(Lisboa, in Portuguese), the metropolis of Portugal, and the chief town of one of the seventeen administrations into which the kingdom is divided, is situate on the right bank of the Tagus (Tejo), about 9 miles from its mouth, in N. Lat. 38° 42', and W. Long. 9° 5'. It is, therefore, distant about 900 miles in a straight line from London. The ground upon which it stands is very uneven, and hence it is often said to be built upon seven hills, like ancient Rome. Its situation is very fine, and its appearance from the deck of a vessel sailing up the river is highly imposing. Indeed, there are very few cities in the world which present so impressive a coup d'oeil as Lisbon, viewed from the Tagus. The river is deep enough to float vessels of the largest burden; and here are usually seen several British men-of-war, surrounded by craft of all sizes from all nations.

The origin of Lisbon is lost in remote antiquity; but there are not wanting fables to carry back its foundation some thousands of years before the Christian era; whilst others attribute its origin to the wandering Ulysses, and affect to trace its name in that of the Ithacan king. Pliny states that its first inhabitants were a warlike tribe called Turduli. It passed successively into the hands of the Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, and Romans. Julius Cæsar bestowed upon it the title of Felicitas Julia, and the rights of a municipium. The barbarians who overran the peninsula about A.D. 409 wrested Lisbon from the Romans. The Goths under Theodoric subsequently obtained possession of it, but it passed from them to the Arabs with the rest of the peninsula, after the battle (711) wherein Roderick, ultimus Rex Gothorum, was slain. Taken from them by the Spaniards, it soon became Moorish again, but was finally conquered from the invaders in 1147 by Alphonso, first King of Portugal, after a siege of several months, in which he was assisted by an army of crusaders, chiefly English, on their way to the Holy Land. The city was very obstinately defended; but the statement that 200,000 Moors perished during the struggle is doubtless an exaggeration of the victors. About 1372, in the reign of Ferdinand the Handsome, Lisbon was burnt by the King of Castile in the course of a quarrel which arose out of the claim of the Portuguese king to the crown of Castile. Soon after Ferdinand's death, Lisbon was besieged by the Spaniards, but not taken. During the 60 years (1580-1640) that Portugal was subject to Spain, Lisbon fell to the rank of a provincial town. It was captured by the Duke of Braganza, afterwards John IV., in 1640. In 1755 occurred that terrible earthquake, which, assisted by a fire which broke out, reduced the city to a heap of ruins, and destroyed between 30,000 and 40,000 people, with an immense amount of property. Shocks of earthquake, of more or less violence, have been experienced at Lisbon through many centuries, but none has caused such damage and loss of life as that of 1755. The minister Pombal, a man of great talent and energy, applied himself, in the first place, to the preservation of the rights of property, and then to the reconstruction of the city. The handsomeest part of the present city was erected under his direction; but even now there are many ruined edifices which speak forcibly of the great terremoto and its horrors. When Napoleon issued his decree that the House of Braganza had ceased to reign in Europe, the Regent Don John was compelled to desert the country for Brazil, and the next day a French army under Junot entered Lisbon (29th November 1807); possession of which was retained until the 15th September 1808, when Junot quietly embarked his army under the protection of the disgraceful Convention of Cintra.

In the absence of an authoritative census, the population of Lisbon may be roughly estimated at 250,000. With this number of inhabitants it ranks amongst the most populous capitals of Europe, and is much before Madrid, with only 176,000 inhabitants. The separate households amount to about 47,800; and the city with its suburbs is divided into 39 parishes, containing 354 streets, 216 lanes, 12 large squares, 5 public gardens, and 34 fountains. There are three royal palaces, four theatres, and a circus for bull fights. Until of late years, travellers have had just reason to complain of the filthy state of the streets. (Byron, it will be remembered, speaks in Childe Harold of the many "things unsightly to strange ee.") But things have been much altered for the better, and, except in some of the small out-of-the-way streets, there is now little to find fault with either as regards the paving, the lighting, or the cleanliness. Gas made from British coal was introduced about the year 1850. Excellent water flows to the fountains distributed Lisbon throughout the city, from which it is removed in barrels to the houses by Gallegos, men from Galicia who do the principal part of the hard work in Lisbon. The supply of water is not, however, in summer adequate to the requirements of the place, and a company has been lately formed for the obtaining of a further supply.

