RIC 



348 



RIG 



long", according to the depth of the river ; and appears 

 about four feet above the level of the water. - To these 

 piles the parts of the bridge are loosely fastened, by 

 means of iron chains fixed to the transverse beams. The 

 bridge rises and falls with the river, and under the 

 wheels of heavy laden carriages it moves as if actuated 

 by a spring." When the frost sets in, the bridge is 

 removed ; the piles remaining in the water are forced 

 up by the ice, and conveyed to land, and the whole is 

 again laid down in the spring. The harbour of Riga 

 is commodious and safe, from the width of the river, 

 and from its distance from the sea. The entrance of 

 the river is defended by the fort of Dunaberg. 



The principal manufactures of Riga are starch, play- 

 ing cards, refining of sugar and brandy ; and some 

 vessels, particularly coasting ones, are built. 



In a commercial point of view, Riga is one of the most 

 important places in the Baltic. By the Dwina, and by a 

 great number of land conveyances in winter, it receives 

 the productions of Livonia, Esthonia, Courland, White 

 Russia, the district of Minsk, Lithuania, and the 

 Ukraine. A great quantity of Russian corn is exported ; 

 and the rye and barley of Sweden, Norway, and Hol- 

 land, pass through it. The flax and hemp are assorted 

 at Riga by experienced persons into several kinds, and 

 the prices of them fixed. The best flax comes from 

 Marienburg, Druja, Sebesk, and Ratiska. The govern- 

 ment of Novogorod Seversky furnishes the best hemp ; 

 and that which comes from the district of Staradub is 

 particularly valued. The greatest part of the flax and 

 hemp are bought by the English. Riga exports 

 chiefly, through English and Scotch houses, planks, 

 beams, skins, tallow, tar, and pitch. The values of the 

 exports were 

 In 1790, 

 180*, 

 1809, 



The articles imported are commonly wines, English 

 ales, oils, spiceries, fruits, salt, sugar, coffee, tea, and 

 woollen, cotton, and silk goods. They have amounted 

 to 6, 7, and 8,000,000 rubles. The exports in 1804 were 

 divided as follows : 



6,525,714 rubles. 

 12,166,912 

 15,547,327 



England, 



Holland, 



France, 



Spain, 



Portugal, I - 



Italy, 



Prussia, 



Embden, ; 



Sweden, 



Denmark and Norway 



Elsin/ur, 



lAibeck, 



Rostock, 



Bremen, 



5,320,522 



1,358,470 



414,875 



1,550,614 



827,135 



74,290 



160,331 



249,227 



654,029 



993,425 



84,650 



818,629 



70,519 



61,160 



The number of vessels which arrived are between 

 1000 and 1100 annually, and those which cleared out, 

 from 900 to 1000. Population about 36,000. East Long. 

 24 7' 45" and north Lat. 56 Q 5' I". See Coxe's Travels 

 in Russia, Poland, Sfc. vol. ii. p. 241 249; Catteau 

 Calleville's Tableau de la Mer Baltique, torn. ii. p. 

 306 308; Muller Sammlueger zur Russischer Geschicht, 

 vol. ix.; and Wiedon Beschreibung der Stadt Riga. 



RIGHTS, BILL OP, is a declaration delivered on the 

 13th of February, 1S88, to the Prince and Princess of 

 Orange, by the two British . Houses of Parliament, 

 " asserting and claiming the true and ancient undubita- 

 ble rights of the people of this kingdom." 



RIMINI, anciently Ariminum, a town of Italy, in 

 the states of the Church, situated in the Marecchia, 



near the Gulf of Venice. The town is of consider- 

 able size, but gloomy ; but the streets are strait. Ther* 

 are several squares in the town, and in the principal 

 one there is a marble fountain, with a stat.ue of Pope 

 Paul V. in the centre of it. In the market-place there 

 is a stone pedestal, with an inscription on it, stating 

 that upon it Caesar had stood and harangued his army 

 after passing the Rubicon. The cathedral, the church 

 of St. Francis, and some others, are ornamented with 

 fine marble taken from the harbour of Rimini, which 

 was once covered with it. The church of St. Francis 

 is a fine building, erected in the fifteenth century, and 

 is adorned with statues, basso relievos, and numerous 

 sculptures. The principal antiquities here are a tri- 

 umphal arch of Augustus, and an elegant bridge 220 

 feet long over the Marecchia, consisting of five arches, 

 which was commenced by Augustus and finished by 

 Tiberius. Its communication with the sea is by a ca- 

 nal which is choaked up with sand and mud. Popu- 

 lation about 8000. East Long. 12 82' 51" and north 

 Lat. 44 3' 43". 



RING, SATURN'S. See ASTRONOMY, Index. 



RINGS, COLOURED, Produced by Thin Plates of 

 Air. See OPTICS, Vol. XV. p. 56*1. 



RINGS, SYSTEM OP COLOURED, as produced by 

 Polarised Light. See OPTICS, Vol. XV. p. 590, 591. 



RIO GRANDE. See BRASIL, Vol. IV. p. 427. 



RIO DE JANEIRO. See BRASIL, Vol. IV. p. 428, 

 433. 



RIO DE LA PLATA. See BUENOS AYRES, Vol. 

 V. p. 48 ; and PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, Vol. XVI. p. 

 521. 



RIPON, a considerable borough and market town- 

 of England in the West Riding of Yorkshire. It 

 stands on a rising ground, between the rivers Ure and 

 Skell, near their junction. The streets are arranged in 

 the form of a square, the larger ones forming the out- 

 side of the square, and the smaller streets intersect 

 the middle of it. The market-place forms a very 

 handsome square, and is adorned with an obelisk 

 ninety feet high. Many of the houses are old, but 

 they are in general well built. The collegiate church 

 of Ripon is a large and venerable edifice, exhibiting 

 various changes from the Saxon to the Gothic style. 



It has the form of a cross, and has at the west end two 

 uniform towers, each 110 feet high, with the great tower 

 of St. Wilfrid in the centre, of the same height, inhere 

 was formerly a wooden spire upon each of these towers 

 120 feet high, but they were demolished in 1660^ by 

 the fall of the steeple of St. Wilfrid's. This church has 

 been greatly improved and embellished by Dr. Wad- 

 dilove, the dean of Ripon. In one of the crypts of the 

 church there is a sort of catacomb filled with great num- 

 bers of skulls and other bones, which have been gradual- 

 ly collected from the churchyard. 



The town-hall, erected in 1801 by Mrs. Allanson, 

 of Stmlley royal, is a very handsome building, stand- 

 ing in the market-place. The other public buildings 

 and establishments are a free grammar-school, erected 

 in 1553, a public dispensary, a school of industry, 4. 

 hospitals, and a new theatre opened in 1792 



The manufactories of Ripon were formerly woollen 

 cloth, and skins; but both of them have declined. 

 Two cotton mills have been erected; and the trade 

 of the town is facilitated by a canal about 2^ miles 

 long, from the town to the river Ure. Ripon is govern- 

 ed by a mayor, twelve aldermen, and twenty-four assist- 

 ants. It sends two members to parliament, who are 

 chosen by about two hundred electors. Over the river. 



Ripon. 



