197 



ALEXANDRETTA. 



ALGARVE. 



198 



Hadrian's reign an aqueduct, many of the piers of which still remain, 

 was constructed to convey water to the city from Mount Ida. The 

 ruins cover a large space ; among them are remains of Roman baths. 

 A great part of the town walls, which are several miles in circum- 

 ference, is gtill standing. The site, which is now called Eski Stamboul, 

 is almost deserted. There were several other towns named Alexandreia. 

 One of these, Alexandria ad I stum, was situated on the east shore 

 of the Gulf of Issus, and is probably identical with the Myriandrus 

 of Xenophon. The site is now occupied by the seaport town of 

 Iskenderun, which is also known as Alexandretta and Scanderoon. 



ALEXANDHETTA. [SCANDEROON.] 



ALEXANDRIA, called lalcaideriyefi by the Arabs, is a city and 

 seaport in Lower Egypt, situated on the coast of the Mediterranean, 

 118 miles N.W. from Cairo, in 31 13' N. lat., 29 55' 52" E. luis., 

 at a short distance from the Lake Mareotis. The city stands partly 

 on what was anciently the Isle of Pharos, but ehie6y on the Mole of 

 ancient Alexandreia [ALEXANDHEIA], which has been much increased 

 in width from dilapidation and the filling up of the two channels that 

 connected the eastern and western harbours. These channels served 

 not only for communication between the harbours, but also as a means 

 of cleansing the Great Port, the sand swept into which by the north 

 wind was carried through them by the wash of the sea. The accumu- 

 lation of sand, and the decomposition of the rocks, have widened the 

 Mole into an isthmus, and the Great Port, now called the New Port, is 

 in many places shallow. The ' Isle of Pharos* is now not an island, 

 but a peninsula. At the time of the French invasion of Egypt, in 

 1801, the Lake Marcotis was dry ; but the British troops, during the 

 siege of Alexandria, by cutting a passage through the narrow neck of 

 land tht separates it from Lake Aboukir, let in the sea, and restored 

 the bed of the Mareotis to the dominion of the water. The immediate 

 territory of Alexandria, thus limited by the sea and the lake, extends 

 from the tower of the Arabs, which is west of the town, to Cape 

 Aboukir east of it. The whole of this district is a continuous chain 

 of calcareous rock and sand, without good water, and almost without 

 vegetation. 



The Old Port, on the African or western side of the city, is the 

 ancient harbour of Eunostos. It stretches westward from the town, 

 about 8 miles in length, to Cape Marabout on the mainland, with a 

 breadth of about a mile and a half. There are three passes int<i it 

 between a series of rocks from Cape Marabout to the western 

 extremity of the peninsula of Pharos ; the western and deepest of 

 these is half a mile wide, and has 25 to 27 feet of water in its 

 shallowest places. Ships may anchor close to the town in from 

 22 to 40 feet of water; and there is good anchorage in deep water all 

 along the stream. The port is sheltered from the violent northerly 

 winds by the high coast of the Island of Pharos. The New or 

 Asiatic Harbour is on the eastern side of the town. It also has a 

 line of rocks stretching across the entrance. It is very shallow 

 in many parts for the reasons given above. The passage into the 

 New Port is about a cable's length east of the Diamond Rock, which 

 lies a little to the cast of the 1'haroi tower or lighthouse ; a vessel 

 steering a little farther to the eastward would strike upon a shoal that 

 stretches westward from the Pharillon, or little Pharos, on the east 

 side of the port. The water immediately within the port, south-west 

 of the Pharos, is from 30 to 40 feet deep, but the space for anchorage 

 is limited, and exposed to northerly gales. Ordinary tides rise two 

 feet; but during the inundation of the Nile the rise is four feet. 

 The peninsula of Pharos itself consists of a saline arid soil and 

 da/zling white calcareous rock : it is bordered with reefs, especially 

 on the west side. The island shows many traces of ancient building. 

 Not only the quays and jetties of the two ports, but also the mosques, 

 the public warehouses, and even the private dwellings are in a great 

 measure formed of the materials of old Alexandreix The town has 

 greatly improved under the government of Mehemet AH and his 

 successors. New streets and squares have been built, which give the 

 city more of a European than an Asiatic appearance. The Turkish 

 quarter, however, has narrow and unpaved streets, full of dust in dry 

 weather and of mud when it rains ; the houses, both internally and 

 externally, present no great attractions, and the general appearance is 

 dreary and monotonous. The Frank quarter has several good streets 

 and a handsome square on part of the site of the ancient city, on the 

 mounds of which, and along the ancient canal (restored by Mehemet 

 Ali, and called the Mahmudiyrh Canal) there are several vilks and 

 MS. The principal buildings and institutions comprise the new 

 palace of the pasha, the naval arsenal, a great number of mosques, 

 the fortifications, the naval and military hospitals, the custom )i"n-i, 

 tribunal of commerce, medical college, naval school, and several other 

 educational establishments. The mosque of the Thoxtsand and One 

 Pillars is the chief eccleniaHtical building. The population is stated 

 to have been in tlio middle of the 18th century only 3000 or 4000 ; 

 at the time of the French evacuation In 1801 it was only about 7000 : 

 at present It is said to amount to above 60,000, including about 8000 

 troops in the garrison and port. 



