iOOl 



VEBA PAZ. 



VERMONT. 



looa 



During the War of Independence, the Spaniards kept possession of 

 the castle of San Juan de Ulua till November 1825, and the town lost 

 more than half its inhabitants, as well as a large part of its trade. It 

 has since recovered much of its population, but it has not regained 

 its commerce. Before 1820 Vera Cruz was the only port on the 

 eastern coast of Mexico from which the produce of the country was 

 exported, and by which foreign goods destined for the consumption 

 of the interior reached their destination. At that period the valu 

 of the articles exported amounted to 21,730,000 and those imported 

 to 14,650,000 Spanish dollars. Other ports of the country have since 

 been thrown open to the foreign trade, and many of its productions, 

 especially the produce of the northern mines, have found their way 

 to other ports, especially to Tampico. Vera Cruz however serves 

 still as an outlet for the produce of the mines situated south of 21 

 N. lat., for all the cochineal destined for the markets of Europe and 

 the United States, and for the tobacco, sugar, and coffee which are 

 grown in the plain between the Gulf of Mexico and the table-laud of 

 Anahuac, with the jalap, vanilla, and sarsaparilla which are collected 

 mostly on the declivities of the table-land. It is probable however 

 that all these articles taken together do not reach half of the above 

 ram. The imports however have not decreased in the same pro- 

 portion, as the greater part of the table-land, and even some tracts 

 along the Pacific, are supplied with foreign goods from the capital, 

 which receives them by way of Vera Cruz. 



The island on which the castle of San Juan de Ulua is built was 

 visited for the first time by Europeans under the command of Juan 

 de Orijalva in 1518, and in the following year Cortes landed his army 

 at the place where the town now itands ; but the town founded by 

 him, and called Villa Rica de Vera Cruz, was some miles farther 

 north. After three yean that pUce was abandoned, and another 

 town was built a little farther south, at a place still called Antigua, 

 to distinguish it from the present town. This situation was also 

 found inconvenient, and the present town was built towards the close 

 of the 16th century, but it was not incorporated before 1615. The 

 fortress of San Juan was taken by the United State* army in the late 

 war with Mexico. 



VEKA PAZ. [GUATEMALA.] 



VKRAGUA. [PASAMA.] 



VERHITZV, RIVER. [Bossu.] 



VERCELLI, an administrative division of the Sardinian continental 

 dominions, consists of three provinces, which, with their area said 

 population, are as follow* : 



The Province of YtrctUi is bounded K. by the province* of Val di 

 Sesia and Birlla, E. by the provinces of Mortara and Novara, S. by 

 the Po, which divide* it from the province of Casale, and \V. by the 

 provinces of Ivrea and Turin. It is mostly a plain sloping towards 

 the south, and through which runs from north to south the river 

 Sesia, an affluent of the Po. The riven Cerro and Elvo, which rise 

 in the mountains of Biella, flow through the province of Vercelli in 

 a south-east direction and join the Sesia above the town of Vercelli. 

 A canal for the purpose of irrigation, called Canale d'lvrea, and also 

 Canale di Santhia, from the town of that name, receive* part of the 

 water of the Dora Baltc* below Ivrea, and after irrigating the plain 

 of Vercelli empties itself into the Sesia near Vercelli. Thin canal 

 is one of the largeit in Piedmont. The lower part of the province 

 of Vercelli oonsisU of rioe-fi'-lds, which are laid under water during 

 the summer until September, when the water is let out, and the 

 rice is reaped. This system of cultivation renders the country 

 unhealthy. The province of VereelU produce* also corn, wine, and 

 ilk in abundance. 



Vtrcrlli, the head town, situated on the left bank of the Sesia, about 

 midway between Milan and Turin, near the lite of the ancient 

 Vercellse, a town of Cisalpine Uaul, is a large and well-built but 

 omewhat decayed town, in an atmosphere rendered unhealthy by 

 the rice-grounds; it is a bishop's see, has many churches, convents, 

 and palace*, a gymnasium, a clerical seminary, a large hospital with 

 a botanical garden and a museum of auatomy attached to it, and 

 about 15,000 inhabitant*. 



Borgo Vercelli is a suburb on the opposite or left bank of the 

 Sesia, with about 20 p '0 inhabitants. It was in the plains of Vercelhc 

 that the Cimbri were defeated by C. Marius, B.C. 101. 



The other town* of the province are SanMi'd, a town of 3300 

 inhabitants, on the road from Vercelli to Ivrea. Triuo, a town of 

 about 70*10 inhabitants, in a low marrhy plain near the Po. Trino U 

 great market for cattle and pigs. The hams of Trino are in repute 

 in northern Italy. C'racentino, west of Trino, on the high rod to 

 Turin, has about 4000 inhabitants, and some remains of Roman 

 buildings in its neighbourhood. Lnorno, not far from Crescentino, 

 has MOO inhabitant*, who deal in silk, the produce of the country. 



Gattinara, on the banks of the Sesia, north of Vercelli, has 3700 

 inhabitant* : its territory produces good wine. 



