217 



ALIASKA. 



ALICANTE. 



218 



lie having formerly been planted with these shrubs. It is 135 feet 

 long by 74 feet wide. It was the principal and central court of the five 

 courts of which the palace originally consisted, the other four occupy- 

 ing the angles. At one end of this court is an elegant double corridor, 

 and here, previous to the alteration by Charles V., was the grand 

 Moorish entrance. At the other end is the great Tower of Comares, 

 which rises high above the rest of the buildings, overlooking a deep 

 ravine which descends almost perpendicularly to the lower bed of 

 the Darro, and commanding an extensive view of the city of Granada, 

 its beautiful vega, or plain, and the mountains which inclose it. The 

 Sola de los Embajadores (Hall of Ambassadors), occupies the whole 

 interior of the Tower of Comares, a square which is 37 feet each side, 

 and is 60 feet high to the centre of the dome. The roof of this 

 grand reception-room is of timber, formed by beams and ribs intersect- 

 ing each other in various forms, with pendant ornaments, gilt, and 

 painted blue and red in the interstices. The walla are covered with 

 arabesque ornaments and inscriptions, and are so thick that the 

 deeply-recessed windows look like cabinets or the side-chapels of a 

 gothic cathedral. Below this hall are vaulted rooms and numerous 

 subterranean intercommunications. An intermediate apartment 

 conducts from the Patio de la Alberca to the Patio de lot Leones 

 (Court of Lions), so named from the superb fountain which occupies 

 the centre, consisting of a large alabaster basin, in form dodecagon, 

 which rests on the backs of twelve rudely-carved lions. The water 

 falls over the rim of a smaller basin above into the large basin, whence 

 it panes out of the mouths of the lions. The court is 150 feet by 50, 

 with a pavilion at each end, and a corridor or piazza at each side. One 

 hundred and twenty-eight columns of white marble support the 

 elaborately decorated arches of the corridors and pavilions. This 

 court is in fact a Moorish cloister. The columns are 9 feet in height, 

 and only 8J inches in diameter, sometimes standing singly, sometimes 

 double, sometimes four together. The walls are covered with 

 arabesques. The fountain in this court is occasionally made to play ; 

 the others have b^en spoiled. On one side of the Court of the 

 Lions is the Sola de lot A bencerraget, so named from thirty-six of 

 the chiefs of that family having been, it is said, slain in this room by 

 order of King Boabdil, because they were represented to have espoused 

 the cause of his queen Zoraya, who had been accused of infidelity. 

 Opposite to Sala de los Abeneerrages is the Sola de lot Dos Hermann* 

 (Hall of the Two Sisters), the two sisters being two slabs of white 

 marble of equal size, which form a part of the pavement : they are 

 1 1 feet long by 5 J feet wide. In the centre is a fountain, now dry. The 

 Sala de la Jiuticia is so called from an assemblage of ten bearded 

 Moors seated in divan, which is painted on the ceiling, in the true 

 costume of the Moors of Granada. It was painted in 1460. The 

 Mezquita, with its beautiful small Patio, was once the mosque of the 

 palace, and contains an exquisite niche, the Mihrab, in which the 

 Koran was deposited. The Patio de lot Hanoi is small, and contains 

 two baths, El Baiio del Rey and El Baiio del Principe (the King's Bath 

 and the Prince's Bath). The entrance saloon contained a vapour-bath, 

 in which the bather was shampooed before entering the bathing-court. 

 The Tocador de la Reyna (Queen's Dressing-Room), is an exquisite 

 little room, 9 feet square, which commands a beautiful view. It 

 contains a slab perforated with small holes, through which perfumes, 

 it is said, were admitted from beneath. There are several saloons and 

 smaller apartments besides those above mentioned. 



The inscriptions, which are very numerous, are intermingled with 

 the ornaments in such a manner as to constitute a part of the decora- 

 ti"ii. They are partly in the ancient Cufic characters, which have 

 a square form, and harmonise with the geometrical patterns, 

 and partly in modern Arabic, which lends itself freely to the scroll 

 ornaments. The inscriptions, Mr. Gayangos states, are of three 

 sorts, sentences from the Koran, sentences not from the Koran, 

 and short poems in praise of the builders or possessors of the 

 palace. 



The Alhambra hill includes within the walls the parish church of 

 Santa Maria de la Alhambra, a Franciscan convent, and other smaller 

 buildings. 



