certain localities on the most frequented roads | to which they descend annually, and which are consequently very dangerous. To obviate the risk of accidents from this cause, in the construction of new roads, as of those of the Simplon and over Monte Stelvio, care has been taken at such places to excavate the mountain to a certain depth, and to cover over the road with strongly built arches, which effectually provide for the safety of the traveller. A few places on the roads are also rendered unsafe by less or greater pieces of rock which descend with fearful velocity from the steep declivities of the mountains. This usually happens when, after some days' continued rain, a strong wind arises and shakes the higher portion of the mountains. Luckily, however, such places are not frequent. Travellers on the glaciers run the risk of falling into chasms, or of finding the ice under their feet suddenly opening in the progress of the formation of a new chasm.

The scenery of the Alps owes a part of its numerous charms to the great number of extensive lakes, of which nearly every one is distinguished by some peculiar beauties. Most of them have an easy access, being situated on or near the outskirts of the range, as the lakes of Geneva, Constance, and Zurich; or partly within and partly without the range, as the lake of the Four Cantons, and the Lago Maggiore and that of Como, and the beautiful lakes in Austria. Innumerable are the small lakes which occur on or near the summits of the high ridges and glaciers. Most of the rivers and torrents have their sources in such lakes.

They are worked with great industry at different places.

Vegetation covers the greater part of the Alps. The larger valleys, none of which rise to 5,000 ft. above the sea, contain some tracts fit for agricultural purposes. They consist generally of uneven ground, extending on both sides a river. Behind it the mountains rise with a steep and commonly inaccessible ascent; which is covered with high trees: in the lower parts with oak, beech, elm, &c.; and in the upper region with fir, pine, larch, and the Pinus Cembra. Near the region of the pastures the trees dwindle down to low bushes. The pasture region, which occupies the next place, offers commonly a plain strongly inclined towards the valley, and is in general of considerable width. It is called in Switzerland the Alps. Here are found the huts or sennes of the herdsmen, inhabited only in summer, when the cattle are brought to these pastures. The upper part of the range is occupied by bare rocks, many of which rise above the line of congelation. This line occurs in the Alps between 8,000 and 9,000 ft. above the sea, and is lower on the N. than on the S. declivity.

Corn is grown on the N. side, not above 3,800 or 4,000 ft. ; but on the S. it succeeds 1,500 ft. higher. The highest place at which barley ripens is Skala in the Engadin, 5,950 ft. above the sea. High trees are found in some places not above 4,500 ft., at others they ascend the declivities even to 7,000 ft. and more. Oak is found up to 4,000 ft., elm to 4,300, ash somewhat higher, beech to 5,000, fir to 5,300, mountain ash to 5,600, birch to 5,700, pines to 6,500, and larch to 7,000 or 7,300 ft. above the sea. Where the high trees begin to cease, the mountains are covered with bushes and the Alpine rose (Rhododendron ferrugineum and hirsutum).

The chalk formation of the Julian Alps offers the most interesting natural phenomena. It consists of a fine-grained, much-decomposed primitive chalk, which is rent by a great number of transverse crevices and precipices, and frequently forms deep depressions in the fashion of The inhabitants of those ranges of the Alps funnels. In it occur numerous caverns and which extend from the Mediterranean to the lake subterraneous galleries of great extent, in which of Geneva are mostly of French origin, speaking everywhere the finest and most fantastic stalac- a corrupt dialect of the French language. In tites are formed. More than a thousand such the remainder of the mountain system the popucaverns are already known, and many have never lation is of Teutonic origin, only a few of the been visited. The most remarkable are those more open valleys terminating in the plain of of Adelsberg (which see), Magdalen in its neigh- | Lombardy, speaking a dialect of the Italian bourhood, Zirknitz, &c. Numerous too are the language. The most E. extremity of the whole rivers and torrents which suddenly disappear range, between the rivers Muhr and Save and underground, precipitating themselves into a the Julian Alps, is partly inhabited by a popularge chasm, and re-appearing after a subter-lation of Slavonian origin, called the Wendes or raneous course of many miles. Here are also Slovenzi. As the tracts of land fit for agrimany intermittent wells, which, at certain seasons, cultural purposes are of comparatively small emit large quantities of water, and at others are extent, the rearing of cattle and the making of dry. Several of them feed the lake of Zirknitz, butter and cheeso constitute the principal emwhich has acquired celebrity for being for several ployment. Many of the inhabitants migrate, at months quite dry, and for several others filled certain seasons, to the neighbouring countries in with water; so that it serves each year successively search of work. Some of them return annually, for tillage, pasturage, hunting, and fishing! some after the lapse of some years, Besides the dairy, the mines give employment to a number of inhabitants; but this is only the case in the E. Alps of Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola, where rich mines of iron and extensive layers of salt are found. In these districts, also, are some manufactures of hardware and iron utensils. In the other parts of the range manufacturing industry is almost unknown; but near its outskirts on the N. side it has in later times become so diffused, that it hardly yields to any other part of the continent. The inhabitants of the mountains are distinguished by their love of liberty, their opposition to every kind of oppression, the frank. ness of their behaviour, their adherence to their old manners and dress, and their fidelity and honesty.

