The New Student's Reference Work/Portland, Isle of

Portland, Isle of, a rocky island or peninsula in Dorsetshire, England, connected with the mainland by a long, narrow ridge called Chisel Bank. It is four and a half miles long, one and a half wide and nine to ten in circumference. The coast is rough and precipitous, the only landing place being on the north, opposite Weymouth. From its highest point the Verne (495 feet) presents an almost unbroken slope to Portland Bill, the southern extremity, where stand two lighthouses, showing fixed lights 210 and 136 feet above the sea. Between this point and the Shambles is a dangerous reef three miles southeast, while a surf, called the Portland Race, is raised by the impetuous tides. By the construction of a magnificent break-water over two miles in length, the building of which occupied twenty-three years, a harbor of refuge has been formed, affording anchorage for a large fleet of vessels. Population 11,000.