ger nations. Among the most notable of his romances
are _O Romance de un Homem Rico_, his favourite, _Retrato de Ricardina,
Amor de Perdicao_, and the magnificent series entitled _Novellas do
Minho_. Many of his novels are autobiographical, like _Onde esta a
felicidade_, _Memorias do Carcere_ and _Vinganca_. Castello Branco is an
admirable story-teller, largely because he was a brilliant
improvisatore, but he does not attempt character study. Nothing can
exceed the richness of his vocabulary, and no other Portuguese author
has shown so profound a knowledge of the popular language. Though nature
had endowed him with the poetic temperament, his verses are mediocre,
but his best plays are cast in bold lines and contain really dramatic
situations, while his comedies are a triumph of the grotesque, with a
mordant vein running through them that recalls Gil Vicente.

The collected works of Camillo Castello Branco are published by the
Companhia Editora of Lisbon, and his most esteemed books have had
several editions. The _Diccionario Bibliographico Portuguez_, vol. ix.
p. 7 et seq., contains a lengthy but incomplete list of his
publications. See _Romance do Romancista_, by A. Pimentel, a badly put
together but informing biography; also a study on the novelist by J.
Pereira de Sampaio in _A Geracao Nova_ (Oporto, 1886); Dr Theophilo
Braga, _As Modernas Ideias na litteratura Portugueza_ (Oporto, 1892);
Padre Senna Freitas, _Perfil de Camillo Castello Branco_ (S. Paulo,
1887); and Paulo Osorio, _Camillo, a sua vida, o seu genio, a sua
obra_ (Oporto, 1908). (E. Pr.)

CASTELLO BRANCO, an episcopal city and the capital of an administrative
district formerly included in the province of Beira, Portugal; 1560 ft.
above the sea, on the Abrantes-Guarda railway. Pop. (1900) 7288.
Numerous Roman remains bear witness to the antiquity of Castello Branco,
but its original name is unknown. The city is dominated by a ruined
castle, and partly enclosed by ancient walls; its chief buildings are
the cathedral and episcopal palace. Cloth is manufactured, and there is
a flourishing local trade in cork, wine and olive oil. The
administrative district of Castello Branco, which comprises the valleys
of the Zezere, Ocreza and Ponsul, right-hand tributaries of the Tagus,
coincides with the south-eastern part of Beira; pop. (1900) 216,608;
area, 2382 sq. m.

CASTELLON DE LA PLANA, a maritime province of eastern Spain