The Alps are not rich in metals, except iron. Some mines of gold and silver occur on the S. as well as on the N. declivity, especially in the Austrian dominions; but their produce is inconsiderable. Others of copper and lead are more productive; but they too are comparatively poor, except the Bleiberg (lead mountain) of Carinthia, which furnishes some of the best lead in Europe. The quicksilver mines of Idria, N. N. E. of Triest, are reckoned among the richest of the globe. The iron mines of Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola are very productive, and their produce hardly inferior to any of Europe. Rock-salt occurs only in a very few places in the W. Alps; but on the N. side of the E. Alps are very rich layers of that mineral, running, as it seems, in a continuous line from the banks of the Inn at Halle to those of the Enns in Austria.

The Alps did not become well known till the reign of Augustus. That emperor finally

mines of iron, lead, &c.

tablished in different communes, which make loans
There are
of seed and necessaries to poor families.
fined to coarse cloth, linen, stockings, hats, &c., re-
Manufactures principally con-
quired for the use of the inhabitants. The cheese
and butter of the Briançonnais are highly esteemed.
Bread made of potatoes is extensively used. Families
using rye bread commonly bake it only once a year; it
keeps for 15 or 18 months; is hard, and has to be broken
to pieces by a hatchet. Between 4,000 and 5,000 of the
peasants leave the dep. every year in the beginning of
October, and return early in June. It is estimated that
at an average about a fifth part of those that emigrate
never return, and that those who do, bring back with them
about 200 fr. a piece; the emigrants principally take to
the trades of pediars, showmen, &c. It has 2 electoral
colleges, which return 2 m. to the Ch. of Deputies; and
had, in 1838, 412 electors, Public revenue, in 1831,
brun. (For this and the prev. dep. see Hugo, arts.
Basses et Hautes Alpes; the authorities there referred to;
and the French Official Tables.)

ALRESFORD, a market town and two parishes of England; co. Hants, hund. Alton. The town is situated on the Itchin, at no great distance from its source, 574 m. S. W. by W. London. It was formerly a place of much more importance than at present, and sent a member to the H. of C. Pop of town and parishes, 1896. ALSACE, a ci-devant prov. of France, forming the depts. of the Upper and Lower Rhine.

