the property of the landgrave of Hesse Rotenburg, deceased in 1834: Provinces. Upper Hesse Total Area in sq. m. Pop. 1858. 1,570 525 3,270 Ch. Towns and Pop. 296,500 Giessen 7,300 23,000 - 40,500 History.-The house of Hesse-Cassel was founded by William the Sage, in 1567. The landgrave was raised to the dignity of elector by the treaty of Luneville, in 1801, which title he retained when restored to his dominions in 1815, though there was no longer an emperor to elect. From 1806 to 1813 Hesse-Cassel formed a part of the king. The surface is very diversified. Rhenish Hesse and the dom of Westphalia, of which Cassel was the cap. The W. part of Starkenberg consist mostly of a level plain electorate holds the 8th rank in the German confedera- of great fertility, the E. part of Starkenberg is occution, having three votes in the full council, and one in pied by the richly-wooded Odenwald, a hilly tract, along the committee. (Berghaus, Allg. Länder, and Volker- the foot of which runs the picturesque and celebrated kunde, iv. 316-328.; Encyc. des Gens du Monde, &c.) Bergstrasse, a very ancient line of road, extending in HESSE-DARMSTADT, or the GRAND DUCHY nearly a straight direction from Frankfurt to HeidelOF HESSE, a state of W. Germany, consisting of two berg. Upper Hesse is hilly or uneven throughout, being principal and not very unequal tracts of country, sepa- intersected by the Taunus, Westerwald, Vogelsgebirge, rated from each other by the territories of Hesse Cassel, and other mountain ranges, the last named of which seand Frankfurt on the Main, and of some smaller de- parates the basin of the Weser from that of the Rhine. tached portions chiefly inclosed within the territory of The loftiest summits of the Vogelsgebirge are about Waldeck, the whole lying between lat. 49° 12′ and 51° 2,500 ft. in elevation. Next to the Rhine, the chief rivers 19', and long. 7° 52′ and 9° 40′ E. Upper Hesse, the are its tributaries, the Main, Weschnitz, Selz, and Nahe, most N. of the two principal tracts, is bounded W. in Starkenberg and Rhenish Hesse; and in Upper Hesse by Prussian Westphalia and Nassau, and encircled on the Wetterau, Nidda, Lahn, Eder, Fulda, &c. There all other sides by Hesse Cassel; the other principal are many large ponds, but none worthy of the name of a tract has N., Nassau, Frankfort, and Hesse Cassel; E., lake. The climate is generally healthy, but varies very Bavaria; S., Baden; and W., Rhenish Bavaria and much in different parts. The mean temp. of the year Prussia; and is separated by the Rhine into the provs. in the plain of the Rhine is about 55° Fah.: in Upper of Starkenberg and Rhenish Hesse. According to Berg- Hesse it is little more than 51°, and snow lies on the Vohaus, the area, pop., &c. of the Grand Duchy are as fol-gelsgebirge for 8 or 9 months of the year. low:-[See top of next column.] Hesse-Darmstadt is especially an agricultural country. Its surface, according to Berghaus, is occupied as follows, reckoning in morgen of about 2-3ds of an acre : — The plains of Rhenish Hesse and Starkenberg, with the adjacent parts of Baden and Nassau, are amongst the best cultivated, as well as most fertile tracts of Germany; a circumstance which accounts for their supporting a pop. nearly as dense as that of Ireland in comparative comfort, without manufactures, and with but little trade. Rhenish Hesse, in particular, is covered with corn fields, vineyards, orchards and villages; and besides supplying the demand for home consumption, exports corn in considérable quantities. Wheat is the príncipal produce of the low lands, buckwheat of the Odenwald, and rye of Upper Hesse; but in the higher parts of the latter province little else than barley and oats are grown. In Rhenish Hesse the rotations of crops are various, and studied with constant reference both to the soil and seasons, and the land is never fallow. Poppy seed, rape, tobacco of good quality, and fruit are extensively cultivated in this province; and its vineyards yield some of the finest growths on the Rhine. The total produce of wine in Hesse Darmstadt, is estimated at 180,000 ohm, (6,342,500 imp. galls.), two thirds of which are exported. Flax, hemp, hops, and garden vegetables are the other chief objects of culture. Cattle-breeding is practised most extensively in Upper Hesse, where there is an active trade in live stock, including sheep and hogs; but many cattle, &c. are also fattened in the Odenwald, chiefly for the supply of Frankfurt. The principal forest trees are beech, oak, hornbeam, pine, fir, &c.; and in the Vogelsgebirge, maple, elm, and larch. Large quantities of timber and wooden wares are sent from Upper Hesse and Starkenberg, down the Main and the Neckar. In Rhenish Hesse, however, timber is exceedingly scarce and dear, owing to the great destruction of the woods during the French dominion; and nearly all the material required for fuel has to be brought from the Black Forest or Spessart mountains. The forests are mostly either communal or grand ducal property; they belong to the communes, especially in Rhenish Hesse, where, from their scarcity, they are highly valued. In the latter province, and in Starkenberg, property is very much subdivided. The following statement respecting its subdivision throughout the Grand Duchy, has been extracted from the tax-lists of 1834. 53,487 No. of individuals paying Land-tax only. Land-tax and Industry tax 601 and Personal tax 68,420 Land, Persona!, and Ind. taxes 41,374 38,173 Total Surface. 