there are, in reality, many varieties of wines produced in this district, yet such is the degree to which the manipulations, admixtures and adulterations of these wines have been carried, that Port wine has come to be considered as a peculiar species of liquor, of nearly uniform flavor and strength, varying, indeed, in quality, but admitting few degrees of excellence; whereas the liquor sold under this name is, in fact, a compound of a great number of wines of very different quality, with a large admixture of brandy. The wine country of the Upper Douro begins at about fifty miles from Oporto, and is under the superintendence of a company vested with great privileges. The better wines, under the name of factory wines, are destined for exportation; those designed for the English market are called vinhos de embarque, or export wines, and those for other countries vinhos separados, or assorted wines. The wine is first placed in large tuns, in which it remains till winter, when it is racked into pipes, and conveyed to Oporto. To that intended for exportation, brandy is added when it is deposited in the stores, and an addi-, tional quantity when it is shipped, generally about a year after the vintage. It is then of a dark purple color, a full body, with an astringent bitter-sweet taste, and a strong flavor and odor of brandy. After remaining some years in the wood, the sweetness, roughness, and astringency of the flavor, abate; but it is not until it has been kept ten or fifteen years in bottle that the odor of the brandy is subdued, and the genuine aroma of the wine is developed. When a very large portion of the extractive and coloring matter is precipitated in the form of a crust, the wine becomes tawny, and loses its flavor and aroma. This is very apt to be the case in the wines made from white grapes, and colored with elder berries or other materials-a common practice when there is a deficiency of the black grapes. Port wines of excellent quality are often so highly adulterated with brandy as to be entirely deprived of their flavor and aroma; and the stronger kinds, which are not irretrievably ruined by this admixture, only regain their flavor after being allowed to mellow for many years. Port wine (if the liquor thus described may be so called) was introduced into very general use in England by the Methuen treaty (1703), and the frequent and protracted hostilities between England and France kept it in vogue till the peace of 1815, since which the taste for light wines has been revived

there, so as materially to lessen the consumption of the strong wines of Portugal. The Port wines, abounding in the astringent principle, and deriving additional potency from brandy, may be serviceable in disorders in which gentle tonics are required; but gallic acid renders them unfit for weak stomachs, and the excitement they produce is of rather a sluggish nature. -See Wines; see, also, Henderson, on wines (London, 1824).

PORT; a harbor or haven on the seacoast.-Free Port is one open and free for merchants of all nations to load and unload their vessels in, without paying any duty or customs: such are the ports of Genoa and Leghorn.-Free Port is also used for a total exemption and franchise which any set of merchants enjoy, for goods imported into a state, or those of the growth of the country exported by them.

PORT is also a name given, on some occasions, to the larboard or left side of the ship, as Port the helm-the order to put the helm over to the larboard side of the vessel, when going large. This word appears intended to prevent any mistakes happening from the similarity of sounds in the words starboard and larboard, particularly when orders are given relating to the helm.

PORT, or PORT HOLE. The embrasures or openings in the side of a ship of war, wherein the artillery is ranged in battery upon the decks, above and below, are called ports, or port holes.-Gun-room ports are situated in the ship's counter, and are used for stern-chases, and also for passing a small cable or a hawser out, either to moor, head and stern, or to spring upon the cable, &c.-Lower-deck ports are those on the lowest gun-deck.-Middle-deck ports are those on the second or middle gundeck of three-deckers. The port holes are shut up in storms, to prevent the water from driving through them.-Port lids; a sort of hanging doors, to shut in the ports at sea. They are fastened by hinges to the upper edges of the ports, so as to let down when the cannon are drawn into the ship, whereby the water is prevented entering the lower decks.-Port Hooks; hooks over the ports, to which the port hinges are attached.

PORT-AU-PRINCE. (See Port Républi

cain.)

PORT JACKSON. (See New South Wales, and Sydney.)

PORT MAHON. (See Mahon.)