subdued the numerous and savage clans which inhabited the Alpine valleys, and cleared the passes of the banditti by which they were infested. He improved the old roads, constructed new ones, and succeeded in establishing free and easy communications across the mountains. The chain was then divided into separate portions, which have preserved their boundaries and denominations nearly to the present day. See for information on the Alps, Saussure, Voyage dans les Alpes, 1779; König's Reise in den Alpen, 1814; Wyss, Reise in das Berner Oberland, 1816 and 1817; Reise in wenig besuchte Alpengegenden von Kirzel Escher, 1829; Bemerkungen of einer Alpenreise über den Susten, Gotthard, Ber-2,307,152 fr. Principal towns Gap, Briançon, and Emnardin, Oberalp, Turka und Grimsel von Kastenhofer, 1830. Travellers will find much useful and interesting information with respect to the Alps in Ebel's Manuel du Voyageur en Suisse, 1817. ALPS (LOWER), Basses Alpes, a frontier dep. in the S. E. of France, having E. the Sardinian states, S. the dep. of the Var, W. dep. Vaucluse, and N. the depts. Drome and Hautes Alpes. Area, 682,643 hectares Pop. 159,045. This dep. derives its name from its being principally occupied by the W. slope of the Alps. Its aspect is highly varied and picturesque: presenting a succession ALSEN, a Danish island in the Baltic, separated by a of high rugged mountains, crowned with eternal snow, very narrow channel from Sleswick, and by the Little vast sombre forests, and low, rich, smiling valleys. The Belt from Funen. Shape irregular, being about 20 m. mountains, hills, &c., occupy about half the surface, long, and from 3 to 8 in breadth. Pop. 15.200. Surface and the woods about a sixth part; the extent of culti-pleasantly diversified with wood and open fields. All the vated land is estimated at 155,000 hect. of meadows at country houses are surrounded by fruit-trees, and large nearly 18,000, and vineyards at 14,000 do. The prin- quantities of fruit are annually exported. Principal towns cipal river is that of the Durance, which traverses the Norborg and Sonderborg. Christian II., deposed by the dep. from N. to S.; it is also in part intersected, and in part states of Denmark in 1523, was confined for nearly 17 years bounded by the Verdon, and is watered by many moun- in a tower (since demolished) in the castle of Sondertain streams, the inundations of which often occasion borg. great mischief. The climate varies, of course, with the elevation and exposure of the soil. There is a good deal of spade husbandry; and mules and asses are used in pre. ference to either horses or oxen. Produce of corn crops insufficient for the consumption. Potatoes extensively cultivated. Olive, fig, and mulberry trees are all cultivated in the lower and warmer districts, and dried and other fruits make a considerable article of export. The lower mountains afford excellent sheep pasture. They belong partly to individuals, and partly to communes; and besides the stationary sheep, or those that belong to the dep., about 400,000 head are annually brought from the adjoining depts. of the Var and the Bouches du Rhone, to be depastured for about 4 months in summer on the mountains referred to. They pay at the rate of from 1 fr. to 1 fr. 25 cent. per head; and both their size, and the quality of their flesh and wool, are said to be materially improved by the change. The shepherds never quit their charge either by night or by day. Besides the sheep belonging to the dep., the breed of which has been mate-it widens to 700 m. and upwards. It is, however, not posrially improved, it has a great number of goats; and the rearing of bees is also much attended to. There are mines, but not very productive, of iron, lead, copper, and coal. Manufactures have not made much progress; but there are several silk tilatures and silk looms, with manufactures of cloth, hats, earthenware, tanneries, &c. Great num-river Irtish and the river Tshulyshman, the upper branch bers of the poorer classes leave their homes for a portion of the year, to seek employment in the neighbouring depts. It has two electoral colleges, which return 2 m. to the Ch. of Deputies; and had, in 1838, 527 electors. Public revenue in 1831, 2,628,917 fr. Principal towns Digue, Sisteron, Barcellonete, in the picturesque valley of the same name, Forcalquier, &c.

ALPS (UPPER), Hautes Alpes, a frontier dep. in the S. E. of France, on the N. side of the dep. of the Basses Alpes, and having on the E. the Sardinian States. Area, 553,264 hect. Pop. 131,162. This dep. differs in few respects from that just described, except that it is more mountainous and less fruitful. Some of the mountains rank, in fact, among the highest in the immense chain of which they form a part. Mont Pelioux, the most elevated, rises 14,120 ft. above the level of the sea, and Mont Olan 13,461 do. The mean elevation of the mountains may be taken at about 9,000 feet; and the elevation of the highest cols or passes from one valley to another sometimes exceeds 7,000 feet. There are several glaciers in the N. part of the dep. Agriculture similar to that of the Basses Alpes. Only 97,500 hect. of surface is cultivated; 77,000. hect. are occupied by woods and forests, and about 24,000 by meadows, the irrigation of which is an object of great importance. The valleys principally lie alongside the rivers Durance, Briuch, Drac, &c. Inhabitants poor and laborious; it is even said, that women are sometimes seen yoked, avec des ancs, to the plough! Greniers d'abondance are

es

ALSFELD, a walled town of Hesse Darmstadt, cap. bailiwick, on its N. frontier on the Schwalm. Pop. 3,019. It has manufactures of rateens, flannels, and linen, with considerable bleach-fields and print-works.