The Province of Biella is drained by the upper courses of the 

 Cervo and Elvo. Its northern districts are covered by offshoots of 

 the Pennine Alps, but a great part of the surface is level and pro- 

 ductive. The chief products are wheat, rice, silk, hemp, and good 

 wine. Cattle are very numerous. Among the minerals are iron and 

 copper. The system of irrigation is extensively adopted. Stella 

 the chief town, on the slope and at the foot of a hill on the right 

 bank of the Cervo, has a college, manufactures of silks and woollens, 

 and a population of 8000. The trade of the town in raw-silk, oil, 

 chestnut*, and wine is considerable. Biella gives title to a bishop. 



The Province of Catale is noticed separately. [CASALE.] 



VERCHNEI UDIXSK. [SIBEBIA.] 



VEUD, CAPE, ISLAND. [CAPE VEBD.] 



VERDEN, the chief town of the former principality of Verden, now 

 comprised in the province of Bremen in Hanover, is situated in 

 52 56' N. lat, 9 15' E. long., on the navigable river Aller, which 

 here divides into two arms, and over which there is a bridge 400 

 paces in length. It is surrounded with walls, and has three gates. 

 The principal building is the gothic cathedral, besides which there is 

 another church, an hospital, and a school attached to the cathedral. 

 The inhabitants, about 5000 in number, have tobacco and snuff manu- 

 factories, breweries and spirit distilleries, but are chiefly engaged 

 in cultivating the fields and gardens of the environs. Verden is a 

 station ou the railroa 1 that connects Hanover and Bremen, from which 

 cities it is distant 54 and 22 tailed respectively. 



VERDUN. [MEUSB.] 



VEKQARA. [BASQUE PROVINCES.] 



VKRKHOTERYE. [SIBERIA.] 



VKRMAXD. [AJSNE.J 



VERM.VXDOIS, or VERMANDAIS, LE, a province in France, 

 formerly included in Picardie. Its capital was St-Qucntin. The pro- 

 vince was the territory of the ancient Verouiandui, from whom it 

 obtained it* name. It is now included in the departments of Aisno 

 and Soiume. 



Heribert IV., count of Vermandois, a descendent of Charlemagne 

 (1077), united, in right of his wife, tho county of Valois to that of 

 Vormandois, and the united counties came into the hands of Hugues, 

 son of Henri I. king of France, and one of the principal leaders of 

 the first crusade (1096). The counties of Valois and Veriuaudois 

 were united to the crown by Philippe-Auguste (1215). 

 MI, AND. [SwTOMj 



VERMONT, one of the United States of North America, extends 

 between 42 44' and 45 N. lat, 71 30' and 73 25' \V. long. It is 

 bounded E. by the state of New Hampshire; N. by the Briti-h 

 colony of Lower Canada ; W. by the state of New York ; and S. by 

 Massachusetts. Its length from north to south is 157 miles, it* 

 breadth varies from 40 to 92 mile*. The area -is 10,212 square miles. 

 The population in 1350 was 314,120, of whom 718 were free coloured 

 persons : tho density of tho population wa* 307(1 to a square mile. 

 The inhabitants being all free tho federal representative population is 

 the same a* the entire population in 1850; this, according to the 

 present ratio of representation, entitle* the state to send three repre- 

 sentatives to Congress. To the Senate, like each of the other United 

 States, Vermont sends two members. 



Surface and Soil. The surface of Vermont is for the moat part 

 mountainous. Vermont in fact constitutes a part of th;it irregular 

 mountain region which extends over the greater part of the United 

 State* which lie* east of the River Hudson, and of Lake Champlain. 

 A range, colled the Green Mountains, traverses the state from south 

 to north, and is a continuation of that known in Massachusetts as 

 the Hoosic Mountains. They form a continuous ridge to near 44 

 N. lat, where they divide into an eastern and a we*tern branch. Up to 

 this point their width varies between 10 and 15 miles. The highest 

 summit is Killington Peak, 3675 feet above the sea-level. The sum- 

 mits of the mountains are rocky, and only covered with winter grass 

 and a spongy green moss. Their sides are covered with forests of 

 evergreen-tree*, especially pine, spruce, and hemlock, which near the 

 base of the mountains attain large dimensions, but towards their 

 summit* are only from 2 to 3 feet in height There are some good 

 farms among the hills, and much excellent pasture-ground. 



From the division of the range the mountain region widens till 

 between Richmond and Danville it occupies more than half the width 

 of the country. Of tho two branches the eastern ridge is the lowest ; 

 it forms the watershed between the basin of the Connecticut Kiver 

 and the streams which run eastward into Lake Cbamplain. In the 

 western branch are tho highest summits of tho Qreeu Mountains, 

 Camel's Rump, west of Montpclier and south of the river Onion, being 

 4188 feet, and Mount Mansfield, north of Montpclier, 4271' feet above 

 the sea-level. Between the mountains are valleys of considerable 

 extent, well sheltered and of great fertility, their soil, the ddbris from 

 the mountains, containing a large proportion of mould. '1 he lower part 

 of these northern mountains is covered with large trees, from which 

 great quantities of pearlashes are obtained. The extreme north of the 

 state is much inferior in fertility to the region farther south. The 

 valleys are rather narrow, and contain a comparatively small portion of 

 cultivable land ; but as the hills are not very steep or elevated, they 