cry advnt % of the Mahtmidlyeh 



Canal, which joins the Nile at Atfi'h, and the establishment of an 



nd route to India, mainly through the exertions of the late 



Mr. Wni'horn, have made Alexandria a place of great and increasing 



icrei'U importance. It is the principal, indeed it may be said 



to be the only, port of Egypt, for the bars at the mouths of the 

 Rosetta and Damietta branches of the Nile have caused those ports 

 to be deserted since the ancient communication between Alexandria 

 and the Nile has been restored. The exports are composed of 

 Egyptian products. The principal items are raw cotton, rice, wheat, 

 barley, beans, linseed, senna, gums, and other drugs ; indigo, opium, 

 ostrich feathers, dates, soda, linen cloth, coffee from Arabia, bees' -wax, 

 ivory, saltpetre, sesame and other seeds ; hides, natron, mother-of- 

 pearl, potashes, &c. The imports consist principally of cotton stuffs, 

 timber, woollen and silk goods, iron, hardware, copper and tin plates, 

 jewellery, machinery, ammunition, paper, cutlery, &c. Of 1352 vessels 

 which arrived in 1842, there were 164 in ballast; of 1447 departures 

 in the same year, 210 were in ballast. The total value of the imports 

 in 1842 was 2,470,8662., of the exports 1,813,825?. The trade in cotton 

 and corn is very important. The heaviest part of the trade of 

 Alexandria is with Great Britain, Turkey, Austria, France, Tuscany, 

 Syria, and the Barbary States. The intercourse between England 

 and India is carried on through Alexandria. Austrian, French, and 

 English steamers frequent its port. Travellers to India cross over 

 to Suen, whence they are conveyed to Southern Asia in the powerful 

 steam-ships of the East India Company. A railroad is projected, and, 

 we believe, commenced between Alexandria and Suez. In the battle 

 of Alexandria, fought between the French and English, March 21, 

 1801, Sir R. Abercrombie, the British general, was mortally 

 wounded. 



ALEXANDRIA, a town and port of entry in the State of Virginia, 

 in North America, situated on an eminence on the west side of the 

 Potomac, in 38 49' N. lat., 77 4' W. long. ; 6 miles S.S.W. from the 

 city of Washington : population 8459 in 1840. Ships of the line can 

 ascend the river as far as Alexandria. The town slopes down to the 

 river with the streets at right angles to one another, and is on the 

 whole pretty well built. It has a court-house, two banks, marine and 

 fire insurance offices, a jail, an alms-house, a theatre, market-house, and 

 ten places nf w< n-ship. Good wharfs extend along the river, at which 

 the largest vessels can load and discharge. The chief trade is in flour, 

 wheat, maize, and tobacco. The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal termi- 

 nates in the Potomac at Alexandria. Before 1846 Alexandria belonged 

 to the district of Columbia. [COLOMBIA, DISTBICT OF.] 



ALFORD. fLnicoLNsatnE.] 



ALFORT. [SEINE, DEPARTMENT OP.] 



ALFRETON, Derbyshire, a market town in the hundred of 

 Scarsdale, is situated in 53 6' N. lat., 1" 23' W. long; 14 mile* 

 N.N.E. from Derby, and 140 milea N.N.W. from London, by road. 

 East Wingficld Station of the Midland Railway, which is 148 miles 

 from London by the North- Western and Midland Railways, is 2J miles 

 from Alfretoh : tho population of the entire parish in 1851 was 

 8826. The living is a vicarage in the archdeaconry of Derby, and 

 diocese of Lichfield. 



The houses of Alfreton are irregularly built, and some of them 

 are very old ; the church, a rude ancient structure in the perpendicular 

 style, has an embattled tower with pinnacles. The large east window 

 has been restored within the last few years. There are places of 

 worship for Wesleyan Methodists and Baptists. A large National 

 school of recent erection stands on the north side of the town. 

 There is a savings bank. The inhabitants are engaged in the 

 manufacture of stockings and brown earthenware ; or in the neigh- 

 bouring collieries. At Hiddings, within a short distance of Alfreton, 

 are some considerable iron-works. At Swanwick, a hamlet in tho 

 parish, is a Free school for educating twelve boys and eight girls of 

 Swanwick nnd Grcenhill Lane, endowed in 1740 by a Mrs. Turner. 

 There is a weekly market on Friday, chiefly for grain ; several fairo 

 are held, one in July being a very large cattle fair. A county court 

 in held in the town. 



ALGARVE, a province of Portugal, situated between 36 57' and 

 37 35' N. lat., 7 15' and 9 W. long. The greatest length E. to W. 

 is 85 miles ; the width varies from 15 to 80 miles. It is bounded N. 

 by the Serra de Monchique and Serra de Caldeirao, E. by the river 

 Guadiana, W. and S. by the Atlantic Ocean. The area is 2140 square 

 miles: the popidation in 1841 was 130,329. It is entirely comprised 

 in one district, Faro, which Includes 5 comarcas, or judiciary 

 divisions, 15 concelhos, or communal divisions, and 62 parishes. 



fin-face. The lofty ridges of the Serra de Caldeiriio and Serra de 

 Monchique extend from east to west across the province. These 

 ridges are the western continuation of the Sierra Morena of Spain, 

 interrupted by the bed of the Gnadiana. The Serra de Caldeirao 

 forms a group of mountains on the eastern side of the province, 

 leaving only from five to ten miles of level land next the sea. Monte 

 Figo rises to the height of 2124 feet. The Serra de Monchique is 

 loftier than the mountains of Caldeirao, the summit called Picota 

 rising to the height of 3900 feet, and the Foya de Monchique to 

 4050 feet. From these summits an offset extends in a south-west 

 direction to Cape 8t.-Vincent, filling up with hills nearly the whole 

 of the south-western angle of the province. The promontory of Cape 

 St. -Vincent is composed of gray limestone rocks, and the country 

 inland as far as tho eye can reach has an aspect of the wildest 

 desolation. A monastery stands at the extremity of the Cape, on 

 the verge of a tremendous precipice. Round that summit the winds 

 howl almost incessantly, and the sea is for ever raging at its base. 



