superior courts for the island. It in military affairs, and who is president of the has a society for the promotion of the fine arts, royal audiencia for civil matters. The latter court with numerous public schools and hospitals. It is composed of the captain-general, a regent, three engrosses a large portion of the commerce of the judges, a fiscal, two reporters, and a marshal; and island, and has, in consequence, attained to conis superior to all other constituted authorities, in-siderable distinction among the emporiums of the cluding the ecclesiastical tribunal. The captain- W. Indies. general has a junta, or council of the principal military officers. In the seven towns and villages, which are the caps. of departments, justice is administered by the mayors: in the smaller towns and villages by inferior magistrates, called lieutenants, who determine debts under 100 dollars, act as justices of the peace, collect the duty of subsidy, receiving 6 per cent. on the collections. They are appointed by the captain-general, who also appoints the clergy to their different livings, on the recommendation of the bishop. Public instruction is Portsea Island, which has Portsmouth at its very backward; but schools, though few, are in- SW. extremity, is about 4 m. in length (N. and S.), creasing. The island is divided into seven mili- and from 2 to 3 m. in breadth, between Portsmouth tary deps., each under the command of a Spanish Harbour on the one side, and Langstone Harbour colonel. The regular military force comprises on the other: it is connected with the mainland, about 10,000, and the militia about 46,000 men. at its N. extremity, by a stone bridge, and is geThe naval force consists of a man-of-war, a schooner, nerally fertile and well cultivated, producing exand about a dozen gun-boats. The tithes and al-cellent crops of corn, and large quantities of par

PORTSMOUTH, including its suburb of Portsea, a parl. bor, and sea-port town of England, the principal naval arsenal of Great Britain, and the chief station of the fleet, co. Hants, on the W. side of Portsea Island, at the entrance to Portsmouth Harbour, opposite Gosport, and on the N. side of the Channel, separating the Isle of Wight from the mainland. 16 m. SE. Southampton, and 65 m. SW. London, on the London and South Western railway. Pop. of bor. 94,799 in 1861.

diately to the E. and N. of Portsca, have nothing, in point of appearance to recommend them; their inhabs, are, in a great measure, retail tradesmen and workmen employed by government. Newtown (Mile End), Kingston, and Buckland, E. of the foregoing, are cheerful and agreeable suburbs, principally extending along the London Road, and inhabited by the same classes as those residing in Southsea. Immediately without the walls of Portsmouth, stretching along the shore, is Southsea Common, a fine large open space, used for reviews and military inspections, and a favourite place for public recreation.

icularly fine garden vegetables. Its coasts are well defended, at numerous points, by strong military works, including, together with the fortifications of Portsmouth itself, Fort Cumberland, Southsea Castle, and a long line of intrenched works at Hilsea. The external appearance of Portsmouth and Portsea is greatly embellished by the fine trees which ornament their ramparts; and few towns exhibit so imposing an approach as Portsea at its principal entrance from London. The entrances to Portsmouth, the older and more southerly part of the parl. bor., are much less striking; but its interior is far superior to that of its neighbour. Portsmouth may be generally described as consisting of three or four parallel streets, crossed at right angles by two or three other lines of thoroughfares. High Street, the principal, with its angular continuation, Broad, or Point Street, runs entirely through the centre of the town; it is wide and handsome, having on either side many large and excellent houses, several public buildings, and some very superior hotels. It has also been much improved by the removal, in 1836, of the old town hall, an unsightly brick building, which previously stood about its middle, blocking up the greater part of the coach-road. Many good private houses are to be met with in the other streets, and on the Grand Parade, a spacious open area, used for garrison inspections, and for the daily muster of the several guards; but in general the private buildings are of an inferior character, and the back streets, particularly those at the Point and toward the N. part of the town, are of the lowest character. The Point is a small penin-float the largest men-of-war at any time of the sula stretching W. to form the mouth of the harbour, and mostly beyond the walls of the town. It is, with the opposite part of Portsea, the principal seat of naval traffic, most of the ship agents and brokers having their offices here, and, in time of war especially, it presents a scene of the greatest activity.