1,137,883 1,475,997 514,706 3,128,586 hired labourers at the same period, 43,370. The surplus of the exported over the imported agricultural produce, for the three years ending 1831, is estimated, by the same authority, at-corn, principally wheat, 209,628 qrs.; flour, 203,650 cwts.; dried fruits, 10,700 cwts.; tobacco, 39,000 cwts.; spirits, 60,000 cwts.; vinegar, 10,000 cwts.; poppy and rape oils, 38,460 cwts.; though the harvests within that period were by no means abundant. The condition of the lower classes of agriculturists, who are here, as all over Germany, a kind of copyhold possessors of the land, has been very much improved since the peace. Personal services of all kinds have been redeemed, on easy terms, by the interference of the government, which began by giving up those due for crown lands at a moderate valuation. The tithes on new enclosures were voluntarily resigned both by the crown and by land-owners, and the existing tithes were converted into fixed redeemable rent charges, for the purchase of which the state advances capital at the rate of 3 per cent. interest to the land-owner. A charge to cover this outlay appears annually in the budget. Mining is the occupation next in importance. Salt mines are wrought at Wimpfen, in a detached portion of territory to the S., enclosed between Baden and Wirtemburg, where this minerai is found in great abundance; and for the supply of Rhenish Hesse, two mines near Kreutznach on the Nahe have been rented from Prussia. Berghaus estimates the produce of salt at 180,000 cwt. annually. Copper is obtained at Thalitter in upper Hesse, where a vein is profitably wrought, though the ore yields only from 16 to 2 per cent. of metal. At Biedenkopf, and on the estates of Prince Solms, in the mountainous parts of Upper Hesse, and in the Odenwald, extensive iron mines are wrought. Coal of inferior quality is abundant in Upper Hesse, and in scattered beds through the other provs.; but the total yearly produce is not more than 280,000 cwt. Turf, building stone, slates, marble, gypsum, and potter's clay, are the other chief mineral products, and there are traces of lead and mercury. Manufactures on any extended scale cannot be said to exist in the grand duchy. Spinning and weaving linen and hemp are, as above mentioned, an auxiliary occupation of the agricultural classes, particularly in the N. and N.W. parts of Upper Hesse, at Lauterbach, Schlitz, Herbstein, &c. Among these are damasks and other fine fabrics; but the linens of Hesse Darmstadt cannot compete with those of Westphalia or Silesia. Some silkThe first item shows the number of possessions belong-weaving is carried on at Offenbach, and stockings are ing to foundations and corporations, as well as those woven there and at Baben Hausen. Coarse woollens are under litigation; the third shows the number of landed manufactured in several places, principally in the N. proprietors of the upper classes; and the fourth the small Tobacco is prepared for use at Offenbach, the principal proprietors, all of whom carry on some little manufacturing town in the grand duchy. Few metallic manufacture, as weaving, &c., for which they are rated. articles are made, except needles and pins. Paper, Hoffmann estimates the trading capital of the Grand glazed pasteboard for export to Russia, brandy, vinegar, Duchy, as rated for the industry tax, in 1831, at about dyes, leather (not enough for home consumption), earth911,700 florins, the number of labourers employed in enware, and chemical products, comprise most of the trade being about 65,460, and the number of agricultural remaining manufactures. The chief articles of export have been before mentioned, to which may be added linen goods, iron, and Offenbach manufactures. (See OFFENBACH.) The principal imports are colonial goods, horses, cattle, hides, leather, leaf-tobacco, and wine. But the transit trade is the most considerable branch of commercial industry. It was very profitable to Mayence as long as obstacles existed to the free navigation of the Rhine, and all wares were forced to be shifted into boats owned in that city. This barbarous privilege has been given up of late years, but a toll is still raised upon boats passing up and down the river. An indemnity has been afforded to the citizens for this apparent sacrifice, by the rapid increase of their markets for corn and wine. Mayence is the emporium of the fruitful districts of the Upper Rhine, as well as of those on the Maine and Neckar. The quantity of wares which came down the Rhine to Mayence, in 1834, amounted to 48,000 tons' weight, of which 20,000 were sent on to the Lower Rhine. Besides these goods, 224,000 cubic metres of fir planks and boards, with 41,700 cubic metres of oak planks, were sent down from the forests on the Rhine to Maine and Neckar. The imports from the Lower Rhine in the same year amounted in weight to 43,900 cwts., while 21,750 cwts. were forwarded up the Maine. Hesse-Darmstadt was a mem. of the German Customs' Union for many years before it was joined by Frankfurt; and a successful attempt was made, while that city held out against the proposals of the Union, to establish a rival fair at Offenbach. The government of the Grand Duchy raised the tolls on the Maine, and the mart of Offenbach was making a considerable progress towards prosperity, when the adhesion of Frankfurt to the Union occasioned the abandonment of the experiment. a university at Giessen, attended usually by from 300 to 400 students, and many special academies for the arts, sciences, &c. The communes elect their own headboroughs, and the usual restrictions with respect to marriage and settlement are enforced, as in the neighbouring German States. (See BADEN, &c.) Commissions for the support of the poor are appointed in the towns, and, in Mayence especially, the charitable establishments are very well organised. A house of correction for secondary punishment has been established on an improved principle at Marienschloss, in which 350 convicts are confined, who both contribute by their labour to the support of the establishment, and earn a sum which is paid to them on their discharge. The budget voted for the period 1839-1841 amounted to 7,078,462 fl. for the supplies, the ways and means to meet which were estimated at 7,087,181 f. The sum voted for the civil list was 830,000 fl. The revenue is raised in the following manner:-1. Land-tax on the appraised value of the land; 2. House-tax on the rental of the house; 3. Industry-tax, for which each man's trade is valued in classes, varying in rank according to the size of the town in which they are carried on. (There are three classes of towns, and in each town seven classes of trades.) The national rental calculated in this manner was, in 1836, estimated at 