PORT RÉPUBLICAIN; formerly Port-auPrince, capital of the republic of Hayti (q. v.), on the western side of the island,

at the south-east extremity of the bay of the same name; lat. 18° 33′ N.; lon. 72° 27' W. It is built in a low and unhealthy spot, with broad but unpaved streets, and contains the president's palace, several literary institutions, a lazaretto, and other public buildings. Besides the military school, the pupils of which are instructed gratuitously, there are several monitorial schools. Commerce is the principal occupation of the inhabitants. In 1824, 131 American, 18 English, 6 German, and 33 French vessels entered the port, and the value of the imports amounted to 16,500,000 francs. The amount of exports-coffee, cotton, Campeachy wood, &c. was much greater. The population, which, in 1790, was 15,000 (of whom 12,000 were blacks), is now estimated at 30,000. The city was founded in 1745, and was completely destroyed by an earthquake in 1770. In 1830, it experienced several shocks, some of which did considerable damage.

PORT ROYAL; a seaport of the island of Jamaica. (q. v.)

PORT ROYAL DES CHAMPS; a Cistercian convent, founded in 1233, not far from Versailles, and about six leagues from Paris, played an important part in the Jansenistic controversy. (See Arnauld, and Jansenius.) The abbess Angelica, sister of Antony Arnauld, had brought it into closer connexion with the theologians of Paris by founding a new convent in the suburb of St. Jacques in Paris (1626), which, in distinction from the parent establishment, was called Port Royal de Paris. She had also revived the monastic austerity in the two houses. The nuns of Port Royal adhered, under the influence of their protector, Jean de Vergier du Havranne, abbot of St. Cyran, to the Jansenists, and their house in the country became the sanctuary of the party, when the most eloquent theologians and defenders of Jansenism-Nicole, the brothers Arnauld and Lemaitre-took up their residence at Port Royal des Champs, in a separate building, called Les Granges. Here they participated in the penances and labors of the nuns, and set up a school, in which, in opposition to the lax system of the Jesuits, they inculcated a purer morality, and aimed at a more thorough course of study, with useful improvements in the method of instruction. The celebrated Anne of Bourbon, duchess of Longueville, came into the neighborhood, and became their patroness; Boileau was their friend, and Racine their grateful pupil. The latter wrote a history of

Port Royal. This society presented a union of great talents, profound learning and sincere piety, which has rarely been equalled: penitents of all conditions joined it, and the fame of its sanctity spread over the Catholic world. Trusting to their reputation, the nuns refused to subscribe the bull of Alexander VII against the disputed doctrines of Jansenius, and sustained themselves, after their protectors had been expelled, through numerous humiliations, until the beginning of the eighteenth century, when their continued adherence to the Jansenist doctrines, which had gone out of vogue, resulted in the suppression and complete destruction of the abbey by the Paris police (1709). Its ruins still form a place of pilgrimage for the more devout Parisian, and Grégoire has erected a monument to its memory in his work entitled Les Ruines de Port Royal (1809).

PORTAGE is used in the U. States for a carrying place over land between navigable rivers. In several instances this name has been given to settlements in the vicinity of such carrying places.

PORTAMENTO DI VOCE (Italian, conduct of the voice), in music, signifies the skill of the singer to connect one sound so closely with the others, that no interruption is perceptible, and that all seem to be but one long breathing. The art of the singer, in this respect, is to breathe at the proper time.

PORTCULLIS, in fortification, is an assemblage of several large pieces of wood, joined across one another like a harrow, and each pointed with iron at the bottom. They are sometimes hung over the gateway of old fortified towns, ready to be let down in case of surprise, when the gates cannot be shut.

PORTE, OTTOMAN, or Sublime PORTE; the court of the Turkish sultan, so called from the gate (porta in Italian) of the imperial palace. (See Ottoman Empire.)

PORTER, Sir Robert Ker, was born at Durham. His mother was left a widow with five children, and in scanty circumstances. Robert early manifested an uncommon genius for drawing, many of his sketches, made when he was only six years of age, being remarkable for their spirit; and, in 1790, he became a student at the royal academy, under the auspices of Mr. West. Not more than two years had elapsed, since his commencing his studies at the academy, when he was employed to paint the figures of Moses and Aaron, for the communion-table of Shoreditch church. In 1794, he presented to

