LAGOS  , a seaport of

southern Portugal, in the district of Faro (formerly the province of Algarve); on the Atlantic Ocean, and on the estuary of the small river Lagos, here spanned by a fine stone bridge . Pop . (1900) 8291 . The city is defended by fortifications erected in the 17th century . It is supplied with water by an aqueduct 800 yds. long . The harbour is deep, capacious, and completely sheltered on the north and west; it is frequently visited by the British Channel fleet . Vines and figs are extensively cultivated in the neighbourhood, and Lagos is the centre of important sardine and tunny fisheries . Its trade is chiefly carried on by small coasting vessels, as there is no railway . Lagos is on or near the site of the Roman Lacobriga . Since the 15th century it has held the formal rank and title of city . Cape St Vincent, the ancient Promontorium Sacrum, and the south-western extremity of the kingdom, is 22 m . W .

It is famous for its connexion with

Prince Henry (q.v.), the Navigator, who here founded the town of Sagres in 1421; and for several British naval victories, the most celebrated of which was won in 1797 by Admiral Jervis (afterwards Earl St Vincent) over a larger Spanish squadron . In 1759 Admiral Boscawen defeated a French fleet off Lagos . The great earthquake of 1755 destroyed a large part of the city . LA GRACE, or LES GRACES, a game invented in France during the first quarter of the 19th century and called there le jeu des Graces . It is played with two light sticks about 16 in. long and a wicker ring, which is projected into the air by placing it over the sticks crossed and then separating them rapidly . The ring is caught upon the stick of another player and thrown back, the object being to prevent it from falling to the ground . LA GRAND' COMBE, a town of southern France, in the department of Gard on the Gardon, 39 M . N.N.W. of Nimes by rail . Pop . (1906) town, 6406; commune, 11,292 . There are extensive coal mines in the vicinity .