13,771,642 fl. net revenue; and as the direct taxes amounted in that year to 1,983,361 fl., the rate was 14 per cent. per annum. In the province of Rhenish Hesse, the French patent tax, as well as the door and window tax, are retained in the place of the industry and house taxes. Hoffmann gives, however, an instance of the low valuations at which the land-tax is estimated, by citing the The florin in circulation, equivalent to Is. 8d., is sale of an estate for 558,300 fl., which was valued in the divided into 60 kreutzers. The chief weights and tax registers at an income of 16,261 f. A personal tax is measures are the pound-1'1 lb. Eng., the ohm, 352 further levied upon persons of independent fortunes, galls., the malter=44 Eng. qrs., the foot=82 ft. Eng., artists, and professional men, who are not included in the and the morgen='62 Eng. acre. industry tax, or who have revenues distinct from their business. This tax is rated according to the value of the house or lodging occupied by each person. The revenues of the crown lands; the tolls on the Rhine at Mayence, and on the Maine at Seligenstadt and Heinheim; the legacy and stamp duty; the excise on wine, beer, and slaughtered beasts; the octroi at the gates of the larger towns; the salt monopoly; and, lastly, the import duties established by the German commercial league, form the other sources of national revenue. The national debt, in 1838, amounted to 9,188,422 fl. The present Grand Duke is the 10th in descent from Philip the Magnanimous, between whose four sons the dominions of Hesse became separated towards the end of the 16th century. The grand duchy of Hesse Darmstadt holds the 9th rank in the German Confederation, having 3 votes in the full diet, and 1 in the committee. The Government is a limited monarchy, hereditary in the male line. The States consist of 2 chambers. The first is composed of members of the Grand Ducal house, the mediatised nobility, the R. Catholic bishop, the head Protestant ecclesiastic, the chancellor of the university of Giessen, and 10 citizens nominated for life by the grand duke. The second chamber consists of 6 deputies from the knights or inferior nobility, who pay direct taxes to the amount of 300 florins annually, 10 deputies from the towns, and 34 from the freehold landowners, contributing each direct taxes of 100 florins a year. The deputies are elected every 6 years, and the chambers meet at least once in 3 years. No changes in the laws can take place without their sanction, but they never assume the initiative in legislation; they have only the right of petitioning for new laws, which are then submitted to them by the minister. By the constitution of 1820 every subject enjoys freedom of person and property, and the free exercise of religion; all are equal under the law; and all, except the members of the mediatised noble houses, are liable to military service from 20 to 25 years of age. This service may, however, be performed by substitute, and there is a government office, through the agency of which substitutes are obtained on moderate terms. The contingent furnished to the army of the Confederation is 6,195 men; but the peace establishment amounts to 6,462 men. Mayence, the most important fortress in Germany, is garrisoned by equal numbers of Austrian and Prussian troops. The press is free, and the abuse of its freedom is cognisable only by the civil law. The executive powers are in the hands of a prime minister, and 5 others. Justice is administered in municipal and cantonal tribunals; high courts in the caps. of the provs; a military tribunal at Mayence, and a superior court and court of appeal in Darmstadt. In Rhenish Hesse the courts of justice are modelled upon the French system, and trial by jury is in force, on which privilege a high value is placed. The laws of the Grand Duchy are, however, obscure, complex, and not embodied in any general code defects which are loudly complained of. About 5-7ths of the pop. are Protestants, 1-4th R. Catholics, and 23,000 Jews, besides whom there are a few Mennonites, &c. The Catholics reside principally in the S., and are subordinate to the bishop of Mayence. The two Protestant confessions have been organised into one, and have assumed the ritual and discipline of the Prussian evangelical church. The reigning family is Protestant. Public instruction has advanced rapidly within the last 25 years, especially in Rhenish Hesse, where, before the peace, the inhabitants generally were grossly ignorant. In Mayence, which was the seat of a university, there was, in 1815, not a single bookseller, and mass-books and catechisms were the only works printed. The institutions for education are now excellent. One elementary school at least exists in every parish, besides which there are 4 citizens' schools, 7 gymnasia, 3 seminaries for schoolmasters, 4 colleges, a military academy, HESSE-HOMBURG (LANDGRAVIATE OF), a state of W. Germany, and one of the smallest in the Confederation, consisting of two detached portions, Homburg and Meisenheim, about 45 m. apart, the former enclosed between Hesse Darmstadt and Nassau, and the latter surrounded by the territories of Prussia, Oldenburg, and Rhenish Bavaria. United area, 166 sq. m. Pop. 23,600. The Homburg division is on the S. declivity of the Taunus mountains, the highest point of which, the Feldberg, is within its limits. The soil is not in general rich, but it has been rendered sufficiently productive by the industry of the inhabitants to furnish more corn than is required for home consumption, besides fruit, garden vegetables, flax, timber, &c. There are manufactures of woollen stuffs, linen fabrics, and stockings, which, after supplying the home demand, find a ready sale at Frankfurt. Meisenheim, W. of the Rhine, is partially covered with ranges from the Hunsdrück mountains. Its N. part is high, and its climate cold; but the surface of its S. portion is much less elevated, its temperature mild, and it yields a good deal of wine. Corn and cattle are plentiful, as are timber, coal, iron, and building stone. A little linen cloth, some linen and woollen yarn, glass, &c., are made; and