PREVOST 



4S15 



PRICE 



and while their direction may be changed near 

 the surface, it is usually constant in the upper 

 air, as may be seen by watching the clouds, 

 whose movement is eastward. 



In the days of saving vessels navigators go- 

 ing from the British Isles to Australia went by 

 way of the Cape of Good Hope and returned 

 by way of Cape Horn, these courses giving 

 them fair winds during both voyages. The oc- 

 casional presence of North American birds in 

 Western Europe is accounted for by the fact 

 that these winds aid them in crossing the At- 

 lantic. The prevailing westerlies as a surface 

 current usually bring clear skies and lowering 

 temperature. See TRADE WINDS; WIND. 



PREVOST, prehvo', SIR GEORGE (1767-1816), 

 a British soldier and colonial administrator, 

 Governor-General of British North America 

 during the War of 1812. He was born in New 

 York City. His father, Augustine Prevost (1725- 

 1786), was a funeral in the British army dur- 

 ing the Revolutionary War in America, and the 

 son naturally entered the army at an early age. 

 Beginning with the rank of captain in 1783, he 

 rose Gradually, after seeing service in the West 

 Indies, until he was created baronet and major- 

 general in 1835. Three years later he was 

 appointed lieutenant-general, and was sent to 

 Nova Scotia as lieutenant-governor. He suc- 

 ceeded Sir James Craig in 1811 as Governor- 

 General cf the British colonies in North America. 

 In this position he was nominally Commander- 

 in-chief of the British armies. Unfortunately 

 his attempts to win military fame failed, nota- 

 bly at Sackett's Harbor and Plattsburg. After 

 these defeats, which were attributed to his lack 

 of enterprise, he was recalled and summoned 

 before a court-martial, but he died before the 

 verdict was reached. Prevost was a governor 

 and a soldier of some ability, but .both as a 

 soldier and as an administrator history inclines 

 to find him unequal to the situation he had to 

 face in the War of 1812. 



PRI'AM, in Greek mythology, the son of 

 Laomedon and the last king of Troy. By his 

 second wife, Hecuba, he had nineteen children, 

 among whom were Hector, Paris, Cassandra 

 and Polyxena, all famous in the Trojan War; 

 1, he had fifty sons and twelve daughters. 

 Hcsione, the sister of Priam, had been carried 

 into Greece by Hercules, and when Priam was 

 well established on \\.A throne, ho equipped an 

 expedition for the recovery of Hesione, placing 

 his son Paris at its head. Neclccting his fa- 

 thers commission, Paris carried away Helen, 

 the wife of Mcnclaus, king of Sparta. 



Out of this grew the Trojan War, which 

 might have been averted by Priam if he had 

 consented to give up Paris and Helen when the 

 messengers first appeared in front of Troy. As 

 he declined to do this, the famous siege con- 

 tinued for ten years, and during that time 

 Priam saw most, of his sons killed in the de- 

 fense of their city. When Hector, the best and 

 bravest, was slain by Achilles, the father went 

 to the Grecian camp and begged the body of 

 his son. Even the gods assisted him in reach- 

 ing the tent of Achilles, where he was received 

 with the honor due his position, and Achilles 

 not only returned the body cf Hector, but 

 granted a truce of twelve days for the funeral 

 ceremonies. When Troy fell into the hands of 

 the Greeks, Priam was killed by Neoptolemus, 

 the son cf Achilles, at the altar of Jupiter, to 

 which he had fled for protection. See TROY, 

 and references there suggested. 



PRIBILOF, prc'bclof, ISLANDS, the home 

 of the fur seal, are situated in the Bering Sea, 

 200 miles southwest of Alaska's mainland. 

 They belong to the United States. Saint Paul 

 and Saint George are the largest cf the group; 



PRIBILOF ISLANDS 



their areas are thirty-five and twenty-five square 

 miles, respectively. The former has a popula- 

 tion cf 200; the latter, 90. There is a United 

 States wireless station on Saint Paul. Because 

 of the nature cf the industry on the islands, 

 entirely connected with the seal, sobriety is 

 essential among all classes of their people. In 

 1915 the national government made the islands 

 prohibition territory, completely, barring every 

 kind of intoxicating liquor. Sec SEAL. 



PRICE, STERLING (1809-1867), an American 

 soldier who achieved distinction as a Confed- 

 erate fcncr^l in the War of Secession. He was 

 born in Prince Edward County, Va., educated 

 at Hampdcn-Sidncy College and in 1831 re- 

 moved to Missouri. In 1844 he was elected to 

 Congress, but resigned to serve in the Mexican 