Lisbon stretches along the shore of the Tagus for 4 or 5 miles, and extends northward over the hills for nearly 3 miles. Much of it, however, is scattered; and in all but the densest parts, there are gardens and unoccupied patches. For municipal purposes the city is divided into four districts (the whole under one municipal chamber), and two suburban districts, under separate chambers. The crown is represented by the civil governor, who is at the head of the police. For the most part the streets are very irregular; but that portion which suffered most from the great earthquake, and which had to be wholly rebuilt, is occupied by lofty houses, arranged in long streets, on a uniform plan. Here are the four principal squares. One of these squares, the Praça do Comércio, is surrounded on three sides by the custom-house and government offices, with a spacious arcade beneath. On the fourth it is open to the river; and in the middle is a grand equestrian statue, in bronze, of Joseph I., in whose reign the earthquake and the rebuilding took place. This is the only statue in the city. The square is 583 feet by 536, and its appearance is strikingly handsome. From one side of it run several parallel streets, which terminate in another handsome square, the Praça de Don Pedro, surrounded on three sides by large houses, the ground stories of which are used as shops; whilst on the fourth side stands the new theatre of Dona Maria II. A grand triumphal arch is being erected in the former square, at the termination of the principal street connecting the two. The public gardens are small, but much frequented. The hotels of Lisbon, notwithstanding the great influx of strangers, offer only indifferent accommodation; whilst the shops present little display, and are ill-supplied with wares.

The palace where the king actually resides (the Palácio das Necessidades) is a large unsightly building, to which a good garden is attached. The palace of Ajuda, in the Italian style, situate upon a hill above the suburb of Belem, was commenced upon a very grand scale, but has been left incomplete. Receptions, however, sometimes take place here. It contains a good library, and some bad pictures. If ever finished, it will be one of the handsomest palatial edifices in Europe. Several of the nobility have good and spacious houses in the city, which are dignified by the name of palaces. Two or three small forts, one on a rock at the mouth of the Tagus, defend the city from the approach of a hostile fleet; but its chief defence is the citadel of St George, which occupies a commanding position on a rocky hill. This part of Lisbon is ancient, and is composed of narrow, tortuous streets; it retains the old Moorish appellation of Alfama. The churches are numerous, and are nearly all in the same tasteless Italian style; the interiors, overlaid by heavy ornament, contain pictures utterly devoid of merit. Perhaps the one best worth visiting is the Estrela, with a dome and two towers, something on the plan of St Paul's at London. The view from the dome is very extensive. The church of St Vincent de Fora, standing in a conspicuous position near the citadel, is considered to be the largest in Lisbon; its dimensions being 222 feet by 82. In an attached chapel, recently built, the coffined corpses of most of the Portuguese monarchs are deposited, and are exhibited to the public on certain days in the year. In the church of St Roque is a chapel, which was constructed at Rome of silver and the richest stones, by order of John V., and which was first erected at Rome, in order that the pope might perform mass in it, previous to its shipment to Lisbon. It is said to have cost upwards of L120,000. Part of the cathedral behind the high altar is ancient, and deserves inspection. Near the custom-house is a church, formerly a synagogue, with an old and richly-carved portico. At the Carmo are the ruins of a church in the pointed style. It was commenced to be rebuilt after being thrown down by the earthquake, but was not completed. These seem to be the only remains of what we should term Gothic architecture to be found in Lisbon itself; but at Belem there is the church of St Jeronimo, commenced in 1500, on the spot where Vasco de Gama embarked, three years before, on his famous voyage to India. This, and the adjacent cloisters of an extinct monastery, are very interesting.