the Roman Catholic chapel, at Portsea, an altar-piece representing Christ calming the storm; and, in 1798, he gave to St. John's college, Cambridge, an altar-piece, the subject of which is St. John preaching in the wilderness. He was only twenty-two when he began his large picture of the storming of Seringapatam. Though it contained nearly seven hundred figures as large as life, it was finished in ten weeks; nor did it hear any marks of haste, it being, both in composition and coloring, a work of high merit. It was succeeded by two other pictures of the same magnitude-the Siege of Acre, and the Battle of Agincourt. In 1804, he was invited to Russia by the emperor, who made him his historical painter. He consequently visited St. Petersburg, where he was received with distinction, and employed to decorate the admiralty hall, in the Russian capital. While residing there, he gained the affections of the princess Scherbatoff, and was on the point of marrying her, when a rupture with England obliged him to leave Russia. He passed into Sweden to join the British forces under sir John Moore, whom he accompanied to Spain, sharing in the hardships and perils of the campaign, which ended with the battle of Corunna. After having remained for some time in England, he again went to Russia, and received the hand of the princess Scherbatoff. With her he revisited his native country, where, in 1813, he obtained the honor of knighthood. From 1817 to 1820 inclusive, he was engaged in travelling through the East; and, in the course of his travels, explored the countries from the banks of the Black sea to the Euphrates, and from the Euphrates to the mouth of the Persian gulf. Among his works are Travelling Sketches in Russia and Sweden (2 vols., 4to., 1808); Letters from Portugal and Spain (8vo., 1809); Narrative of the Campaign in Russia (1813); Travels in Georgia, Persia and Armenia (1822). PORTER. The quantity of beer, ale and porter imported into the U. States in the year ending September 30, 1830, was 65,260 gallons, valued at 60,420 dollars; the quantity exported was 3866 gallons, valued at 3925 dollars. (For the manufacture of porter, see Brewing, vol. ii, p. 213.)

PORTICI. (See Naples, and Herculaneum.)

PORTICO (Italian, from porticus, Lat.); a continued range of columns, covered at top, in order to serve as a shelter from the

weather; also a common name for buildings which had such covered walks supported by pillars. Among the ancients, these were highly ornamented, and of great extent. The remains of the portico at Palmyra (q. v.) show it to have been full 4000 feet long. There was a famous portico at Athens, called Pœcile. (q. v.) Among modern porticoes, those of the grand façade of the Louvre and of the great court of the hospital of invalids at Paris, and that at Greenwich hospital, deserve mention.

PORTIUNCULA. (See Franciscans.)

PORTLAND. The Bentinck family is Dutch, the founder of it in England having been count Bentinck, created earl of Portland by William III; his son was created duke by George the First. The grandson of the latter, William Henry Cavendish Bentinck, third duke, was born in 1738, and, after sitting for some time in the house of commons, was called to the upper house by the death of his father, in 1762, from which time he voted with the marquis of Rockingham (q. v.), in whose administration he was lord chamberlain. During the American war, he acted with the opposition, and, in 1782, was appointed lord lieutenant of Ireland, where he remained only three months, in consequence of the death of the marquis of Rockinghamn.

From the accession of Pitt, the duke acted with the whig opposition until 1792, when he was elected chancellor of Oxford, and, joining with Mr. Burke in his alarm at the French revolution, he supported administration. He was accordingly, in 1794, made secretary of state for the home department, which he held until the resignation of Mr. Pitt, in 1801, and was then appointed president of the council, which he held until 1805. On the resignation of lord Grenville, in 1807, he was appointed first lord of the treasury, which office he resigned soon after, and died in 1808. The present duke of Portland (born in 1768) was lord privy seal in Canning's administration, and lord president of the council in that of Goderich.

PORTLAND; a post-town, port of entry and commercial metropolis of the state of Maine. It stands on a peninsula in Casco bay, and has a beautiful and healthy situation, and one of the best harbors in America; north-north-east from Boston, 110 miles; from Portsmouth, 54; from Washington, 542; latitude of Observatory hill, 43° 39′ N.; lon. 70° 20′ 30′′ W.; population, in 1820, 8581; in 1830, 12,601. The town is well laid out, and is built

