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PKLEW ISLANDS. 



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i sMenM. MM county are nearly all tributaries of MM Tweed. 

 Th. chief of MMSO era- in. Lvn*. which iUelf has numeroos small 

 llftamilii. MM Peebles, or FiliHeainai. which Ml* into the Tweed at 

 MM town / Peebke; the Lefchen. MM cart of the county; the 

 saw. and UM Q*alr. which bet fitOt into MM Tweed, near the teat of 

 MM Earl of Tnqoair. All the** streams contain talmon and trout 

 BMtntoB* Look it a entail lake in the north-east part of th. county, 

 (MM which the Sooth K* takes its rite. It abounds wiUi pike, perch, 

 and eds, and U UM retort of laif* took* of wild fowl during tummer. 

 The county M well interacted by road*, which an for the most 

 part kept in food repair. Tbe principal an those connecting Edin- 

 Unhand Xotht, ttSunark and Kclto. The former wind, through 

 the valley of the Tweed in a single kne for about IS miles, aftor which 

 It tenant** into two branebea. one pitting through Ilroughton, the 

 Eddleetoo*. which again meet upon tbe borders of 

 s. The road from Lanark to Keleo it the meant of 

 i with Olatgow. and eroetes the county from north-west 



rook i* grauwacke, or as it is called 

 . of which then ar* aome excellent quarries in the 

 viMatay of Peebles, and from whioh MM town has been chiefly built ; 

 bat MM! which it found in other pert* it, from it* laminated structure, 

 mneoitsbU for building; aome of it serve* as roofing-slate. White 

 and red ft tettons are common in the north, and both coal and lirae- 

 eton* have long bean wrought at Cariops, in the parish of Linton. 



(Titian-. S*i. *W Africtiltun.The climate is keen, but less severe 

 than that of Edinburgh. Tbe mean annual temperature of Tweeds- 

 mnir, th* meet elevated pariah in the county, was 45* in 1828 ; the 

 mean height of the barometer at the town of Peebles, which is 

 SU tret above th. eat-level, U 29'2 inches in summer, and 29 inches 

 hi winter ; and th* indications of a rain-gauge, kept at the same place, 

 open an average of seven yean, give an annual fall of 2675 inches. 

 The fogs to often met with in the Lothians seldom extend into this 

 county. In the lower parts of the county much attention has been 

 paid to rotation of crop* and the application of tho new manures. 

 Least* an generally granted for 19 years, but farms purely of the 

 tor* kind an let for 14 years only. The amble (arms vary in extent 

 from 40 to 200 acre*; the sheep firms from 600 to 4000 acres. 

 Inolueuie* and planting an on the increase. Since the commence- 

 ment of tbe pristnt century the Cheviot breed of sheep has been 

 introduced, and has increased rapidly. Other breeds have also been 

 inttodnued from England with much advantage. 



, Ttont, Ac. PEEBLES is the county town. The county 



returns one member to the Imperial Parliament The villages are 

 few and not of much importance. Of these the following may be 

 ; tbe populations are those of 1851: DmmmeUier, popu- 

 of Uie pariah 244, i* situated on the right bank of the river 

 Tweed, about 12 mile* 8.W. from Peebles. Of Druiumelzier Castle, 

 formerly the residence of the Tweedies of Drummelzier, some portions 

 remain. JUJItHatu, population of the parish 790, is on the coach- 

 road between Edinburgh and Peebles. In the parish are traces of 

 three ancient camps. In 1828 a stone coffin containing the ashes of 

 hnman bones, also tome braes weapons, were dug up from on ancient 

 barrow, /nutrition*, population of the parish 1236, about 10 miles 

 K. by & from Peebles, is on the right bank of the Leithen Water, 

 which (all* into th* Tweed near tbe village. Innerleithen is much 

 frequented in summer on account of a medicinal' spring. Besides the 

 parish church then an place* of worship for the Free Church and 

 Tniud Presbyterians. The Tweed is crossed by a wooden bridge 

 whioh leads to Traquair House, the seat of the Earl of Traquair. The 

 8t Room's Border Club holds an annual festival, at which games and 

 sj in Met in sxurcisit an engaged in. Linton, or Wat Linton, popula- 

 tion of MM parish 1680. is situated on the left bank of the Lyne 

 Water, about 18 miles N.N.W. from Peebles. Many of the inhabitants 

 an weavers. Betide* the parish church, there is a chapel for United 

 Presbyterians. A sheep market is held on the last Tuesday of June; 

 stock and hiring market* an held in April and September. 



Hutory, Autiqmitia, *e. The only antiquities of the county are 

 the ruin* of castle* or towers. One of these, the Castle of Need- 

 path, on a rocky promontory in the Tweed near Peebles, now the 



uni|Mfty of the Duke of Boccleucb, made a stout resistance against 

 MM force* of Cromwell Another, in the parish of Broughton, is 

 called the Castle of Macbeth. The Earls of March wen hereditary 

 sh'riBs of Tweeddale, which fives the title of Marquis to a branch of 

 the bouse of Hay, Emrls of ErroL In the churchyard of UrumineUier 

 the famous Merlin, of the Hay family, is traditionally said to be 



. and Education. According to the Returns of 

 1 in 1851 then wen then in Peebles-shin 81 place* of wor- 

 ship, of which 18 belonged to the Established Church, 8 to the Free 

 Cuureh, ( to the United Presbyterian Church, 2 to Episcopalians, and 

 1 to Independent*. Then wen 28 day schools with 1626 scholar*, 19 

 Sabbath schools with 87 scholars, und 8 evening schools for adults 

 with 8 scholars. 



