“ The greater part of the north and west can only be reached by road, and even the chief highways are ill-kept. In these regions the principal means of transport is the springless wooden cart, drawn by one or more of the tawny and under-sized but powerful oxen, with immense horns and elaborately carved yoke, which are characteristic of northern Portugal. For administrative purposes the province is divided into three districts: Vianna do Castello in the north, Braga in the centre, Oporto in the south. ”

“ Wheat and maize are grown on the plains, and other important products are wine, fruit, olives and chestnuts. Fish abound along the coast and in the main rivers; timber is obtained from the mountain forests, and dairy-farming and the breeding of pigs and cattle are carried on in all parts. As the province is occupied by a hardy and industrious peasantry, and the density of population (419.5 per sq. m.) is more than twice that of any other province on the Portuguese mainland, the soil is very closely cultivated. ”

“ The methods and implements of the farmers are, however, most primitive, and at the beginning of the 20th century it was not unusual to see a mule, or even a woman, harnessed with the team of oxen to an old-fashioned wooden plough. Small quantities of coal, iron, antimony, lead and gold are mined; granite and slate are quarried; and there are mineral springs at Monção (pop. 2283) on the Minho. The Oporto-Corunna railway traverses the western districts and crosses the Spanish frontier at Tuy ”