ALSLEBEN, a walled town and castle of Prussian Saxony, reg. Merseburg, on the Saale. Pop. 1,700. The castle is the property of the Duke of Anhalt Dessau, to whom the town belongs.

ALTAI MOUNTAINS (THE), a very extensive mountain range in Asia, extending from the eastern banks of the Irtish, a tributary of the Oby (80° E. long.), to the shores of the Pacific, at the S. extremity of the Sea of Okhotzk, opposite the island of Tarakai (142° E. long.). Its length, therefore, is little short of 2,500 m. The several chains which compose this mountain system are chiefly found between 48° and 520 N. lat., but some detached ridges advance to 450 and 57° N. lat. The breadth of the whole system is probably no where less than 350 m., and at some places sible to determine it with any degree of exactness, since only the N. declivities of the range have been visited by travellers, the S. declivities lying within the territories of the Chinese empire being inaccessible to Europeans. The most westerly portion of the system, between the of the Oby, is properly called the Altai Mountains, which name has been afterwards used to indicate the whole system. This portion bears also the name of the Ore Altai, because it contains numerous veins of the precious metals. It consists of several ridges, which mostly run W.N.W. and E.S.E. These ridges advance their W. extremities close to the banks of the Irtish, where they are 500 or 600 ft. high, but at a distance of about 15 or 20 miles from the river they attain from 3,000 to 5,000 ft., which elevation may be considered as the mean height of the greatest part of the ranges; only where they approach the lake Teletzkoi and the river Tshulyshman they rise still higher, even to 10.000 ft., and this part is always covered with snow. It is called Altai Bielhi, and is, so far as is known, the highest portion of the system.

Between the Tshulyshman and the great lake of Baikal, the mountains appear to form two great chains, running E. and W.; of which the S., which falls within the Chinese empire, and is called the Tangnu Oola, or Tangnu Shan, seems to be the principal range. It is divided from the N. chain by a long valley, in which run the Kemtshick from W. to E., and the Ta-kem from E to W.; after their junction the river is called Yenesef, and breaks through the N. chain. The portion of the latter situated W. of the Yenesei river is called the Sayanskian range, but the E. chain bears the name of Ergik Targak Taiga. Both chains unite about 100 E. long., at a considerable distance W. of the lake Baikal, at the sources of the Selenga, the most considerable

river which empties itself into the lake. The united | chain is here called Goorbi Uhden Dzong, which name it preserves to 108° E. long., running in general E. On the E. side of the meridian of 108 E. long, and the river Selenga, the direction of the mountain chains composing the Altai system is changed; they run N.E., and form a very extensive mountain region E. of the lake Baikal. This region is called the Baikalian or Daurian Mountains; but the highest chain belonging to it, and lying within the Chinese empire, bears the name of the Great Khing-Khan. The most easterly portion of the Altai Mountains, between 1229 and 1420 E. long., lies again nearly due W. and E.; but here it advances to 56 N. lat., and is called by the Russians Yablonoi Kherbet, and by the Chinese Khing-Khan Tugurik.

The Aldan Mountains may be considered as a continuation of this latter chain. They separate from it at the sources of the river Aldan, a tributary of the Lena, enclose the valley in which it runs on either side, and continue on the E. side along the shores of the Sea of Okhotzk up to the bay of Pershina, the most northerly corner of that sea. From this bay one branch runs N.E., and terminates at Behring's Strait with the East Cape and the Cape of Tshukotshoi-Noss. Another branch turns abruptly S., and traverses the peninsula of Kamtshatka, terminating at Cape Lopatka. The highest summit of the Aldan Mountains, adjacent to the road connecting Yakutzk with Okhotzk, was found by Erman to be 4,055 ft. above the sea. But the chain traversing the peninsula of Kamtshatka contains several volcanoes, some of which rise to a great elevation. Erman measured three of them. The highest peak of the volcano of Shivélutsk (5 40 32" N. lat.) rises to 10,591 ft., the volcano of Kliutshuvsk (56° 4′ N. lat.) 15,825 ft., and that of Tolbatshinsk 8,346 feet above the sea. If the Aldan Mountains and the range traversing Kamtshatka be considered as a continuation of the Altai chain, more than 1,500 miles must be added to its length.

