SKISTAX. 



SELKIRKSHIRE. 



fall* into UM Hamoon, about 19 tnllet WMt of the Fumh-rood, and 

 it about Uw *mm *. Thin river water* the Plain of Herat, through 

 wUoh It mat from ut to we*t, ruing a oonaiJerable dintauce ut 

 of that town. It afterwards turn* to the *outh-ea*t, and croon* the 

 hkfc-road from Kandahar to Herat, about 50 miles couth of the latter. 

 ArW flowing ea.t by couth through the Plain of Subiawer it sweeps 

 round to the wwt, bat gradually tunu to the south, in which direction 

 it eaten the Hamoon. The IbraJtim-Iooi drains a part of the country 

 the Khaah-rood and the Kurrah-rood, and terminates in a 



The Vale of the Helmund contains a fertile strip of ground, called 

 the Ourmeir, or hot country, of about two miles average width. It 



along the bank of the river, and is a rich tract, well culti- 

 vated. and full of orchards, in which the mulberry-tree is very 

 plentiful. The rale* of the Khaah-rood and Kurrah-rood contain 

 numerous inhabited place*. Their Tales are traversed by the wild 

 horde* of the Beloochee*. The Vale of the Adrascund is only to a small 

 extent oapable of cultivation. 



Climate. Our information respecting the climate of Seistan is very 

 canty. The heat in summer is oppressive. For nearly half the year 

 a strong Heady wind blows from the snowy mountains which lie to 

 the north. This wind ii confined to a breadth of about 80 miles, 

 between the range of hills wet of the Hamoon and the town of Khash. 

 Daring the prevalence of this wind the days are very hot, but the 

 night* are generally cold. It affects the eyes of the inhabitants, parti- 

 cularly by the dust which it raises, and which is mixed with particles 

 of alt. During the three months of the winter the weatber is very 

 pleasant, and similar to that in the north-west part of Hindustan. 

 Snow rarely falls in Seistan. The climate however is generally 

 unfavourable to human life, which is mainly to be attributed to the 

 quantity of stagnant water, especially in the vicinity of the 



Production*. Wheat, rice, and some coarser grains, are cultivated. 

 Cotton ia extensively raised : the plant is not half the height of the 

 TniUn one, but it bean a large pod. Large water-melons are raised 

 in enormous quantities on the margin of the Hamoon. The largest 

 tree in the Plain of Seistan Proper is a prickly pomegranate. The 

 Gurmsir is well stocked with mulberry-trees. 



There is hardly a horse in the country. The mortality which 

 prevails among them is generally attributed to the irritation produced 

 by the flies, with which the country swarms at certain seasons. The 

 few hones which are kept for state are tended with the greatest care 

 in dark stables, from which they only come out on important occa- 

 sions, except during the winter. Camels are numerous in the Gurmsir, 

 and in the desert to the south-east of Seistan proper. Sheep and goats 

 conititute the principal wealth of the pastoral tribes which inhabit 

 the deserts. The sheep are of the broad-tailed kind. Mules and asses 

 are numerous, and thrive well. The cattle are of good size, and much 

 valued in the neighbouring countries. The more common wild 

 animals are wolves, jackals, hyenas, porcupines, hedgehogs, and 

 kangaroo-rats. The skins of the otters are exported to Bokhara. The 

 marshy and rocky parts of the Hamoon shelter innumerable wild 

 hog*, which are very destructive to the fields. They are hunted with 

 trained dogs, which are large, strong, bold animals. Wild asses and 

 deer abound in the desert which lies between the Hamoon and the 

 hill* west of it In these hills leopards are met with, and in the 

 deeert north of the Helmund there are antelopes. Water-fowl in 

 incredible numbers appear during the time of the inundation. Geese, 

 duck*, and teal are domesticated. Fish are plentiful in the rivers as 

 well a* in the Hamoon. Mosquitoes are very troublesome during the 

 hot aeaaon. 



Common salt is the only mineral which abounds in Seistan. It is 

 found in patches in various parts of the desert. Saltpetre may be 

 obtained in numerous places. The plain of Furrah is a saltpetre 

 manh. 



ItAabUantt. The country north of the Helmund and the Gurmsir 

 i* inhabited by tribes of the Dooraneeg [AFGHANISTAN], but in some 

 part* of the desert it seems that the Beloochees have settled. Of 

 Sei*Un proper the original inhabitants appear to have been Tajiks. 

 Two conniderable tribes called Shekrukee and Surbundee, from Persian 

 Irak, uibnequcntly settled in the delta of the Helmund. The tribes of 

 the Beloochee*, which are settled on both sides of the Helmund as 

 ar a* Seistan proper, and also occupy the southern banks of the 

 Hik-i-Teer, formerly lived in tent*, and subsisted by pasturage and 

 pillage; but they have now applied themselves with industry and 

 aoowt *o husbandry, and have adopted the dress and manners of the 

 other tribe* of Seutan. 



Tovmt. DoothaL; which by Captain Conolly is called Dutlituck in 

 Seutan proper, contain* about 2000 houses, and is built on the ruins 

 of a much larger place, which is called Jcllalabad. Other important 

 town* noticed by travollen are Soorji, Chuling, and SatoAo, which 

 appear to be large and well-built town*. In the vale of the Furrah- 

 rood two considerable place* are named, Laush and Furrah. Furrah 

 i* Uted to be a very large walled town, with some commerce. The 

 mort important place* in the vale of the Khash-rood seem to be 

 Kuddek and A'A<uA. 



an, at a province of the kingdom of Afghanistan, 

 a governed by a haukim, who collects tho revenue and commands the 



-- 



leir 

 of 



militia, and a sirdar, who commands the regular troops. Their 

 authority is considerable in the populous districts, where the power of 

 the heads of the tribes is not great ; but among the Beloocheos and 

 other nomadic tribes their influence is small. 