there are a few iron-forges. The government is wholly in the hands of the Landgrave, who appoints his own ministers and executive officers, consisting of the government director, and the ministers of justice and finance. There is a superior court of justice in Homburg, with appeal to the High Court of Appeals in Darmstadt. The pop. is mostly Calvinist; there are, however, about 6,000 Lutherans, 3,000 Rom. Caths., and 1,000 Jews. public revenue is about 150,000 fl. a year; the public debt amounts to 500,000 fl. The contingent furnished to the army of the Confederation is 200 men. Hesse-Homburg has one vote in the full Diet only. The late Landgrave married a daughter of George III. of England, since whose recent death, we believe, this territory has been united to Hesse-Darmstadt. The HETTON-LE-HOLE, a village and township of England, par. Houghton-le-Spring, co. Durham, N.E. div. of Easington ward, 6 m. N.E. Durham. Area of township, 1,590 acres: pop., in 1831, 5,887, having increased from 919 in 1821. This astonishing increase is wholly attributable to the establishment of a large colliery, connected by a railway with the port of Sunderland. This populous village, chiefly inhabited by pitmen, consists, like most other pit-villages in Durham, of numerous cottages fronted by little gardens, and interspersed here and there with houses of a better character. A church, dependent on that of Houghton-le-Spring, several places of worship for dissenters, and some good and well attended schools, have been established since the place has risen to its present importance. (See HOUGHTON-LESPRING.) HEXHAM, a market town and par. of England, co. Northumberland, S. div., Tyndale ward, 20 m. W. Newcastle, and 33 m. E. Carlisle. Area of par., 28,370 acres. Pop. of township, in 1831, 4,666; do. of par., 6,042. The town stands on a high bank S. of the Tyne, a little below the confluence of its N. and S. branches, on the railway from Newcastle to Carlisle, and in the midst of a rich and well cultivated country. A handsome stone bridge of 9 arches connects it with the N. bank of the river. The streets, though narrow and irregular, contain several good houses; and the market-place, with the conduit in the centre, is a handsome quadrangle, on the S. side of which is an old market-house, supported by pillars, and beneath it are stalls for butchers and country dealers; on the E. side, surmounted by a stone tower, formerly used as the town gaol, is the ancient town-hall, where the manor court and petty sessions are held; and on the W. side is the Abbey church, partly in ruins, and now consisting only of a transept and choir of mixed Norman and Gothic architecture, with a square tower, 90 ft. high, rising from the centre of the building. The living is peculiar to the prov. of York, and the great tithes are appropriated to one of the stalls in York cathedral. The Rom. Catholics have a handsome chapel, besides which there are places of worship for Wesleyan Methodists, Independents, and others." A free grammar-school, founded by Queen Elizabeth in 1598, was subsequently endowed with property for the education of the youth of this and of the adjoining towns and parishes. The foundation_boys, whose number is not limited, pay a stipend of 7s. 6d. a quarter, and about 40 more are educated with them, the instruction not being exclusively classical. A mechanics' institute, a savings' bank, and a dispensary have been established of late years. Hexham has long been famous for a peculiar description of gloves, called "tan-gloves;" they were formerly much worn, but of late years have fallen into comparative disuse. Hats and coarse worsted goods are also made in considerable quantities; and about half the pop. are employed in these branches of industry. Markets on Tuesday and Saturday, but chiefly on the former; and cattle markets on every alternate Tuesday. Fairs, Aug. 5. and Nov. 8., for live stock and woollen goods. The annual sales in the Hexham market average 4,000 qrs. of wheat, 2,000 qrs. of oats, and 1,500 qrs. of rye. The site of the town close to Hadrian's wall, and the discovery of many Roman inscriptions, altars, and other monuments, have led to the supposition that it occupies the site of the Roman station Axelodunum. St. Wilfrid, archbishop of York, introduced into Hexham the arts of France and Italy. This prelate made it a bishop's see and a co. palatine; but in 883 it was united with Lindisfarne, and finally, in 1112, was annexed to one of the prebends in York cathedral. David, king of Scotland, shortly before the battle of Neville's Cross, halted here for three days. The church, which had been ruined, was rebuilt by Thomas, Archbishop of York, who also founded a priory of Augustine canons, the annual revenues of which amounted, at the dissolution of the monasteries, to 1381. (Hutchinson's History of Northumberland; Britton's Cathedrals and Churches; Dugdale's Mon. Angl.) HIERES, or HYERES, a town of France, dép. Var, cap. cant. on the S. declivity of a conical hill, 3 m. from the Mediterranean, and 34 m. S. W. Draguignan. Pop. (1836) 4,246. It commands beautiful and extensive views, but its internal appearance is far from corresponding with its situation, its streets being steep, narrow, crooked, dark, and very badly paved. Its highest point is crowned by the ruins of an ancient fortress, from which descend on either side the traces of a line of thick walls, that formerly surrounded the whole town. In the Place Royale, a large but gloomy-looking square, is a column, surmounted with a fine marble bust of the most illustrious of its citizens, Massillon, born here on the 24th of June, 1663. The suburb at the foot of the hill is much pleasanter, and more frequented by visiters, than the town itself: it has some excellent hotels. It is said that Hières was formerly a sea-port; at present, a plain of great fertility intervenes between it and the sea, covered with orange plantations, the best in France, vineyards, and olive grounds. The town has manufactures of orangeflower water, and other perfumes; brandy, oil, silk twist, &c.; and trades in these articles, olives and