The country extending N. of the Altai Mountains to the shores of the Polar Sea is one continuous plain, sometimes of an undulating surface, but mostly exhibiting immense flat lowlands, called, as others of a similar description, steppes. This plain, at the foot of the range, is hardly more than 500 ft. above the sea, to which it gradually slopes down. On the other hand, the countries lying S. of the Altai Mountains constitute a portion of the great elevated table-land of Upper Asia. Their surface is much more uneven, being traversed in many parts by ridges of rocks and hills, whilst others present themselves as immense plains covered with sand. The mean elevation of these countries seems to be from 2,000 to 3,000 ft. above the level of the sea.

Roads.--Two roads lead over the Altai, and one over the Aldan Mountains. That most to the W. is the great road of Kiachta, by which the commerce between Russia and China is carried on. It begins at Irkutzk, the capital of East Siberia, situated on the Lower Angara, not far from the point where it issues from the lake Baikal. From this town, which is 1,440 ft. above the sea level, goods are carried in summer by water, and in winter over the ice of the lake, to Udinsk, and hence to Seleginsk, where they are landed, and transported to Kiachta, the Russian commercial establishment, and exchanged with the goods brought by the Chinese to Maimatshin. The Chinese bring the goods to Urga, the provincial capital of the adjacent country; and in advancing farther S. they attain the highest point of the range S. of Urga, on the mountain Dshirgalanta, S. of the river Tola, where it rises to 5,055 feet above the sea. They afterwards descend to the table-land, and traverse the great desert of Cobi, or rather Gobi, sometimes called Shamo. The other great road leads from Udinsk, on the river Selenga, to the mining district of Nertshinsk. From Udinsk it runs E. in the valley of the river Uda, a tributary of the Selenga, somewhat more than 250 m.; then it traverses the highest part of the range near 1120 E. long., and descends into the valley of the Ingoda, in which it continues to Gorodisktshenk, where the Ingoda unites with the Onon, and forms the Shilka river. On the banks of the last-mentioned river it continues to Nertshinsk. The great road over the Aldan Mountains connects Yakutsk with Okhotzk. Yakutsk is only 287 feet above the level of the Polar Sea. Between this place and the river Aldan the road rises gradually, and attains at Nokhinsk on the heights forming the W. bank of the Aldan river 751 feet. In the valley of the Aldan it descends to 424 feet above the sea. E. of this river the road rises to 1,531 feet at Garnastakh, and in the mountain pass six miles W. from Khoinia to 2,619. It continues nearly on this level for several miles, and then descends with a rather steep declivity towards the Sea at Okhotzk. This latter place is only 13 feet above the sea.

Mines.-The Altai Mountains are rather rich in metals, especially in silver, gold, copper, and lead. The mines from which these metals are extracted have been worked on a large scale at some unknown period, and by an

unknown nation. In the middle of last century the Russians, following the traces of the ancient mines, began to work them; but only at the W. extremity of the mountain system, between the Irtish and the Ŏby, and again on the banks of the Shilka river, east of the lake Baikal. The first mines are comprehended in the mining district of Barnaul, and the second in that of Nertshinsk.

The mining district of Barnaul, called by the Russians that of Kolywano-Woskresensk, comprises the mines in the Altai Ore Mountains, where at present the richest mines are found in the valleys by which the W. declivity of the mountains sloping towards the Irtish is furrowed. Here are the mines of Syryanowsk, in the valley of the Bukhtarma, about 40 m. from the Irtish, and at no great distance from the boundary of the Chinese empire; they are productive of silver and lead. Farther to the N.W. are the mines of Riddersk and Krukow, in the valley of the small river Ulba, which also produce silver and lead, and are at present considered as the richest in this district. In the valley of the Uba, N.W. of Shamanaicho, are the mines of Semenoff, which produce silver and copper, but are not rich. In the valleys forming the N. declivity of the range are the mines of Schlangenberg, famous for the great quantity of silver extracted from them during the last century; but at present they are less considerable, and begin to be exhausted. W. of them are the mines of Loktewsk, producing great quantities of copper. To the E. of the Schlangenberg are the mines of Woskresensk, which furnish copper, but at present are not worked. The ores from these mines were formerly carried to Barnaul on the Oby, where they were smelted; but smelting houses are now erected in the neighbourhood of the most considerable mines. They are all worked on the account and for the benefit of the Russian government; and an imperial ukase directs that every year 950 pouds (34,200 lbs.) of gold and silver shall be sent to Petersburg from this district. Of this amount 920 pouds are silver, and 25 pouds gold extracted from the silver. The quantity of copper and lead annually furnished by them is not stated. former is partly coined in Siberia in the mint of Susansk. At Kolywano Woskresensk are extensive polishing works, where granite, porphyry, jasper, agate, and marble are worked into tables, vases, chimney-pieces, basins, columns, &c. The material is brought from the river Korgon, and 300 workmen are employed in them at the expense of government. The mining district of Nertshinsk on the Shilka, a tributary of the Amur, is much less important. The number of mines is stated to amount to upwards of 80, but many of them have been abandoned. The ore is smelted in several large smelting establishments, of which that of Nertshinsk is the most considerable. The silver is extracted from galena ore, a cwt. of which contains from to 2 ounces of silver. The annual produce is stated to be only 235 pouds, or 16,500 marcs of silver; consequently less than a fourth part of the annual produce of the mines of Barnaul. The ore, though poor, is very abundant; but the want of fire-wood and coal in the neighbourhood of the mines prevents the increase of their annual produce. (See Pallas, Humboldt, Ledebour, Von Bunge, and Erman.)

