9)1 



UHBAN. 



URUGUAY. 



861 



gold-mines of the Ural were considered the most productive iu the 

 world previous to the discovery of the auriferous deposits of Cali- 

 fornia and Australia. Very rich veins were met with between 1844 

 and 1850, but the total yield in any year during this interval did not 

 much exceed a million sterling. Many splendid blocks of malachite 

 are cut in the copper-mines of the Ural, and manufactured into 

 articles of decorative furniture, of which many specimens appeared in 

 the Universal Exhibition in London in 1851. [EKATARIXBURO ; 

 PERM.] 



URBAN. [NATAL.] 



URBANIA. [PESARO E URBIXO.] 



URBIXO, a town of Central Italy, in the States of the Church, is 

 situated partly on a hill, about 20 miles from the coast of the Adriatic, 

 and about the same distance S.W. from Pesaro. It is a walled town, 

 and has several fine buildings, among others the former ducal palace, 

 now the government-house, which contains a collection of ancient 

 inscriptions and sculptures ; the palace Albani ; the cathedral ; and 

 several churches and convents. Urbino is an archbishop's see ; it has 

 a college, a theological seminary, an academy of sciences and literature, 

 and about 7000 inhabitants. The house in which Raffaelle was born 

 still exists. Urbino was for three centuries the capital of a duchy. 

 In 1626 the duchy was incorporated with the States of the Church. 

 Urbino is the birthplace of Raffaelle, Bramante, and other distin- 

 guished artists, and of Pope Clement XI. and several cardinals of the 

 Albano family. 



URFAHR. [Exs.] 



URGEL. [CATALUKA.] 



URI, one of the Swiss cantons, is bounded N. by Schwyz, W. by 

 Unterwalden, Bern, and the Volain. 3. by the group of the St. 

 Gothard, which separate* it from the canton Ticino, and E. by the 

 Grisons and Glarus. It consist* of a rugged mountainous territory 

 inclosing a valley, about 30 miles long, and traversed by the Reuse, 

 which has ite sources on Mount St. Gothard about 6000 feet above 

 the sea, and flows northward until it enters the Lake of Luzern, the 

 southern branch of which is called the Lake of Uri. Several minor 

 valleys branch out rinht and left from the valley of the Reuse. A 

 great part of the curface of the canton is mostly covered with ridges 

 of the Pennine Alpn, several of which exceed 10,000 feet in height. 

 There is a tract of open country, called Bodengeineinden, in the lower 

 part of the valley of the Reus, near the shore* of the Wuhlstutter or 

 Luzern Lake. Uri is essentially a pastoral country : horned-cattle, 

 sheep, and goaU are numerous. 



The population of the canton, by the census of 1S50, was 14,505; 

 the area it 420 square miles. Uri is a pure democracy, like Schwyz 

 and Unterwalden, with annual landsgemeinde, and a landrath or 

 executive council, presided over by the landamman. The religion is the 

 Roman Catholic. The bead town, Altorf, or Alttiorf, is the subject 

 of a separate article : population at the last census, 2112. [ALTDORP.] 

 The high road to Italy by the St. Gothard begins properly at Altorf. 



URK. [HOLLAHD.] 



I'ULIXOFORD, county of Kilkenny, Ireland, a market-town and 

 the seat of a Poor-Law Union, is situated in 52 43' N. lat, 7 34' 

 W. long., distant by road 17| mUe* W.N.W.from Kilkenny, 80J mile* 

 S.W. from Dublin. The population was 1163 in 1851. Urlingford 

 Poor-Law Union comprises 1C electoral divisions, with an area of 

 76,151 acre*, and a population in 1851 of 19,681. The town contains 

 a Roman Catholic chapel. National school), a dispensary, bridewell, 

 and Union workhouse. Quarter sessions are held in the town. Fairs 

 are held every month. 



URUGUAY, REPUBLIC ORIENTAL DEL, formerly known ai 

 the BABDA ORIENTAL, South America, comprehends the country 

 lying between the southern limit of Brazil and the Rio de la Plata. 

 It extends between 30* 20" and 35 S. lat, 63 80' and 58" 50" W. 

 long. ; and is bounded E. by the Atlantic Ocean, N. by the empire of 

 Brazil, W. by the province of Entre Rios, from which it is separated 

 by the river Uruguay, and 8. by the Rio de la Plate, which divides 

 Uruguay from Buenos Ayre*. The area is about 100,000 square 

 miles ; the population has been estimated at 250,000, but, including 

 the few native tribes, it probably doe* not much exceed half that 

 number. 



By far the greater part of the country is hilly and elevated. It 

 forms, as it wen, the most southern prolongation of the Serro do 

 Mar (the sea mountain range of Brazil), which extends northward to 

 near the mouth of the Rio de San Francisco (9" 8. lat.) In Uruguay 

 the range rises rather abruptly on the southern coast, where it forms 

 the hill of Cape de Sta. Maria, the Pao de Assucar (Sugar-Loaf) some 

 mile* to the wett of Maldonado, the Monte Video on the west side 

 of the bay to which it give* its name, and the hill of Sta. Lucia, 

 farther to the west, near the mouth of a small river bearing that 

 name. At no great distance, however, from the shore, it takes the 

 shape of an extensive table-laud, whose surface in mny places pre- 

 sent* hardly any perceptible irregularity, and in others is covered 

 with extensive ranges of low hills ; both the plains and the hill* are 

 without tree*, and afford only pasture for cattle. The hills are called 

 Cochilhu, and the highest range, which forms the watershed between 

 the ocean and the river Uruguay, is named the Grand Cochilba. It 

 extends into the Brazilian province of Rio Grande do Sul, where it 

 is called Serra de Uerval. The eastern declivities of the Grand ; 



ocoo. DIV. VOL. iv. 



