R O U 



476 



R O V 



lioucn. 



Rotterdam city, and it possesses great advantages in that capa- 

 city. Vessels of great burden are able, by means of 

 broad and deep canals which intersect the city, to un- 

 load their cargo at the very door of the merchant's 

 warehouse, entering two great inlets from the Maese, 

 the one stretching to the east, and the other to the west, 

 till they meet. The Maese being free from ice, and a 

 single tide being sufficient to carry vessels from the 

 harbour to the German Ocean, this port has been 

 more frequented by British traders than that of Am- 

 sterdam, the passage to which is more tedious and dif- 

 cult. 



Rotterdam flourished most in the 17th and 18th 

 centuries ; but after the invasion of the French and 

 the war with England, its commerce was nearly de- 

 stroyed. 



The following table will show its progressive state : 



Years. 



1802 

 1803 

 1804 

 1805 

 1806 

 1807 

 1808 



Vessels that en- 

 tered the port. 



1T86 

 850 

 693 

 679 

 381 

 294 

 65 



Years. 



1809 

 1810 I 

 181 1 1 



Vessels that en- 

 tered the port. 



almost 



1813 

 1814 

 1815 

 1817 



ion . - 



The 1731 vessels that arrived here in 1817 

 from the following ports : 



Riga 



.Leyden . 

 Harwich 

 Petersburg 



i.ihau 

 Newcastle 

 Bergen . 



272 



253 



110 



90 



73 



62 



45 



Dantzic 



Hull . . 



Kiel . . 



Archangel 



Lisbon 



Bourdeaux 



Hamburg 



1284 

 1683 

 1731 



came 



31 



28 

 22 

 20 

 16 

 15 

 10 



The number of vessels that sailed in 1817 was 1771. 



The imports from England are hardware, cotton, 

 woollen goods, &c. and are greater than those from any 

 other country. Population about 56 000. East long. 

 4 29' 11" North Lat. 51 55' 22". See Rordanz's 

 European Commerce, p. 417 422. 



ROTULA, ASTRONOMICAL, the name of a machine 

 invented by James Ferguson for calculating eclipses, 

 and various other astronomical phenomena. It con- 

 sists of a great number of moveable circles of different 

 sizes, having their divisions engraven on paper. See 

 the life of FERGUSON. 



ROUEN, a city of France, and the capital of the de- 

 partment of the Lower Seine, formerly of Normandy, 

 is pleasantly situated in a fertile and agreeable coun- 

 try on the right bank of the Seine. The town, which 

 is of an irregular oval form, is two miles long and one 

 broad. The streets, though straight, are narrow ; and 

 from the height of the houses, and the projection of the 

 upper stones of many of them, which are built of wood 

 in the ancient style, the rays of the sun scarcely reaches 

 the street. The quays on the Seine are extensive, and 

 contain many good houses. The squares of the town 

 are small and poor. In the space called the Marche 

 aux Veaux, is the statue of the celebrated Maid of Or- 

 leans, whom the English burnt as a witch in 1430. 

 One of the principal public buildings is the cathedral, 

 which was founded by William the Conqueror, and is 

 considered one of the finest specimens of Gothic in 

 France. It has a very handsome front, with two lofty 

 steeples, and it had a bell thirteen feet high, and eleven 

 feet in diameter, which probably still exists. The 

 church of St, Maclou is much admired, and also that of 



Uovigo. 



St. Ouen, which is a fine Gothic structure near the Uouen 

 centre of the city. The town-house is handsome, 

 and the barracks are capable of holding a number 

 of troops ; and the great hospital is a fine building. 

 The other public baildings are the parliament house, 

 the old castle, the prison, the exchange, and several 

 churches and convents, now used for secular pur- 

 poses. 



The bridge of boats over the Seine, which rests on 

 nineteen large barges, rising and falling with the tide, 

 was to be replaced by a' handsome bridge of stone, 

 which must now be nearly finished. Rouen has long 

 been one of the principal manufacturing cities in 

 France. Coarse cottons are made here to a great ex- 

 tent, and finer ones have been making great progress. 

 "VTv/ollen and linen gcods are also manufactured, toge- 

 ther with wax cloth, paper, hats, pottery, iron goods. 

 The dyeing of woollen and cotton has been long car- 

 ried OH here to a great extent ; and there are several 

 sugar refineries. It has been estimated that 50,000 of 

 its population are employed in inanufactures; and that 

 the annual value of its industry is about 2,000,000 

 sterling. 



The commerce of Rouen is not great. By the river, 

 which is here from 500 to 800 feet wide, it is seventy 

 miles from the sea. Ships of 150 to 200 tons burden 

 can go up to the town by the aid of the tide, larger 

 ones being lightened farther down the river. The in- 

 tercourse between Rouen and Paris is likely to be much 

 increased by the use of steam-boats. 



Among the literary institutions of Rouen are the 

 Academy of Belles Lettres, instituted in 1744; a so- 

 ciety of agriculture and the arts, founded in 1791; 

 classes for medicine and surgery ; a central school ; a 

 school of navigation and drawing; a botanical garden ; 

 a museum of natural history ; and a collection of paint- 

 ings. 



The environs of the town are very agreeable. The 

 beautiful promenade of the Cours on the b.inks of the 

 river, the esplanade, and the hill of St. Catherines, 

 present to the eye of the stranger many agreeable ob- 

 jects. Population 87,000. East Long. 1 -6' 59", 

 North Lat. 49 20' 27". 



R6VEREDO, or ROVEREITH, a town in the Tyrol, 

 situated on the left bank of the Adige, on the road 

 from Trent to Verona. The town is neat and well 

 built, though not remarkable for any public edifices or 

 large mansions. Many of the houses are built of mar. 

 ble, which is found in the vicinity. The silk manu- 

 facture was carried on here to a great extent about the 

 middle of the eighteenth century ; but it has now 

 greatly decreased. East Long. ll0'35", North Lat. 

 45" 55' 36". 



ROVIGNO, a town of Austria, on the coast of Is- 

 tria, situated on a rock jutting into the sea, and form- 

 ing two good harbours. The town is a mile in circum- 

 ference. The inhabitants are principally employed in 

 ship-building, in the pilchard fishing, and in the sale 

 of wood. The productions of the vicinity are wine, 

 olive oil, and fine marble. Population 10,000. 



ROVIGO, the name of a town of Austrian Italy, and 

 capital of a district of the same name. It stands on 

 the Adigetto, and is defended by a wall, a moat, and a 

 fortified castle. The chief edifices are the churches, 

 and the palace of the chief magistrate, built in a large 

 square. Maize, flax, hemp, and silk, are raised in the 

 neighbourhood^ which is intersected by canals and ri- 

 vers. Population 9000. S.S.W. of Venice 35 miles. 

 East Long. 11 48', North Lat. 45 4'. 