The

ALTAMURA, a town of Naples, prov. Tera di Bari, at the foot of the Appenines, 29 m. S. W. Bari. Pop. 16,000. It is surrounded by walls, has a magnificent cathedral founded by Frederic 11., an hospital and a lyceum, and is one of the handsomest best built towns in the province. Having taken part with the republican party in 1799, it was taken by the royalists, and given up to military execution; but it has since recovered its former prosperity. Altamura is supposed to be founded on or near the site of the ancient Lapazia.

ALTAVILLA, a town of Naples, prov. Principato Ultra, cap. cant., 7 m. N. Avellino. Pop. 2,600. This also is the name of a town in the prov. Principato Citra, S. Campana. Pop. 2,400.

ALTDORF, a town of the grand duchy of Baden; on the great road from Bale to Frankfort. Pop. 1,200. It is the property of Baron Turkheim, who has here a fine castle, and a valuable botanical garden.

ALTDORF, a town of Bavaria, circ. Rezat, 13 m. S, E. Nuremberg. Pop. 2,000. All sorts of wooden toys are manufactured here, and are exported to all parts of Europe and to S. America. There are also considerable breweries. The surrounding country is beautiful and fertile.

ALTEA, a town of Spain, Valencia, near the sea, 30 m. N. E. Alicant. Pop. 4,800. It has glass-works; and, the contiguous territory produces cotton, wine, flax, silk, and honey.

ALTENA, a town of Prussian Westphalia, cap. circ same name, on the Senne. Pop. 4,000, principally employed in wire-drawing and in the manufacture of needles, pins, thimbles, &c.

ALTENAU, a mining town of Hanover, prov. Grubenhagen, Hartz mountains, about 1,500 feet above the level

of the sea. Pop. 1,200. There are in the vicinity mines of silver, copper, and iron.

ALTENBERG, a town of the kingdom of Saxony in the Erzgebirge mountains, 22 m.S. Dresden. Pop. 1,400. It manufactures lace, the surrounding mountains abound in tin, and are covered with forests.

ALTENBRUCK, a town of Hanover, on the Werne, near where it falls into the æstuary of the Elbe, a little above Cuxhaven. Pop. 2,400. It has some trade in corn

and cattle.

ALTENBURG, a principality in the duchy of Saxe Gotha, divided into two principal parts by the lordship of Gera, and possessing several detached portions in other states. Area, 495 sq. m. Pop. in 1832, 113,677. The W. part, watered by the Saale, is hilly and woody; while the E. part, watered by the Pleisse, is flat and fertile. The inhab. who are descendants of the Wendes, are industrious and are almost all Lutherans.

ALTENBURG, the cap. of the above principality, 24 m. S.S.E. Leipsic, near the Pleisse. Lat. 50° 50′ N., long. 22° 27' E. Pop. 12,629. It is well built; has a gymnasium with a considerable library, a foundation for noble ladies, an orphan asylum, and a theatre; with manufactures of wool, tobacco, sealing-wax, gloves, and an extensive trade in wood, corn and cattle.