other fruits, and wine. Under the name of Arcae, this was one of the colonies anciently established by the Greeks on the shores of the Mediterranean: the Romans called it Hieros, but the monuments with which they embellished the city have entirely disappeared. HIERES, ISLES OF (an. Stachades), a group of four small islands in the Mediterranean, about 10 m. S.E. Hyères, and 14 m. E.S.E. Toulon. Porquerolles, the largest, is 5 m. long by 2 m. broad: it is fortified, and has about 100 inhab. Port-Croz has also a garrison, and about 50 inhab. The other islands are surrounded by several rocky islets. None of them is fertile. (Hugo, art. Var, &c.) HIGHAM-FERRERS, a bor., market town, and par. of England, co. Northampton, hund. of same name, near the Nen, 14 m. E.N.E. Northampton. Area of par., 1,871 acres: pop., in 1831, 965. The town stands on a rocky height, commanding a fine view over the valley of the Nen. The church has a finely ornamented W. front, and a tower and spire 160 ft. high. A monastic college founded here in 1422 was surrendered in 1543, and a portion of its revenues was devoted to the endowment of the present free school, recently rebuilt in a handsome style. Higham-ferrers, which, a few years ago, had a respectable lace-trade, is now quite insignificant as a place of industry; and the business originating in its position on a great north road, has been greatly lessened by the recent opening of the railways. This insignificant place, which is a bor. by prescription, sent 2 mems. to the H. of C., from the reign of Philip and Mary, down to the passing of the Reform Act, by which it was disfranchised. The franchise, though nominally vested in the freemen, was really exercised by Earl Fitzwilliam, the proprietor of the greater part of the borough. HIGHGATE, a village and chapelry of England, partly in Hornsey, and partly in St. Pancras par., co. Middlesex, hund. Ossulston, 4 m. N. London. The pop. is estimated at 4,000. The village stands on the top and sides of a hill about 450 ft. high; and many of the houses are well built, being occupied by opulent merchants and others belonging to London. On the top of the hill, on the road towards Barnet, is the Gate-house, formerly a toll-gate at the boundary of the Bishop of London's estates. For many years a tavern has existed here, in which strangers are "sworn at Highgate; " that is, in which an old custom is kept up of swearing them not to drink small beer when they can get strong, &c., “unless they like it better." The old chapel, built in 1565 as a chapel of ease to Hornsey, was replaced in 1832 by a neat church in the pointed style, contiguous to which is a spacious cemetery. The dissenters have 3 places of worship, to all of which are attached large Sunday schools. The grammar-school, founded in 1562, was for many years almost useless; but, in consequence of the representations of the charity commissioners, a reform was effected in its management, and it has lately become an efficient well-attended classical school. Its master, who has a salary of 1507. a year, is the reader and preacher at the church. Many good boarding-schools for boys and girls are established in and about the village. There are almshouses for 12 poor persons, and 2 well-supported charity schools. E. of Highgate runs the great north road in an excavated hollow, about 60 ft. deep at one spot, where it is crossed by a bridge or archway, forming the thoroughfare to Hornsey. Close to the opening of the archway-road is the mercers' hospital, a handsome Elizabethan structure, with 2 wings, and a chapel in the centre. Caen-wood, the beautiful seat of the Earl of Mansfield, lies between Highgate and Hampstead. HIGHLANDS. See ScOTLAND. HILDESHEIM, a town of Hanover, cap. of princ. and landdrostei, on the Innerste, a tributary of the Leine, 19 m. S.S.E. Hanover, and 41 m. S. Göttingen. Pop., in 1838, 15,000, of whom about one third, with the bishop, are Rom. Cath. It is a large old town, surrounded with ramparts, now used as public promenades, irregularly built, and having extremely narrow streets. Among its churches, the cathedral, erected by Louis the Pious, in 818, is remarkable for its fine bronze gates of the 11th century, its paintings on glass, and for a hollow pillar of greenish stone, supposed to have been a Saxon idol, and now surmounted by an image of the Virgin Mary. This, and 3 other churches, belong to the Rom. Caths., who have also a consistory and a divinity college attended by 42 students. The other educational establishments are a Lutheran gymnasium with a good library, 9 schools, and a large and admirably regulated poor-school connected with a house of industry. The other public buildings and institutions are the episcopal palace, council-hall, treasury, lunatic asylum, three orphan houses, and an establishment for the deaf and dumb. The trade of Hildesheim is inconsiderable, except in coarse linen cloths and yarn: its other products are leather, soap, starch, snuff, bleached wax, and earthenware; but cattle-fairs are held here said to be the largest in the kingdom. HILLAH. See BABYLON, HIMALAYA MOUNTAINS (THE), (San. Hima- | úlaya, abode of snow; an. Imaus or Emodus,) an extensive mountain range of Asia, and the loftiest of which we have any knowledge, bounding the low and level plain of Hindostan on the N., and separating it from the table-land of Thibet, which stands 10,000 ft. above the sca. This chain is continuous westward with the Hindoo-koosh and Belur-tagh, and E. with the table-land of Yun-nan; but the term Himalaya is usually restricted by geographers to that portion of the range lying between the passages of the Indus and Brahmapootra, or Sanpoo; the former being in lat. 35° N., and long. 75° E., and the latter in lat. 28° 15′ N., and long. 960 E. The direction of the range, as thus defined, is S.E. from the Indus to the Gunduk, and thence E. to its termination. Its entire length is 1,900 m., its average breadth 90 m., and the surface which it covers is estimated at 160,000 sq. m. The N.W. extremity of the chain, called the Gosseie mountains, extends in a S.E. direction along the sources of all the