> I. [MA*, I.LI or.] 



1.1. [OUOA.J 



PKOU was a century ago a powerful empin in tho peninsula with- 



out the Ganges. The nation which established this empire U called 

 Peguan* by the Europeans, and Talam by the Birmans ; but they call 

 themMlvrs Moan. They inhabit tbe low country which extends on 

 both sides of the river Irawsddy, from its mouth to the Oalladyet 

 Mountains (from 16* to 18 SO' N. lat) and from the banks of the 

 Saluen River to the mountains of Aracan. In 1757 the Birmesp, under 

 their emperor, Alompra, invaded the country, took the capital Pegu, 

 which was raxed to the ground, and annexed the whole as a province 

 of their empin. [BIRMA.] In the war which broke out with tho 

 British in 18S2 the province was wrested from them, and the towns 

 of Pegu, Prome, and RAHOOOH were fortified. In 1854 an embassy 

 was sent from Minna to the governor-general of India to treat for the 

 restoration of Pegu, but the proposition was rejected. 



PEILLANNE. [ALPBS, BASSB.] 



PEINE. rHiLDBBEiu.] 



PEIPUS. LAKE. [LIVONIA.] 



I 'K KINO, the capital of the Chinese empire, is situated near 

 40 N. lat, and between 116 and 117 E. long., in a level plain, which 

 on the west of the town assumes an undulating surface, and at some 

 distance from it rises into low hills. It is about 80 miles south from 

 the nearest part of tho Great Wall. The river Pei-ho, which falls into 

 the Yellow Sea about 100 miles below Peking, runs at some distance 

 on the west but is connected with the town by means of a canal, and 

 serve* ai the medium of a large commerce. The city consists of two 

 parts and of several suburbs. The most ancient part is the northern, 

 called tbe town of the Tartars, or city of Nine Gates, a large portion 

 of the centre of which is occupied by the palace and gardens of the 

 emperor ; the southern, or city of the Chinese, is the seat of commerce, 

 of the larger part of the population, and is less strictly guarded than 

 the other. The circumference of the united towns is estimated by 

 Sir J. F. Davis (' Sketches of China ') at 25 miles ; the whole is sur- 

 rounded by a wall 40 feet high, and surmounted by a parapet deeply 

 crcnated, but without regular embrazures ; the merlons contain loop- 

 holes for archers. The thickness of the walls is about 20 feet at the 

 base, and 12 across the terrepleine upon which the parapet is erected. 

 The outside of the walls, though not perfectly perpendicular, is 

 smooth, but the inside has a considerable bevel, the rowa of bricks 

 which form it being placed like steps, one above and behind the other, 

 like the steps on the faces of the Great Pyramid of Egypt In some 

 parts there are slopes of earth, on which the cavalry can ascend the 

 walls, on which several horsemen can ride abreast The walls are 

 flanked on the outside by square towers, at about 60 yards distance 

 from each other, and projecting 40 or 50 feet from the curtain between 

 them. Sixteen gates lead to the town. Over each gate is a watch- 

 tower, nine stories high, and in each story are port-holes for cannon. 

 The lowest story forms a large hall for the officers and soldiers on 

 guard. Round the gate, on the outside, is a semicircular wall, inclos- 

 ing a space about 360 feet long, which serves for a parade. In this 

 semicircular wall there is a lateral gate, by which the troops can enter 

 the parade without marching on the high road. 



The road's leading to the city are paved with blocks of granite ; tho 

 streets are not paved, but are constantly watered to keep down the 

 dust The principal streets vary from HO to 200 feet in breadth, but 

 they contain no large buildings; the houses are usually not higher 

 than one story, and few have two stories. The streets aiv lineil with 

 a continuous series of shops, in which the goods are laid out with 

 great order. The wooden columns in front of the shops are painted 

 red, blue, and sometimes are gilt. In several places triumphal arches 

 croxs the street*. They are built of wood, and consist of three hand- 

 some gateways, of which the middle is the highest and largest, and 

 over them are three roofs richly decorated. Public edifices and also 

 the dwelling-houses of private persons occur only in the narrow streets 

 and lanes. Where these lanes open into the wider streets there ;iro 

 generally gates, which aro shut at night and opened only in caw of 

 need. The private dwellings do not embellish the town, as they are 

 separated from it by walls or curtains, to prevent passengers from 

 seeing the court into which the street-door opens. They are built of 

 bricks, and have a roof of gray tiles. 



Peking became the capital of China after the expulsion of tho 

 Mongols, and the accession of the dynasty of Ming. As the seat of 

 government, it contains the great offices for the administration of the 

 empire, which are situated, for the sake of convenience, near the 

 southern gate of the imperial palace; the national college, and the 

 imperial printing-office. The population has been very variously esti- 

 mated, but it probably amounts to 2,000,000. Under the article CHINA 

 a notice is given of the insurrection which broke out in 1851, and in 

 1854 hod threatened the safety of Peking : in March 1855 the insur- 

 gents had not succeeded in capturing Peking, having turned their 

 forces more against Canton, but they still retained possession of all 

 the places previously taken by them, from which the imperialists had 

 in vain endeavoured to expel them. 



PELEW ISLANDS are a chain of small islands situated in the 

 Pacific, between 8 and 9 N. lat, 130 and 136 E. long. They extend 

 from south-south-west to north-north-east. The group is inclosed by 

 a reef, which surrounds it in the form of a crescent almost entirely on 

 the west and north, and even from the east it is difficult to approach 

 the islands on account of the reefs. There is no reef on the south, 

 but there are several shoals of coral-rocks. The group consists of about 



