Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1921-07-21

prepared by the National Geographic So
ciety, Washington, D. CD
Portugal, one of the least known and
east written about countries OF
Europe, owes this fact, in part at least,
to its language. In spite of the claim
made by some Portuguese that their
speech is closer to the pure Latin than
that of any of the other Romance peo-
plies, students find that many Gothic,
Arabic, and even Berber elements have
strikingly altered the Latin foundation;
making the language unusually difficult
for those accustomed to the cOmmOner
European tongues.
But Portuguese is .predominantly a
Romance language, and Roman
customs and practices have been just
as tenacious in Portugal as the Roman
tongue. Agriculture has hardly
changed at all since the days when,
under the protection of Roman legiOns,
settlers came from Italy to the charm.
ing valleys of Portugal and introduced
their methods of tilling the soil. The
addition of maize 10 the crops grown
IS perhaps the one significant change
since those days. Oxen are still used
by the farmers as in old days, and they
rlrag, not a modern implement of till
age, but the old primitive Roman plow
consisting of crooked stick sh0d with
ron and having a single handle. Grapes
are trained upon trees as the Romans
trained them. and wine is made in the
peculiar way in which it was made
on the Sabine farms of old Italy before
The beginning of the Christian era.
Not Much Like Spain.
What is now the republic, but was
for centuries the kingdom of Portugal.
covers the greater part of the old
province of Lusitania, one of the rich
but hardly won units of the Roman
empire. Because of general lack of
knowledge in regard to Portugal, there
has been a tendency to look on the
country as a sort of poor imitation OF
Spain. Geographically. there is little
in common between these two coun-
-ries which together cover the Iberian
peninsula. Much of Spain is a dry
barren tableIand; but Portugal, slOp-
ing westward to the Atlantic from the
east. is well watered, and many Of its
hills are covered with Iuxuriant forest
growth.
The Romans recognized Lusitania to
| be fertile and desirable. and
| colonized it eagerly after the
natives were subjugaled. After
the fall of the Roman empire. POrtu-
gal was Overrun by the Visigoths from
the north and later still by the MOOrs
from the south. The results of the
| mingling Of the blood of these tive
peoples with that of the inhabitants
whom they found in Portugal il
evident in the Portuguese of today.
| The Tagus river, at the south OF
which is the beautiful capital and
metropolis of the country, Lisbon
forms both an ethnfc and economic
dividing line. In the region to the
north Of the Tagus. comprising about
three-fifths Of the area Of the country
are the more typical Portuguese. The!
are the Celtic, Gothic and Latin mix
ture with little or none of the Moorish
or African strain. This northern re
gion is a country of small farms large
| Iy cultivated by the prOprietors ant
their families. The diffusion of th'
land among many Independent owners
has created a sturdy yeomanry whicl
has been the backbone of Portuguese
nationality. The people are intensel,
patriotic and have ever been ready T.
fight against foreign domination.
Famous for Its Wines.
Much of Portugal is hilly, and tn
little farms of the region north of tn
Tagus consist of a series of terraces
Near the northern boundary of tn
country in the valley of the Duer
river and it's tributaries is the mos
famous wine country of Portugal. /
is estimated that in favorable year
more than 20 gallons of wine are pre-