ALTENBURG, a town of Hungary, 29 m. S. S. E. Knoxburg, in an island of the Fritha, at the point where it unites with the right arm of the Danube. It has a gymnasium, and an old castle, now used as a corn magazine. It was burnt by the Turks in 1683. ALTENKIRCHEN, a town of the Prussian States, prov. Rhine, cap. circ., on the Wied, 16 m. N. Coblentz. Pop. 1,150. It has some fabrics of linen and cotton, and a forge. The vicinity of this town, was, in 1796, the theatre of some obstinate conflicts between the French and Austrians; in one of which, on the 21st September, the brave General Marceau was killed.

Brief, brave, and glorious was his young career;

His mourners were two hosts, his friends and foes.- BYRON.
ALTENSTEIG, a town of Wirtemberg, circ. Black
Forest, 5 m. W. N. W. Nagold. Pop. 1,700. It is built
on the declivity of a steep hill, at the summit of which is

an old castle.
ALTER-DO-CHAO, atown of Portugal, prov. Alen-
tejo, on the Avis, 14 m. W. S. W. Portalagre. Pop.
2,000. It is surrounded by walls.
ALTKIRCH, a town of France, dep. Haut Rhin, cap.
arrond., 34 m. S. Colmar. Pop. 3,028. It is situated on
a hill, at the bottom of which is the Ill; has some tan-
neries, and a cattle fair once a month.

ALTOMONTE, a town of Naples, prov. Calabria Citra, 24 m. N. N. W. Cossenza. Pop. 2,100. It is situated on an eminence, has good air, with mines of iron and silver, and a brine spring in the vicinity.

a village close by; and an old tower, in the town of Altorf, covered with paintings in honour of Tell, is said to mark the spot whence he shot the apple off his son's head. (Ebel, Manuel de Voyageur en Suisse; Inglis's Switzerland, p. 105, &c.)

ALTRINGHAM, a town of England, co. Chester, 8 m. Manchester. Pop. 2,708. It is a neat thriving town, with factories for the spinning of cotton, linen yarn, &c. ALTSOHL, a free town of Hungary, at the confluence of the Szlatina with the Gran, lat. 48° 34′ 55′′ N., long. 19° 7' 20 E. Pop. 2,000. It is old, and is entirely occupied by Slavonians. On a hill in the neighbourhood are the ruins of a castle, said to have been a favourite residence of Mathias I.

ALTSTETTEN, a town of Switzerland, cant. St. Gall, 9 m. S. from the embouchure of the Rhine in the Lake of Constance. Pop. 1,800. It is situated on the declivity of a mountain in a beautiful country, surrounded with corn-fields and vineyards; has a fine church which serves both for Catholics and Protestants, a public library, a muslin manufactory, and three fairs annually.

ALTURA, a town of Spain, Valoncia, 3 m. N. W. Segorbe. Pop. 3,000. It has distilleries, potteries, and a paper-mill. The country round produces a great deal of wine. ALVA, a village and parish of Scotland, co. Stirling. 7 m. N. E. Stirling. Pop. 1,300. The Devon iron company has considerable works here.

ALVARADO, a small town of Mexico, near the mouth of the river of the same name, 40 m. S. S. E. Vera Cruz, lat. 18° 34′ 18 N., long. 65° 39′ 15' W. The bar at the mouth of the river, about 14 m. below the town, renders it inaccessible for vessels drawing above 10 or 12 feet water; large ships being in consequence obliged to anchor in the roads, exposed to all the fury of the N. winds, which often blow with much violence. During the period that the castle of St. Juan D'Ulloa continued in possession of the Spaniards, after Vera Cruz had thrown off their yoke, the trade of the latter was principally carried on through Alvarado; but upon the reduction of the castle by the patriots, it speedily reverted to its old channel.

ALVINCZ, a town of Transylvania, on the Maros, opposite Roberick, 7 m. S. W. Karlsburg. Pop. 3,300, almost all Magyars and Bulgarians.

ALVITO, a town of Naples, prov. Terra-di-Lavore, 64 m. S. E. Sora. Pop. 2,300. It is built on the declivity of a hill, in a healthy situation; has an hospital, and several monts-de-piété for the marriage of young girls.