Punjab rivers, except the Sutledje, and separates the hilly part of Lahore from Little Thibet. E. of the Sutledje, which cuts a passage through the mountains, in lat. 31° 30′ N., and long. 77° 40′ E., the range, still running S.E., crosses the heads of the Jumna and Ganges; it then, in its course E., gives rise successively to the Gogra, Gunduk, Cosi, Mahanunda, and Teesta, and is bounded on both sides at its E. extremity by the circuitous channel of the San-poo, to which, however, it contributes few affluents of importance. The average height of the Himalaya chain is estimated by Berghaus at 15,700 ft.; but numerous peaks exceed in altitude the Chimborazo of the Andes, so long supposed to be the highest point on the globe. The principal of these are as follows, with their situation and height from the sea. E. long. Height. Name. N. lat. The passes over the main ridge, as far as we know at present, amount to about 20, a few only of which are practicable for horses, sheep being chiefly used as beasts of burden over the steeper passes. Their height above the sea varies from 10,000 to 18,000 ft.; the principal are, the Kandriball pass, between Cashmere and Ladak; the Paralaha (16,500 ft.high), leading from the Upper Chenab valley to Ladak; the Shatool, Boorendo, and Piming passes, all much frequented, on the road N. up the valley of the Sutledje; the Ghang-tang-ghaut (10,150 ft.), practicable for horses, and leading up the bed of the Bhagirathi to Chaprung, a Chinese post on the Upper Sutledje; the Netee-ghaut (16,814 ft.), used by the great caravans passing between Thibet and N. Hindostan; the Dooraghaut (17,790 ft.), also a much frequented route, connecting the valley of the Kalee with Dumpo, in Thibet; and the Mastang pass, near the source of the Gunduk: the passes to the E. of this river are little known. The glens, through which these mountain-tracks run, are usually at right angles with the main range, and the N. W. face is invariably rugged, and inclined at an angle of 50°, while the S. E. slope is more smooth, and has an inclination of only 200 or 30°. (Lloyd and Gerard, ii. 29. 61.) The limits of perpetual congelation in the Himalaya chain, which, according to Leslie's theory, would be 11,400 ft. above the sea, have been ascertained, by the observations of Webb, Gerard, &c., to be generally higher; and they have likewise proved that, while the snow-line on the S. slope is at an elevation of 12,400 ft., the mountains on the side of Thibet are free from snow in summer as high as 16,600 ft. This unexpected circumstance is attributed by some to the difference be tween the serene climate of Thibet and the foggy atmosphere of Hindostan; but by Lyell and others, with more probability, to the influence of the heat radiated by a great continent in moderating the cold. (Lyell's Geol., i. 181.) Geology-The only rock sufficiently extensive to characterise the geological formation of the great chain is gneiss, which constitutes the substance of the highest ridges and crests. Granite veins occur on the surface only in some directions, intersecting the gneiss; but Captain Johnson and other travellers are of opinion, that granite forms the base of the mountains, and that gneiss Is superimposed on the general bed. On leaving the centre of the range, schistus and clay-slate, primitive and secondary limestone, and red sandstone are successively met with on either side. Even in the centre of the chain, however, masses of limestone and sandstone have been found at an elevation of 16,000 and 18,000 ft., locked here and there in upraised crystalline rocks, a phenomenon observable also in the Alps and Pyrenees. The fossil remains found in (Geog. Journal, iv. 64.) the Himalaya mountains consist of bones of many dif ferent species of ruminating animals (some of which were found by Captain Webb at an elevation of 16,000 ft.), of ammonites, belemnites, and various kinds of land and fresh-water shells. The chief minerals hitherto found are sulphur, alum, rock-salt, gold dust, copper, lead, iron, antimony, and manganese; and the mines of Nepaul are reported by Buchanan Hamilton to produce large quantities of lead, copper, and sulphur. (Hamilton's Nepaul, introd.) There are no direct traces of volcanoes in the districts explored by the English; but the numerous thermal springs (that of Jumnotri having a temperature of 194° Fahr.), and many shocks of earthquakes felt by travellers in different parts of the range, indicate it to be the focus of subterraneous movements and derangements of the earth's crust. Among the physical phenomena observed on this great chain may be mentioned the falls of the Pabur, the highest known, and exceeding 1,500 ft., and the dripping-rock of Sansdarrab, near Deyra Doohl, in Gurhwal, resembling, though on a larger scale, those of Knaresborough in Yorkshire, and Roslyn, near Edinburgh. This rock, situated in a glen surrounded by mountains rising almost perpendicularly to the height of 5,000 ft., and clothed to the very top with the most beautiful wood, overhangs a small basin of water like the roof of an open piazza, extending about 50 yds. in length; and above it is a small stream, which being absorbed by the marshy nature of the soil, is filtered through it, and falls into the basin in a continual shower. The roof of the rock, and also of a neighbouring cave, are covered with stalactitic incrustations, which in some cases have descended to the floor, having the appearance of sparkling pillars. (Capt. Johnson, in Geog. Journ. iv. 43.; and Hamilton's Gaz.) Vegetation. -The height at which plants and trees flourish on the Himalaya range varies on the N. and S. slopes, nearly proportionally to the difference in the altitude of the snow-line. On the S. slope, grain cultivation is not attempted higher than 10,000 ft.; the highest habitation is at an elevation of 9,500 ft.: pines (which form by far the largest proportion of forest in every place) show their best growth at a height of 10,300 ft.; but beyond 11,000 ft. they grow in smaller quantities, and are of less girth and growth. The rhododendron grows up to 12,000 ft., and birches are found as