free of import duties. The produce and merchandize of America, accompanied by certificates, shall enjoy the same advantage.

2. Foreign property shall be placed under the guarantee of the laws, and shall never be liable to any reprisal on account of war between governments, except that of reciprocity in the case of articles, the property of Spanish merchants not being respected.

3. The deposits shall continue one year, if the accommodation of the owner requires that time, and the period may be prolonged, for extraordinary causes, by the authority of the minister of finance.

4. To defray the expense of the warehouses and clerks, two per cent. shall be levied on the merchandize, one half on the entry, and the other half on the removal.

The subsequent articles (the decree consisting in all of thirty-one) contain only minute regulations respecting the management of the warehouses, the mode of removing the deposits, levying the duties, &c.

Signed by the King,

Done in the Palace, March 30, 1818.

Addressed to DON MARTIN DE GARAY.

CHAP. III.

PORTUGAL.

THOUGH Portugal has a much milder climate than Spain, yet the temperature is not equal in all its provinces: nevertheless, the country is very fertile; but as the greatest part of the soil is uncultivated, the grain necessary for the consumption of the inhabitants is chiefly imported from other countries. The province of Estremadura is considered the most fruitful in grain, and Alentejo the richest in oil; the greater part of which article is consumed in the country as a substitute for butter; but, being of inferior quality to the French and Italian oils, not so much is exported as might otherwise be the case. Wine is the most considerable article of exportation; and the quantity shipped to England, both from Lisbon and Oporto, is very great. Salt is also a principal article of commerce, and the Portuguese salt bas the quality of preserving provisions better than that of any other country. The country yields excellent white honey; fruits, such as lemons and oranges, which are, however, very inferior to the Spanish; almonds, with which the pigs are fed, and to which the Portuguese hams owe their celebrity; and figs, produced in Algarve, which are consumed in the country. The Portuguese wool is coarse, and much inferior to the Spanish;

nevertheless, some of it is exported: the qualities are Badajoz, Campo-Major, Elvas, Olivença, and Estremos. The manufactories of Portugal are in a most deplorable state; for, though the country produces the finest materials, the manufacturing of them is left to other nations. All the linen, silken, and woollen stuffs, hats, glass, &c. which the Portuguese make, is very trifling compared with the consumption of the country; and their trade is almost entirely in the hands of the English, who have a factory at Lisbon, and enjoy many advantages and privileges. The Portuguese possess the Brazils, a rich and fruitful kingdom in South America, which produces tobacco, sugar, coffee, indigo, cotton, dyewoods, precious stones, hides, tallow, &c. The principal ports are Rio Janeiro, Bahia, and Pernambuco. the East Indies they possess the cities of Goa and Diu, from whence they draw both gold and amber; and in China a factory, at Macao, which furnishes tea and other Chinese articles. On the coast of Africa they have several factories for the purchase of slaves, the greater part of whom are employed in the gold mines of the Brazils. The Portuguese flag has, however, been frequently lent, for carrying on this horrid traffic, to interested individuals belonging to those countries in which the slave-trade has been abolished. They also possess the Island of St. Thomas, on the coast of Africa, which furnishes sugar and ginger; and in the Atlantic Ocean they have the

In

Azores and Madeira, which latter produces an excellent wine, named after it, and which is chiefly shipped to England and the East and West Indies. Portugal is divided into six provinces :-Estremadura, Beira, Entre Minho e Douro, Tra los Montes, and Algarve; the latter has the title of kingdom. The principal cities are

Lisbon (Lisboa,) the capital of Portugal, on the river Tagus, which has a large and safe harbour, and is the depôt for all goods which the Portuguese draw from their colonies. Lisbon has a few manufactories of silken and woollen stuffs, hats, glass, &c.; but they are of no importance, and the articles of very indifferent quality. The exports from Lisbon to England are wines, known by the names of Lisbon and Calcavella; oranges, lemons, and other fruits; cork wood, and some silk and wool. The returns are calicoes, and other British manufactured goods; silken and woollen stockings, watches and trinkets, hardware, copper, lead, coals; and provisions, grain, and flour from Ireland. To the north of Europe the exports are wines, salt, fruits, and some colouial produce; and the returns consist in hemp, flax, iron, timber and deals, stock-fish, pitch, tar, Russian and German linens, and particularly grain. A great smuggling trade is carried on with Spain. in sugar, tobacco, spices, &c.

Accounts are kept in all Portugal in