Portsea, which has entirely grown up since the beginning of last century, on a tract formerly called Portsmouth Common, N. of Portsmouth, now greatly surpasses the latter in extent and pop. It is divided into two nearly equal parts by its main thoroughfare, Queen Street, which runs for about 4 m. in a direct line from Lion Gate, and is lined on each side with shops, many of which emulate those of the Strand or Fleet Street. Some few of the other streets, as St. James's Street, King Street, and the Common Hard, are tolerably broad and well built; but, except these, none of the others approach even to mediocrity. The houses in Portsea are rarely more than two stories in height, and their fronts are but seldom stuccoed. It has but one handsome open space and few public buildings. Both towns are well paved, well plied with water, and well lighted with gas.

The importance of Portsmouth, like that of Plymouth, depends wholly on the excellence of her harbour, and on her convenient situation as a place for the outfit and rendezvous of the fleets in the Channel, or of those cruising off the coasts of France and Spain. It is this that has made her be selected as the principal station of the navy, and has consequently advanced her to the highest destination as a naval depôt. The harbour, which is unequalled in Great Britain, and surpassed but by few in the world, has a narrow entrance, not exceeding 220 yards in width, between Portsmouth and Gosport; but within its width increases, and it expands into a noble basin capable of containing the larger part of the navy of Great Britain. There is a bar outside the entrance to the harbour; but as it has about 13 ft. water over it, even at the lowest spring ebbs, it can hardly be said to be any obstruction to the navigation; and within the harbour there is water sufficient to

tide. The anchoring ground is excellent; and, being free from sunken rocks, or other obstructions, ships lie as securely in it as if they were in dock.

The

The dockyard, which comprises about 120 acres, lies along the E. side of the harbour. It comprises all the establishments necessary for the construction and repair of ships of war, and for their outfit with the greatest despatch, including numerous building and graving docks, partly opening into the harbour, and partly into a large basin, which communicates with the latter. Along the quay, fronting the harbour, extends a noble line of warehouses, having in its centre a handsome octagonal observatory. In the rope-house, nearly 1,200 ft. in length, cables are twisted to the extent of 30 inches in circumference; and the anchor forge produces anchors of the largest size. iron and copper mills, the copper foundry, where the copper is rolled into sheets for sheathing by steam-power, the rigging and mast-houses, timber berths, saw-pits, seasoning sheds and mast-ponds, are all on the most extensive scale. Probably, however, the most interesting machinery is that sup-invented, or, at all events, vastly improved, by Sir Isambert Brunel, for cutting blocks. It is exceedingly ingenious, and has been productive of a vast saving of labour. During the late war upwards of 4,000 working-men were employed in Portsmouth dockyard, of whom 1,500 were shipwrights and caulkers; but in time of peace the numbers are greatly reduced.

The suburbs beyond the walls comprise at least half the parl. bor., their more densely peopled portion extending over a space fully as large, if not larger, than that occupied by the two towns. Of these suburbs, Southsea alone has any pretensions to beauty. It consists of a succession of well built terraces facing the sea, and the E. ramparts of Portsmouth, being inhabited principally by naval, military, and government civil officers, and visitors resorting thither during the summer season. Behind these terraces are a number of tolerable streets, and some new squares. Elm Grove and Somerstown are sections of this suburb; the former, a little further eastward, consists of a series of elegant detached villas, surrounded by fine plantations and gardens, commanding prospects of Spithead and the Isle of Wight, and inhabited by opulent individuals. Landport and Flathouse, imme

In the dockyard are the navy pay office, the residences of the part-admiral, the admiral-superintendent, and the heads of the principal departments of the estab. The port-admiral's residence, formerly that of the commissioner (whose duties are now performed by the superintendent), is an elegant editice of white brick, surrounded by gardens. Near it is the Royal Naval College, a spacious dark brick edifice, erected in 1729, its centre surmounted by a cupola and observatory well furnished with instruments. Here youths intended for the navy were formerly instructed in naviga