high as 13,000 ft. above the sea. (Gerard and Lloyd, i. 343., ii. 9.) On the N. side, villages are found between 11,000 and 13,000 ft. high, and grain cultivation advances to a height of 13,500 ft.; birch-trees rise to 14,000 ft., and vegetation is found up to an elevation of 17,500 ft., that is, upwards of 3,000 ft. higher than on the S. slope. The grains found on these heights are wheat and barley, bhatoo (Amaranthus anardhana), cheenah (Panicum miliaceum), khoda (Paspalum_scrobiculatum), ooa (Hordeum cœleste), and phapur (Panicum tartaricum). Strawberries and currants thrive on the S. side at a height of 11,600 ft., and 1,000 ft. higher on the opposite side. Zoology. The mammalia of the Himalaya range are chiefly confined to ruminating animals, a few varieties only of the horse and cat tribe being found in these regions. The wild horse is seen on the N. side of the mountains; but the principal tenants of the hilly pastures are the yak (Bos prophagus), much used as a beast of burden by the Tartars, the ghurl (Caper ægagrus), of which the Cashmere and Thibet goats are varieties, the musk-deer, the Nepaul stag, the black deer, the Cervus Capreolus, the chirn or one-horned antelope, the goral, and the nylgau. Among the birds of the Himalaya may be mentioned the lammer-geyer (Gypäctus barbatus), the chuccoree (Perdiz rufa), the common cuckoo, the Impeyan pheasant (Lophophorus refulgens), the redlegged crow, and the wood-pigeon. (Ritter's Asia, ii., iii.; Geog. Journ., iv.; Lloyd and Gerard's Tour in the Himalaya; and Berghaus's Asien, with Maps.) HINCKLEY, a market town and par. of England, co. Leicester, hund. Sparkenhoe, 12 m. S. W. Leicester. Area of par., 6,200 acres : pop. of town, in 1831, 6,490; do. of par., 7,180. The town stands on a commanding eminence close to Warwickshire, from which it is divided by the old Roman Watling Street: it is well built, though old, and near the centre stand an ancient town-hall and school-house. The church is a fine old Gothic building, with a tower and steeple 120 ft. high. The dissenters have 5 places of worship, connected with which and the church are Sunday schools, attended by 1,200 children. There are also an endowed national school, with 150, and an infant school, with 180, children. The staple manufacture of the place is hosiery, introduced about 1640, and now employing in the town and neighbourhood upwards of 2,000 hands. Coarse substantial stockings are said to be made here in larger quantities than in any other part of England. Markets (well attended) on Monday: fairs 1st, 2d, and 3d Monday after Epiphany; Easter Monday, Monday before Whit-Sunday, and Whit-Monday, for horses and live stock; Aug. 26., and Monday after Oct. 28. Near the Ashby-de-la-Zouch canal, which passes close to the town, are the remains of a Roman fortification, and the remains of a wall and ditch, traceable all round, indicate Hinckley to have been formerly a place of some importance. meet, commences the remarkable valley or gap of Coim batore, which leaves a clear breach in the mountain chains, extending from the E. to the W. sea. A single chain of the same formation as the E. Ghauts then runs all the way to Cape Comorin, leaving the plain of Travancore to the W., and the more extensive plain of Madura and Tinnevelly to the E. The E. chain, or HINDOSTAN, or INDIA ON THIS SIDE THE Ghauts, may be said to commence at the Neilgherry hills, which are among the highest mountains of S. GANGES OF BRAHMAPUTRA. Name and Limits.— India. From this point they diverge in an E. direction, The ancient inhabitants of India had no common and soon break into a succession of parallel ranges less name for themselves or their country; but their elevated and more broken than the W. Ghauts. In Persian neighbours called the people Hindoos, their further progress to the N., the E. Ghauts break into subordinate ranges and valleys, which give passage and the country, as far as they knew it, Hin- to the great rivers that drain nearly all the waters of dostan; words which, in old English, would the peninsula into the Bay of Bengal. This range terhave been accurately as well as literally ren- minates nearly in the same parallel of latitude to the W. dered, "Negro," and "Negroland." The comGranitic rocks, especially sienite, form the basis not only prehensive sense in which the term Hindostan of the E. chain, but of the range which runs from the gap of Coimbatore to Cape Comorin. The sienite disis now employed, as distinctive of the entire ter- covers itself at all the accessible summits, from Cape ritory S. of the Himalaya mountains, over which Comorin to Hydrabad, from the 8th up to the 17th deg. the institution of castes prevails, is of European slate, that form the sides and bases of the E. chain, are of latitude. Resting on the granite, gneiss, and talcorigin; the people of the country confining the sometimes seen clay, hornblende, flinty and chloride term to the territory lying N. of the Nerbuddah, slate, with primitive marble of various colours. At the and calling all to the S. of that river the Deccan, Pennar river, in the 14th and 15th deg. of latitude, clay a word derived from the Sanscrit, and meaning iron-ore, or laterite, expands over a large surface, and sandstone begins to appear. "the right hand," and also "the south." In and Cuttack the same formation continues, and the At Visagapatam, Ganjam, the European sense, Hindostan comprises the laterite extends through Midnapore up to Beerbhoom, whole of that vast triangular country extending sometimes reposing upon sandstone. A cellular carbonate from the borders of Little Thibet, in about the is found over all the district now named, as well as in of lime, called kankar, peculiar to the geology of India, 35th deg. of N. lat. to Cape Comorin, in about many other parts of Hindostan. We come now to the the 8th deg. It bounded on the N. by the great coal-field, which runs for 65 m. in length, and 12 highest range of mountains in the world, the in breadth, on both sides the river Damoda. It is supHimalaya; and by the two great rivers, the posed to cross the Ganges, and to extend all the way to Brahmaputra