A Dictionary, Geographical, Statistical, and Historical, of the Various Countries, Places, and Principal Natural Objects in the World, Volume 1

Front Cover
Longman, Orme, Brown, Green and Longmans, 1846 - Commercial geography

From inside the book

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

Popular passages

Page 127 - The temple and the village were deeply bosomed in a thick grove of laurels and cypresses, which reached as far as a circumference of ten miles, and formed in the most sultry summers a cool and impenetrable shade. A thousand streams of the purest water, issuing from every hill, preserved the verdure of the earth and the temperature of the air...
Page 118 - ... feet together, but a little forwards, as if going to lie down. In this 'attitude, having, as it were, taken a 'survey of the road, they slide down with the swiftness of a 'meteor. All the rider has to do, is to. keep himself fast in the...
Page 233 - Their features are far from being disagreeable ; their noses are not flat, nor are their lips thick ; their teeth are white and even, and their hair naturally long and black, it is, however, universally cropped short; in general, it is straight, but sometimes it has a slight curl ; we saw none that was not matted and filthy, though without oil or grease, and to our great astonishment free from lice. Their beards were of the same colour with their hair, and bushy and thick ; they are not, however,...
Page 21 - Afghan character," remarks Mr Elphinstone, " of which it is more difficult to get a clear idea, than the mixture of sympathy and indifference, of generosity and rapacity, which is observable in their conduct to strangers. In parts of the country where the government is weak, they seem to think it a matter of course to rob a stranger, while in all other respects they treat him with kindness and civility. So much more do they attend to granting favours than to respecting rights, that the same Afghan...
Page 118 - ... meteor. All the rider has to do is to keep himself fast in the saddle without checking his beast; for the least motion is sufficient to disorder the equilibrium of the mule, in which case they both unavoidably perish.
Page 251 - ... school system of the empire, but have been the greatest and, indeed, the insurmountable difficulty in the way of a successful political reorganization. Great differences exist in the state of civilization also of the masses of the people of the different provinces. The highest advancement is found in the Italian provinces, where agriculture is carried to the highest perfection, and among the inhabitants of the German provinces. In a lower grade are the Bohemians, Silcsians, and Moravians, who...
Page 117 - M'Culloch. being laid across, ropes constructed of bejucos, a species of thin elastic cane, of the length required, arc thrown over. Six of these ropes are stretched from one side of the river to the other ; two, intended to serve as parapets, being considerably higher than the other four ; and the latter being covered with sticks laid in a transverse direction, the bridge is passed by men, while the mules, being divested of their burdens, are made to swim across. All travellers have spoken of the...
Page 119 - The banana leaves having in the meantime been unrolled, are now spread over the above work, so as to cover it like the tiles of a house. These huts, thus hastily built, are cool and commodious, and Humboldt mentions that he passed several days in the valley of Boquia under one of these leafy tents, which was perfectly dry though...
Page 203 - In 1497, Vasco de Gama doubled the Cape of Good Hope, and...
Page 254 - It prescribes the course and the distribution of the hours of study, from which not the slightest deviation is permitted ; and the scholars of the few private schools are forced to attend the examinations of the public institutions, to ensure their being taught according to the prescribed system.

Bibliographic information