in a very convenient and elegant style. There are very few towns in America which are so pleasant to the eye of the traveller. It contains fifteen meetinghouses, including two for Christians (q. v.), one for Roman Catholics, one for Africans and one for mariners; also a custom-house, a theatre, an atheneum containing a library of 3000 volumes, and six banks, including the branch bank of the U. States. The harbor is very safe and capacious, and is never frozen, except for a few days in the coldest winters. On a head land on cape Elizabeth, near the entrance of the harbor, there is a stone lighthouse, seventy feet high, erected in 1790. The town is defended by forts Preble and Scammel, on opposite sides of the ship channel, one mile and a half from the lighthouse. The islands around the harbor are very numerous and beautiful, and protect it against the violence of storins. The shipping belonging to this port, in 1821, amounted to 33,619 tons; and on the 30th of Sept., 1831, it amounted to 42,992 tons, and consisted of 25 ships, 98 brigs, 208 schooners, 33 sloops, 3 steam-boats, and 31 vessels under 20 tons. The principal articles of export are lumber and fish. Much attention is paid to education. The town supports one English high school for boys; two mouitorial schools for boys, and two for girls; six primary schools, and one for colored children. One academy, two high schools for females, and several other schools, are supported at private expense. Portland was formerly a part of Falmouth, and, in 1775, the principal part of the town was burned by the British. It was incorporated by its present name in 1786.

PORTLAND STONE is a dull, whitish species, much used in buildings about London. It is composed of a coarse grit cemented together by an earthy spar.

PORTLAND VASE (formerly called the Barberini Vase); one of the most beautiful relics of antiquity of the kind. It is a funeral vase, and was discovered near Rome, during the pontificate (16221644) of Urban VIII (Barberini), in a sarcophagus, which is supposed to have been that of Alexander Severus and Julia Mammæa, his mother. It was bought of the Barberini family in 1786, by the late duke of Portland, for 1000 guineas. Its height is about ten inches, and its diameter, where broadest, six. There are several figures on it of exquisite workmanship, in basso relievo, in white opaque glass, on a ground of deep blue glass, which appears black except when held

against the light. Veltheim (Hist. und Antiq. Abhandl., 1800) thinks that it represents the history of Alceste, who is restored to Admetus by Hercules, but that on the sarcophagus, which is still in the Vatican, is represented the quarrel of Achilles and Agamemnon about Briseis.See Wedgwood's Description of the Portland Vase (London, 1790, 4to.). PORTO. (See Oporto.)

PORTO BELLO (properly Puerto Velo); a harbor and city of New Grenada, on the isthmus of Panama, forty-five miles N.W. of the city of Panama. It is situated on the Caribbean sea, and has a large and safe harbor; lat. 90° 24′ N.; lon. 79° 43′ W. It was never very populous, even in its most flourishing period, and its population is now much reduced; we have no precise data relative to it. The Spanish galleons formerly came here annually to receive on board the rich exports of Peru and Chile, which were landed at Panama, and transported across the isthmus; but it was captured several times by the English; and, in 1740, its fortifications were destroyed by admiral Vernon, from which period the articles above-mentioned were carried round cape Horn. (See Panama, Isthmus of.)

PORTO CABELLO, or Puerto CABELLO; a town of Venezuela, on the Caribbean sea; lat. 10° 28′ N.; lon. 68° 17′ W. k is built partly on a small island, which communicates with the continent by a bridge. It has a capacious and safe harbor, and a population of less than 5,000. PORTO RICO. (See Appendix, end of this volume.)

PORTO SANTO. (See Madeira.)
PORT ROYAL. (See page 268.)

PORTS, CINQUE. (See Cinque Ports. PORTSMOUTH; a noted seaport in the English channel, being the principal rendezvous of the British navy. It is situaled on the western side of the island of Portsea, at the mouth of the bay termed Portsmouth harbor, and consists of the old town of Portsmouth, included within its fortified walls, and the new towns of Portsea and Southsea which were only begun about a cer tury ago, on commons to the north and south of the town, but have already outgrown in size, population and importance the parent town itself. Portsmouth harbor excels, decidedly, every other in Grest Britain for its capaciousness, depth and se curity. At its entrance, the harbor is very narrow, but it soon expands to a great width. Every where the anchorage is good, the depth sufficient for ships et