Seutan constituted a great part of the province Aria of the Persian 

 empire ; but as none of the great thoroughfares of Asia traverse this 

 part, we are very little acquainted with the state in which it was at 

 that time. No European traveller visited this country before 1788, 

 when George Forster, in his ' Journey from Bengal to England,' in 

 passing along the road leading from Kandahar to Herat, travelled 

 along its northern boundary. In 1810 Captain Christie traversed it 

 from south to north, departing from Nooshky in Beloochistau, and 

 passing through the lower vale of the Helmund to Furrah and Herat. 

 Events in Afghanistan in 1839 and subsequent years have somewhat 

 added to the information we possess in reference to these countries. 

 SELBORNE. [HAMPSHIRE.] 



SELBY, West-Riding of Yorkshire, a market-town, and the seat of 

 a Poor-Law Union, in the parish of Selby, is situated on the right 

 bank of the river Ouse, in 53 47' N. lat, 1 6' W. long., distant 14 

 miles S. by E. from York, 181 miles N.N.W. from London by road, 

 and 175 miles by the Great Northern railway. The population of the 

 town in 1851 was 5109. The living ia a perpetual curacy in the arch- 

 deaconry and diocese of York. Selby Poor-Law Union contains 24 

 parishes and townships, with an area of 47,830 acres, and a population 

 in 1851 of 14,365. 



The town is tolerably well built, paved, lighted with gas, and 

 supplied with water. The Ouse is navigable to Selby for vessels of 

 about 200 tons burden. An excellent timber bridge crosses the 

 Ouse, and opens to permit vessels to pass. The town possesses a 

 town-hall, built in 1825, and a neat building for public meetings, 

 assemblies, &c., erected in 1841. There is a fine old gothic market- 

 cross. The church is part of an abbey of Benedictine monks, which 

 was founded by William the Conqueror in 1068, and was the only 

 mitred abbey, except St. Mary of York, north of the Trent. The 

 church is a magnificent cruciform structure, about 300 feet long, and 

 60 feet wide. The south transept was destroyed near the close of the 

 17th century by the fall of the upper part of the central tower. The 

 nave is a fine specimen of Norman architecture ; the choir is decorated ; 

 beyond it is a very beautiful lady chapel. There are places of worship 

 belonging to the Wesleyau and Primitive Methodists, Independents, 

 Baptists, Quakers, Unitarians, and Roman Catholics ; a Free Grammar 

 school, Free schools, the Feoffee's school, and schools supported by 

 the Wesleyan Methodists and Roman Catholics ; also a mechanics 

 institute and a news-room. A canal from Selby joins the Aire and 

 Calder navigation, and thus communicates with Leeds. There is a 

 branch custom-house at Selby, so that vessels can proceed direct to 

 any part of the kingdom. Iron- and brass-founding, boat- and barge- 

 building, sail-making, the manufacture of rope- and shoe-thread, 

 brewing, and tanning are carried on. The market on Monday is a 

 considerable one for agricultural produce. Fairs, chiefly for cattle, 

 are held on Easter Monday, the Monday after June 21st, and 

 October llth; and a wool fair on the first three Fridays in Juno. 

 Petty sessions and a county court are held in the town. Henry I. was 

 born at Selby in 1068. 



SELEUCEIA, a town of Assyria, on the right bank of the Tigris, 

 and a few miles to the south of the modern Baghdad, was built by 

 Seleucus Nicator, in the form of an eagle with extended wings. (Plin., 

 vi. 30.) It became, at the expense of Babylon, the most important 

 city in the east ; but declined in population after the foundation of 

 Ctesiphon by the Parthians, on the eastern bank of the Tigris. It 

 contained, in the time of Pliny, 600,000 inhabitants. A republican 

 institution was given to it by Seleucua, which it retained under the 

 Parthians. (Tacit., 'Ann.,' vi. 42.) It was burnt by the Romans in 

 the expedition of Trajan into the east, (Dion Cass., Ixviii. 30), and 

 again by Lucius Verus, the colleague of Aurelius, at which time it 

 contained 500,000 inhabitants. (Dion Cass., Ixxi. 2 ; Eutrop., viii. 5.) 

 It was also taken by Severus (Dion Cass., Ixxv. 9), from which time it 

 seems to have been almost abandoned by its inhabitants. Julian found 

 it completely deserted. (Amm. Marcell., sxiv. 5.) The ruins, which 

 arc described in Rich's ' Residence in Koordistan,' are very extensive. 

 The northern and the southern walls still remain. In the area are 

 some heaps of ruins, but the greatest quantity are outside the limits 

 of the inclosure to the westward. 

 SELGE. [PisiDiA.] 

 SELKIRK. [SELKIRKSHIRE.] 



SELKIRKSHIRE, an inland county in the south of Scotland, is 

 bounded N. by Edinburghshire, E. and S.E. by Roxburghshire, S. and 

 S.W. by Dumfriesshire, and W. and N.W. by Peeblesshire. A small 

 detached part of the county lies just beyond the eastern boundary, 

 entirely surrounded by Roxburghshire. The county lies between 

 55 20' and 55 42' N. lat., 2 48' and 3 18' W. long. In form the 

 county is very irregular ; the greatest length is from south-south- 

 west to north-north-east, 28 miles; its greatest breadth, at right 

 angles to the length, is 16 miles. The area is 266 square miles, or 

 170,303 acres. The population in 1841 was 7990; in 1851 it was 

 9809. The county returns one member to the Imperial Parliament. 



Surface, Hydrography, Comnnwications. The whole county is 

 billy, but especially the southern and western parts, which are the 