The museums of Lisbon exist but in name; and the botanical garden at Ajuda is wretchedly managed. The gallery of the Academy of Fine Arts contains only two or three pictures worth notice; and the private collections, of which there are few, are generally poor. The great public library consists, for the most part, of old theological works and ecclesiastical histories, swept out of various suppressed monasteries. The books, uncatalogued and uncared for, are rotting to pieces. They are said to be about 86,000 in number, and with them are kept 8000 MSS., and a collection of 24,000 coins. The Library of the Academy of Sciences, amongst its 50,000 volumes, hardly contains a modern book on any branch of science. The King's Library, at the Necessidades Palace, is said to contain 28,000 volumes; and that at the Ajuda Palace, 20,000 volumes. The Patriarch's Library contains 24,000 volumes. The Portuguese take very little interest in literature, science, or art, and almost everything connected with them is in a neglected state. The national printing-office, however, seems in good hands, though the work done is not of the highest class, or of great extent. This is a government establishment, in imitation of those at Paris and other continental cities. Literary and scientific societies are few in number, and of little importance. The principal one is the Royal Academy of Sciences, founded in 1779; its transactions are scarcely known out of Lisbon, though represented by the Portuguese themselves to be numerous and most important; whilst the voluminous memoirs are said to form an inexhaustible treasury of science. Eight newspapers appear daily in Lisbon, and six weekly, the total circulation of which is thought not to exceed 3500 copies. There are, besides, various fortnightly and monthly publications, five of which are medical, and two religious periodicals. The booksellers' shops are few, and badly stocked.

As the metropolis of the kingdom, Lisbon contains the various offices of the central government, most of which are in the Praça do Comércio. Here, also, meets the municipal chamber, a body consisting of a president and eleven members, called vereadores, whose duties are to superintend the lighting, paving, and cleaning of the city, to establish regulations for safety against fire, and for the proper distribution of the water brought by the aqueduct. The two chambers of parliament hold their sittings in a huge building, formerly the monastery of St Bento. A telegraphic wire has been lately put up, to establish electric communication between the office of the minister of public works, the chambers of parliament, and the royal palaces of Necessidades and Sintra. The supreme courts of justice sit in Lisbon, as well as various minor tribunals. Here are also naval and military arsenals. Attached to the naval arsenal is a school, an observatory, and a hydrographical office. There are barracks in various parts of the town for the accommodation of the soldiery. The armed municipal guard consists of 160 cavalry, and 1170 infantry. The aqueduct spoken of above was erected more than 100 years ago, in the reign of John V. It brings water from certain springs, situate about 7 miles to the N.W. of Lisbon, and crosses, in its course, 127 arches of excellent workmanship, 35 of which form the bridge across the valley. of Alcantara; the extreme height here being 268 feet. There is a tradition, that only one stone was shaken from the parapet of this bridge at the great earthquake, the aqueduct beyond being wholly uninjured. Through its whole length, the aqueduct is arched overhead, at a height of 8 feet above the floor; and there is a foot-path between the water-courses. On approaching Lisbon it is divided into three branches, the middle one of which terminates at a large square tank, 31 feet deep, the vaulted roof of which is supported on thick pillars. There is a broad walk round the tank, and from the flat roof an extensive view is obtained. On leaving the tank, the water is conducted along two channels to different points of the city.

There are several cemeteries near Lisbon, and the practice of interring in churches has for some years been abandoned. The monthly mortality may be estimated at 600. In the cemetery set apart for the English lies our novelist Fielding, who died at Lisbon in 1754. A large marble sarcophagus, bearing a long Latin inscription, covers his remains. The British residents maintain a chaplain, who performs service weekly in an adjacent chapel. The largest of the hospitals is that of St José, where there is an average number of 900 patients. The great lunatic asylum of Rilhafoles usually contains nearly 400 patients. At the foundling hospital more than 2000 infants are annually received. There is a very interesting establishment at Belem, called the Casa Pia, where 900 children of both sexes are clothed, maintained, and educated gratuitously.