ALWUR, a large town of Hindostan, prov. Delhi, cap. dominions of the Macherry Raja, 90 m. S. S. W. Delhi, lat. 27° 44′ N., long. 76° 32′ E. It is situated at the base of a steep hill, and is strongly fortified. On the summit of the hill, about 1200 feet high, is a fortress containing several tanks.

ALYTH, a town and parish of Scotland, co. Perth, 12 m. W. Forfar. Pop. 2,888. The soil is fertile, and the town, which is finely situated, carries on some branches of the linen manufacture.

ALZEY, a walled town of Hesse Darmstadt, on the Selz, 18 m. S. S. W. Mayence. Pop. 3,200. It has ma

ALZIRA. See ALCIRA.

ALTON, a town of the U. States, Illinois, on the Mis. sissippi, a little above its confluence with the Missouri. This town was founded so late as 1818, and in 1832 it contained only two or three dozen houses. But the public attention having been then directed to its advantageous situation for commerce and navigation, it has since ad-nufactures of linen and stockings, and tanneries. vanced with extraordinary rapidity; and at present (1838) it has probably from 3,500 to 4,000 inhab. ! There can be little doubt that it is destined to become an important commercial emporium. (Illinois in 1837, p. 113.) ALTON, a m. town and parish of England, co. Hants, hund. Alton, on the Wye, 47 m. S. W. by S. London. It is a neat town, with manufactures of druggets and worsteds. Pop. 2,742.

ALTONA, or ALTENA, a considerable city of Denmark, in Holstein, on the Elbe, 2 m. W. Hamburg Pop. 26,400. It is well built, is a free port, and enjoys various privileges: it having been a favourite object with the Danish government to attract to it some portion of the wealth and commerce of Hamburg. But in this they have had but little success. Altona has, however, a good deal of trade; ship-building is also carried on to a considerable extent; and there are manufactures of cotton, silk, leather articles, &c., with sugar-houses, breweries, and distilleries. There is here a superior academy or college, a public library, a mint, an orphan-house, with numerous churches, &c. The inhabitants are mostly Lutherans. Altona was burned by the Swedes in 1713, under circumstances of great barbarity.

ALTORF, or ALTDORF, a town of Switzerland, cap. cant. Uri, delightfully situated in a narrow valley surrounded by lofty mountains, near the S. E. extremity of the lake of Lucerne, at the N. extremity of the pass over Mount St. Gothard, lat. 46° 55′ 10′′ N., long. 8 37' 47" E. Pop. circa 1700. It suffered severely from a fire in 1799, but has since been rebuilt on an improved plan. It has a handsome parish church, a town-house, and a Capuchin convent, with a library attached. Altorf is intimately associated with the true or fabulous history of William Tell. He is said to have been born in Burglen,

ALZONNE, a town of France, dep. Aude, at the confluence of the Lampy and the Fresquel, near the canal of Languedoc, 12 miles W. N. W. Carcassonne. Pop. 1,644. It has manufactures of fine cloth, caps, &c.

AMAK, a small Danish island, on which a part of Copenhagen is built. It is principally laid out in gardens and pleasure-grounds.

AMALPHI, a city and sea-port of Naples, 9 m. W. S. W. Salerno. Pop. 3,500.* This city attained during the early part of the middle ages to great distinction as an independent maritime republic; and was the first Italian state that traded with Egypt and the shores of the Mediterranean. In the zenith of her pros perity, in the 11th century, Amalphi is said to have contained 50,000 citizens; and her wealth, and the skill and intrepidity of her mariners were then unequalled. But after being reduced by the Normans, she was taken and sacked by the Pisans, in 1130; and from this period she rapidly declined, and not long after fell into obscurity. A unique copy of Justinian's Pandects, said to have been found by the Pisans among the spoils of this city, was believed, though, as Savigny has shown, without much foundation, to have led to the revival of the study of the civil law; and Amalphi is also famous for having been the birth-place of Flavio Gioja, supposed by some to have been the inventor of the mariner's compass, but who it is certain was only its improver. (Gibbon's Decline and Fall, cap. 56. Rampoldi, Corografia dell' Italia.) AMAND-LES-EAUX (ST.), a town of France, dep.

Rampoldi says 11,000; but we have no doubt that this is very 2,500 to 3,500; and the amount given to it by Rampoldi seems quite far beyond the mark. Most authors set down the population at from inconsistent with the accounts as to the decay of the place