any size, the shelter complete, and the extent sufficient to contain almost the whole navy of England. The famous roadstead of Spithead, between Portsinouth and the Isle of Wight, can contain 1000 sail of vessels in the greatest security. Portsmouth harbor is well protected from assaults by the number and strength of its batteries. The fortifications were begun by Edward IV. The dock-yard, being the grand naval arsenal of England and the general rendezvous of the British fleet, is by far the largest in the kingdom, including an area of 100 acres. In the naval college, the number of scholars is limited to 100 in time of war, and seventy in time of peace, of whom thirty, the sons of officers of the navy, are maintained and educated free of expense. On the anchorwharf, hundreds of anchors are piled up ready for inmediate service. The ropery is three stories high, fifty-four feet broad, and 1094 feet long. In the vast building called the smithery, anchors are wrought weighing from seventy to ninety cwts. each. The gun-wharf is an immense arsenal, consisting of various ranges of buildings for the reception of naval and military stores, artillery, &c. The small armory is capable of containing 25,000 stand of arms. Near Portsmouth is Haslar hospital, for the navy. The church of Portsmouth is a spacious structure, dedicated to St. Thomas a Becket. The tower, which is the most modern part, forms a good mark to seamen. There are various charitable, literary and scientific institutions. The theatre is the principal amusement. The shore from Portsmouth to Southsea castle presents one of the finest bathing places in the kingdom. Portsmouth received its first charter from Richard Coeur de Lion. The earliest mention of this place occurs in the Saxon Chronicle, A. D. 501. Population of Portsmouth, 7269; Portsea and Southsea, 34,785; seventy-two miles southwest of London; loù. 1° 6′ W.; lat. 50° 47' N.

PORTSMOUTH, the largest town of New Hampshire, is a port of entry, and the only seaport in the state. It is situated on the south side of Piscataqua river, on a beautiful peninsula, three miles from the sen, fifty-six miles north by east from Boston, and 491 from Washington; lat. 43° 4' N.; lon. 70° 45 W.; population in 1810, 6934; in 1820, 7327; in 1830, 8082. Portsmouth is well supplied with houses of public worship, and contains a customhouse, an insurance office, and five banks, including a branch of the U. States bank.

As a great portion of the trade from the interior of New Hampshire centres at Boston, and a part at Portland, Portsmouth has not a sufficient commerce with the interior to make it extensive and flourishing. Still it has considerable trade. The shipping owned in New Hampshire in 1828 amounted to 26,253 tons, and nearly all of it must have belonged to Portsmouth. The harbor is one of the best in the world. It has forty-two feet of water, at low tide, through the whole channel, and the current is sufficient to prevent its freezing. It is admirably defended against storms, and is protected by fort Constitution, on Great island, and fort M'Clary, opposite to it, in Kittery. There are also three other forts built for the defence of the harbor, which are not garrisoned. There is a lighthouse on Great island. Portsmouth has suffered much by fires. In 1802, 120 buildings were destroyed; in 1806, twenty, including the Episcopal church; in 1813, 173. The parts which were destroyed have been mostly rebuilt of brick. Portsmouth was settled under the auspices of sir Ferdinando Gorges and captain John Mason, in 1623, and was incorporated by charter, in 1633. On Badger's island, in this harbor, during the revolution, the first line-of-battle ship was built in the U. States; it was called the North America. On Navy island, in the Piscataqua, opposite to Portsmouth, is a navy-yard of the U. States. The island belongs to the general government, and is convenient for building ships of war, and is well furnished for this purpose.

PORTUGAL; a kingdom in the southwestern corner of Europe, on the western side of the Spanish peninsula, lying between latitude 36° 56′ and 42° 7' N., and between longitude 7° 34′ and 9° 30′ W., with Spain on the north and east, and the Atlantic ocean on the south and west. It is nearly in the form of a parallelogram; its length from north to south is 350 miles; its average breadth, about 115; its superficial area, 41,500 square miles. The population was estimated by Balbi, in 1822, at 3,173,000; in 1826, it was stated at 3,214,000. The state is composed of the kingdom of Portugal, comprising the provinces Entre Minho e Douro, Tras os Montes, Beira, Estremadura, and Alen Tejo, and the kingdom of Algarve. In Asia, Portugal possesses the city of Goa (q. v.), Diu on the coasts of Cambay, a part of the island of Timor, and Macao (q. v.), with a total population of 576,000; in Africa, the island of St. Thomas and Prince's island on the coast of Guinea, the Azores,