Ecclesiastically, Lisbon is a patriarchate, the holder of the dignity being at the head of the clergy, and president of the Chamber of Peers.

Lisbon is the largest port in the kingdom. The custom-house is a spacious and very substantial building, worthy of any capital in Europe. As the merchants are allowed to deposit their goods here for a year (two years for Brazilian produce) free of duty, it saves them the expense of private warehouses; and this arrangement offers great advantages to the trading community, which are generally taken advantage of. In 1851 there entered the port of Lisbon 1908 vessels, having an aggregate tonnage of 198,893. The produce of the Lisbon custom-house, after paying its expenses, amounted, in 1851, to L477,700; that of the municipal custom-house, where a duty similar to the French octroi duty is levied upon all articles of consumption entering the city, to L209,400. A large body of foreigners dwell here in the character of merchants, nearly fifty of whom are British firms. Brazil and Great Britain are the two countries with which the most active commerce is carried on; tropical produce being imported from one, and manufactures from the other,—wine and oil being sent to both in return. Lisbon has one joint-stock bank, called the Bank of Portugal, a few fire and life insurance offices, and some joint-stock companies, the chief of which are,—the Company for Cultivating the Productive Islands in the Tagus, with a capital of L45,000; the Newfoundland Fishery Company, with a capital of L11,000; the Lisbon Spinning and Weaving Company, with a capital of L20,000; and the Gas Company, with a capital of L10,000. Manufactures are carried on only to a small extent at Lisbon, and machinery is little employed. There are a few steam-mills for grinding corn, expressing oil, and sawing wood. There is also a large sugar-refinery, as well as some woollen, cotton, and silk mills, but none of these will bear comparison with British establishments of the same kind. All the coal employed at these places is imported from England. In the immediate neighbourhood of Lisbon stands the tobacco manufactory, belonging to a company which has a monopoly from government for the whole kingdom, paying L294,000 annually for the privilege. About 1600 persons are employed here, and three millions of lbs. of tobacco are manufactured in the year. The machinery is set in motion by two steam-engines, and, like most of the machinery at Lisbon, is of British make. Several small steamers ply on the river, and connect Lisbon with the neighbouring towns on its banks. There is communication three times a-month with Southampton by means of the Oriental and Peninsular Company's steamers, which call here on their way to the Mediterranean. The steam-packets of a British-Brazilian Company call here monthly, on their way to and from Rio Janeiro; and the Portuguese have also a line of their own to Brazil. There is also steam communication two or three times a-month with Liverpool. Various steamers connect Lisbon with Oporto, Setubal, and the towns of the Algarve. A monthly steamer to the Azores has been projected. As to railways, Portugal does not yet possess one; but a line is in progress from Lisbon to Santarem, a town 44 miles distant, and a short line to Cintra, 17 miles in length, has been projected. A company has been formed to make a line from a point on the opposite bank of the Tagus towards Badajoz, in Spain. Lisbon is tolerably well supplied with flesh-meat, fish, and country produce. A large quantity of excellent fruit is brought into the city for sale during the season. A few lines of omnibuses connect Lisbon with the suburbs and neighbouring villages. These are usually drawn by mules, and are very inconvenient. The same remark may be made of the old-fashioned, rickety carriages which stand for hire in various parts of the city. Some of the private carriages are neat, but small. A heavy duty, amounting almost to a prohibition, is levied on all foreign-made carriages; and hence the Portuguese are obliged to content themselves with vehicles of an inferior class.

The British nation has a minister at the court of Lisbon; he receives a salary of L4000 per annum, the consul L600, and the vice-consul L300.