Cochilha, which terminate abruptly in the plains about the lakes 

 Mirim and dos Patos at about 12 or 20 miles from their banks, are 

 called Serra de los Tappes. On the west the table-land extends to 

 the banks of the river Uruguay, but it is there cut by numerous 

 valleys, and presents the aspect of an extremely hilly country. In 

 these valleys, as well as in those which lie along the southern coast, 

 west of Cape de Santa Maria, many fertile tracts occur in which the 

 grains and fruits of Southern Europe succeed very well; but the 

 remainder is only fit for pasture. 



The coast north of Cape Santa Maria ia low, sandy, and intersected 

 with numerous lakes ; it forms a small portion of the great extent 

 of similar coast belonging to Brazil, which reaches up to near 80 S. 

 lat. This low country extends inland for about 50 or 60 miles, and 

 possesses little fertility. West of Maldonado, and along the embou- 

 chure of the Rio de la Plata, the coast is much more broken, and 

 affords many accessible bays and harbours, which would afford great 

 facilities for commerce if the inhabitants were prepared to avail 

 themselves of them. 



Along this coast there are a few islands, but none of great extent. 

 The largest, called Dos Lopos (of the wolves), is not far from the 

 harbour of Maldonado : it is two miles in circumference, and contains 

 good water, but is almost all rock and atones. 



The Rio de la Plata and the Uruguay are the chief rivers of the 

 Republic. The La Plata, the left bank of which belongs wholly to 

 Uruguay, is noticed in a separate article. [PLATA, Rio DE LA.] The 

 Uruguay originates in that portion of the Serra do Mar which 

 stretches along the ocean opposite the island of Santa Cathcrina, and 

 under the name of Pellotas, runs for a considerable distance west- 

 ward, between banks consisting principally of pointed and massy 

 rocks. It assumes the appearance of a large river, about where it 

 begins to bend its course to the south-west. Numerous small streams 

 increase its waters in this part of its course. In latitude 29J S. it 

 receive* the Ibecuy, and then begins to flow in a southern direction. 

 Not far from the place where it enter* the Rio de la Plata it receives 

 the Rio Negro on the left bank. The Uruguay is navigable for large 

 boats to the first great fall, called Salto Grande, situated about midway 

 between the mouths of the Ibecuy and Rio Negro. About 40 miles 

 below the Ibecuy is the Salto Chico, or Little Fall, which again 

 interrupts the navigation of the smaller boats or canoes. The whole 

 course of this river is considerably over 1000 miles. 



The Rio Negro is formed by the union of several small streams 

 which rise in the Grand Cochilha near the Brazilian border. Its 

 general course ia west by south to near 58" W. long., when it turns 

 more southward and expands into a river of considerable width. It 

 falls into the Uruguay about 12 miles above the union of that river 

 with the La Plate; its whole course is upwards of 300 miles. 



On the east coast, ai already mentioned, there are several salt lakes ; 

 but the two largest, lakes Mirim and Mangueira, or Mangheira, which 

 formerly belonged, at least in part, to Uruguay, are uow we believe 

 wholly included within the Brazilian territory. 



( if the geological character of Uruguay no survey has been made ; 

 and little is really known of its mineralogy. Quid and silver are said 

 to have been found, but neither has been worked. At San Carlos 

 west of Cape Maria, a mine of copper was formerly found to be very 

 profitable. From the banks of the Uruguay great quantities of lime 

 are exported to Bueno* Ayres, and in some districts potter's earth 

 and umber are found. 



Being situated without the tropics, Uruguay enjoys a temperate 

 climate, resembling that of Spain or Italy. The air is pure and healthy. 

 There i* a good deal of rain in the valleys and on the low plains 

 during the winter, which lasts from May to October. Frost is occa- 

 sionally felt in July and August. The high table-land is annually 

 exposed to it, sometimes for more than a month together ; but as 

 very little snow falls, the cattle find pasture in these districts all the 

 year round. 



The country contains a large portion of fertile land, and a vast extent 

 of profitable pasturage ; but cultivation is everywhere neglected, and 

 in the constantly-disturbed state of the country even those pastoral 

 occupations which alone seom to have any attraction for the natives 

 are generally pursued in a careless manner. The valleys on the west 

 and south are well adapted to a great diversity of productions. Wheat, 

 maize, barley, and rice flourish with little attention. Pea.*, beans, 

 melons, onions, and numerous other vegetables are cultivated. Cotton, 

 the sugar-cane, and mandioc are grown. Hemp and different qualities 

 of flax grow in great abundance. The fruit-trees of the south of 

 Europe succeed here better than farther to the north, and none so 

 well as the peach. The vine grows well, and produces abundantly. 

 Timber is by no means abundant. It is only on the banks of the 

 principal rivers that any forests of full-grown timber occur, the table- 

 land bring either quite bare or only covered with shrubs. 



More than four-h't'tu* of the country being only fit for pasture, cattle 

 of course constitute the chief wealth. The richest proprietors often 

 poagess thirty or forty square miles of land, and feed from five to ten 

 thousand head of cattle and upwards. By far the greatest number are 

 tho.-e called ' bravo,' because they live in a state of wildnesa. Some 

 cattle are consumed iu the country, and others sent to the slaughter- 

 houses of Montevideo and Buenos Ayrcs ; but by far the greater 

 proportion is manufactured into jerked bof, which is salted without 