and Indus, on the N. E. and cimens of surface coal have been brought. The rock Sylhet and Cachar, from which places abundant speN. W.; and in every other direction by the ocean. formation here consists of sandstone, clay-slate, and It comprises in all an area of between 1,200,000 shale, the latter, as usual, lying immediately over the and 1,300,000 sq. m., or about a third part of the colliery in India, in the year 1815, at this place. Three coal. Mr. Jones, an English miner, opened the first estimated area of Europe; but from the absence pits only have as yet been sunk, and to the depth of 90 of gulphs, inland seas, and lakes, the propor-ft.; seven seams of the mineral have been met with, one tion of solid land is greater. of them of the thickness of 9 ft.: coal is now largely consumed in Calcutta, chiefly for forges and steam navigation. From the Damoda river to Benares granitic rocks prevail. On approaching the river Soane, however, sandstone becomes the surface rock, and, one interval excepted, extends to the N. of Agra, as far as the 28th deg. of latitude. The exception alluded to occurs in the lower portion of the province of Bundlecund, where granite again prevails, while the upper consists of sandstone. The great surface formations of the table-land itself are granitic, including always gneiss and sienite, with sandstone and the overlying rocks. Basaltic trap extends over the provinces of Malwa and Sagur, proceeds by Nagpore, sweeps the W. portion of the Hydrabad territory down to the 15th deg. of lat., where it bends to the N.W., and running all the way to the coast of Malabar, forms the shores of the Concan. In all, it seems to cover an area of about 200,000 sq. m. We may observe here that the geological formation of India is extremely simple, compared with that of European countries, consisting only of four classes of rocks, viz., the granitic, the sandstone and clay-slate, the trap, and the alluvial. Of the latter we have examples on a great scale in the plains of the Ganges and Indus, which meet between the 28th and 31st deg. N. lat., and the 76th and 77th deg. E. long.; as well as in the plain lying between the E. Ghauts and Bengal from Cape Comorin to Surface and Geology. The surface of Hindostan, taking this word in its widest acceptation, is of a very marked character. On the N., constituting the base of the triangle, we have three great ranges of mountains, with elevated valleys between. These chains rise, the one higher than the other as we proceed northward, the last constituting the highest mountains hitherto discovered. For 1,000 m., from China to Cashmere, a plain might be extended, resting on peaks 21,000 ft. high, while some are even 6,000 ft. above this elevation. The valleys themselves are from 2,000 to 4,000 ft. above the level of the sea. Primitive rocks alone compose the higher ranges. Gneiss predominates; but with it is found granite, mica slate, hornblende schist, chlorite slate, crystalline limestone, and marble. On these repose clay slate and flinty slate. In the lowest or southern range, sandstone composes that portion which terminates in the plain of the Ganges. Crossing this plain, and proceeding southward, we come to another chain of mountains, the Vindhyan range, running nearly E. and W. across the centre of Hindostan, in about the 23d deg. of lat. This is the basis of a triangle of mountain ranges which supports the vast table-land of Central India. The formation here is primitive, consisting chiefly of gneiss; but where it terminates in the plain of the Ganges, and forms the S. barrier of the latter, the formation is sandstone, as on the N. side of the same plain. The great W. range of mountains commonly, though improperly, called ghauts*, commences on the N.W., where the Vindhyan range terminates, and runs in a direction nearly N. and S., to between the 10th and 11th deg. of latitude, until at Coimbatore they meet the E. range, or Ghauts. The formation of this chain is primitive; but to the N. there is a great extent of overlying trap, columnar, prismatic, tabular, and globular. To the S., again, the overlying rock to a great extent is laterite, or clay iron-ore. The W. is much more elevated and continuous than the E. Ghauts, and some of its highest granitic peaks rise to the height of from 6,000 to 8,700 ft. It is remarkable for the absence of valleys of denudation, and of rivers running W., but is covered with extensive forests. In fact, the sea, in some situations, comes up to the very foot of the mountains, and nowhere leaves anything more than a narrow belt of low land, much broken by deep and narrow inlets. This is the coast of Malabar, exposed to all the violence of the S. W. monsoon, blowing without interruption for six months from the coasts of Africa and Arabia. Where the E. and W. Ghauts (ihaut means a pass or passage of any kind, not a mountain. Cuttack. After this view of the surface and geology of Hindostan, the following natural geographical divisions may be made: 1. The ran of the Himalaya with their valleys. 2. The Gangetic plain, comprising only the tract of inundation, and which rises very little above the level of the sea. 3. The upper plain of the Ganges, from the province of Bahar inclusive, up to the foot of the first range of the Himalayas, where the Ganges and Jurna issue from the hills to the N., bounded to the S. by the Vindhyan range, and to the W. by the great desert. The height of the E. portion of this division may be about 500 ft. above the level of the sea, and the land rises gradually as we proceed N., until, where the great rivers emerge into the plain, it has an elevation of 1,000 ft. 4. The N. portion of the great central tableland, as far S. as the valley of the Nerbudda, which generally intersects the table-land in question from E. to W. The height of this portion of the table land ranges from 1700 to 2,000 ft., as at the towns of Oojien, Indore, and Mhow. 5. The portion of the table-land which lies S. of the valley of the Nerbudda, down to the junction of the E. and W. Ghauts, and the valley of Coimbatore. The height of the table-land ranges here from 2,000 |