The climate of Lisbon may be considered healthy: the winter is very mild, frost and snow being rare. In summer the heat is great, and all who have the means betake themselves during the hot months to Cintra, or to some part of the neighbouring sea-coast, where they may have the benefit of a cooler atmosphere. According to the observations of Franzini, extending over twenty years, the mean temperature of Lisbon is 61° Fahr., and the mean fall of rain for sixteen years was 229 inches; the mean height of the barometer (corrected to the temperature of 63° Fahr.), at an altitude of 285 feet above the sea, was 30.034 inches. The observations for sixteen years give, as the mean temperature of the seasons,—Winter, 52°; Spring, 60°-5; Summer, 71°-8; Autumn, 59°-5 Fahr. It will give some idea of the fluctuations of the climate to note, that, during the year 1845-55 (an exceptional year), the maximum temperature was 96°-60, and the lowest 31°-64 Fahr., when there was hoar-frost. The prevalent winds, and the number of days on which they blew on the average of sixteen years, were, according to Franzini,—N., 144 days; N.W., 123; S.W., 138. A meteorological observatory has been lately established at the Polytechnic School, which appears to be under good management.

Like London and Paris, Lisbon stands in a basin of the tertiary formation. The upper beds of this basin consist of loose sand and gravel, destitute of organic remains, and not rising to a greater height than 150 feet above the sea. Below these is a series of beds called, by Mr D. Sharpe, the Almada beds, composed of yellow sand, calcareous sandstone, and blue clay, rich in marine remains. It is upon these beds that the greater part of Lisbon stands. Some of them are well exhibited in the cliffs on the S. side of the Tagus, and others have been laid open by the railway cuttings on the N. bank to the E. of the city. They appear to belong to the older Miocene, and have no equivalents in Britain. Mr James Smith ranks them as older than the Touraine beds, and as nearly of the same age as those of Bordeaux and Dax. The total thickness of the Lisburn. Almada beds, as far as they are disclosed, may be between 400 and 500 feet. Upwards of 150 species of fossils have been obtained from these beds, of which 124 have been determined, and 20 ascertained to be new and peculiar. About 28 per cent. are of recent species. Next comes a tertiary conglomerate, destitute of organic remains, having in one section a thickness of 200 feet. The tertiary deposits cover altogether an area of between 2000 and 3000 square miles. They are separated, near Lisbon, from rocks of the secondary epoch by an immense mass of basalt, which overflowed the secondary formations before the deposition of any of the tertiary strata, and contributed by its degradation to form the conglomerate just mentioned. The principal deposit of the basalt has an extreme length of 20 miles, with a greatly varying width. The uppermost of the secondary deposits is a formation, named by Mr. D. Sharpe the Hippurite limestone, and classed by him as the equivalent of the chalk of Northern Europe. The narrow valley of Alcantara, in the immediate neighbourhood of Lisbon, has been excavated in this deposit; and here there are extensive quarries, where abundance of fossils may be collected. Thirty-four species have been detected, of which 55 per cent. are new. They are principally Lamellibranchia, Gasteropoda, and Radiata, without any Cephalopoda or Brachiopoda. This formation, which has a total thickness of upwards of 500 feet, was probably deposited in a quiet sea of moderate depth. Between the Hippurite limestone and the granite range of Cinta, the highest part of which is about 2000 feet, there have been observed four deposits, for information as to which we must refer to Mr. D. Sharpe's Memoirs. In speaking of the Almada formation, a bed of blue clay was mentioned. Mr. Sharpe discovered, by careful investigation, that the greatest force of the earthquake of 1755 was expended upon the area of this clay, and that not one of the buildings standing upon it escaped. Those upon the slopes of the hills immediately above the clay suffered very severely, and the whole of the tertiary strata were more or less affected by the shocks; whilst none of the buildings erected upon the Hippurite limestone or the basalt suffered any injury whatever; the line at which the earthquake ceased to be destructive corresponding exactly with the boundary of the tertiary beds.