(Ford's l/iinrU<,i,l- i,f fyrn'n; Haverty's Wandering* in ffpain in 

 1843; II"-!-. ,n it if, London, 1851.) 



ALIASKA, :i prnin.-mla projecting from the N.\V. coast of North 

 :i:a into the Pacific Ocean, and separating, together with the 

 Aleutian Islands, the Kamtchatka Sea from the Pacific. The large 

 lake of Iliamna or Shelikoff, and the isthmus which separates that 

 lake from Cook's Inlet, may be considered as forming its natural 

 N.E. boundary. A river, called Kortchak, or Bristol River, issues 

 from the lake, and falls into Bristol Bay, or the Bay of Kana'isko, 

 which wash.* tl.,: N.\V. aid.; of th,- poinMik. From the lake of 

 Iliitmiia the peninsula extends in a general direction from E.N.E. to 

 NV.S.W. botwwn . r /.i and 54 40' N. lat.,and between 153" and 163 40' 

 \V. lung. It is more than 450 rnilivt long, and opposite the month >,f 

 the river Nulim-k (157' W. long.) 110 miles wide, but its br.;, ( |il, 

 decreases in prooeBB| farther west, where in some places it is hardly 

 20 miles wide. It terminates at the strait of Issanakh, which separates 

 it from the island o 



The two coast-lines differ greatly in aspect. The south-eastern shores 

 rise with a steep ascent, are indented with numerous inlets and bays, 

 and lined with numerous isles, islets, rocks, and reefs, partly under 



and partly above water, and in some places extending to a distance of 

 10, and nowhere less than 5 miles from the coast. Between these 

 islands and the coast the sea is commonly very deep. The north- 

 western coast, on the contrary, is everywhere low with a sandy beach, 

 and has only a few open bays, but it is free from the islets and shoals, 

 and offers in many places an anchorage of moderate depth. A chain 

 of mountains extends through the peninsula from the strait of Issanakh 

 to the isthmus of Iliamna along the south-eastern shores, but east of 155 

 W. long, its highest part is at a greater distance from the coast than to 

 the west of that meridian. It contains several very elevated peaks 

 towards its western extremity, and four at least are always covered 

 with snow, but farther east it becomes considerably lower. 



It is remarkable that in the western and more elevated portion of 

 the chain, which consists mostly of volcanic rocks, and where some 

 still active volcanoes exist, there occur four breaks in the range. These 

 depressions intersect the mountains to such a depth, that their surface 

 is not many feet above the sea-level ; the soil in them consists of loose 

 sand, and it appears likely that these depressions were once straits, and 

 the most south-western part of the peninsula a series of islands separated 

 from each other by narrow sounds, like the eastern islands of the 

 Aleutian Chain, but that the straits have been filled up by sand in 

 the process of time. 



The low country along the Bay of Kanai'sko consists mostly of sand, 

 covered in many places with swamps, and in others with mosses. 

 Several plants grow on it, and bushes of dwarf willow and alder, 

 but no trees. Along the southern coast, especially east of 158, also 

 occur some level plains at the innermost recesses of the bays ; they do 

 not much differ in plants from the district just noticed, except that 

 their vegetation is much more vigorous, and the bushes attain a 

 greater height. The best harbour on the north-western shore is in 

 the Bay of Moller (56 N. lat, and 160 40' \V. long.), between which 

 and the Bay of Pavlovskaja the peninsula is narrowed to about 4 miles. 

 On the south-eastern coast several harbours are met with. The most 

 considerable from west to east are Morjevskaia, Belkowskaia, Pawlow- 

 skafa, the Bay of Wrangell (156 W. long.), the best of them all, and the 

 Bay of Katmai. 



The Russians, who have a few settlements almost entirely inhabited 

 by natives on both coasts, have introduced agriculture, and though 

 no kind of grain succeeds, the inhabitants of the few dispersed villages 

 raise considerable quantities of potatoes and turnips, and keep fowls. 

 They derive their principal subsistence from fishing, the sea abounding 

 in cod, soles, turbote, and several kinds of mollusca. Whales are 

 frequent along the northern coast, but rather rare on the southern. 

 Morses in immense numbers visit the northern coast, and their teeth 

 constitute the principal article of commerce, since the sea-otters, which 

 formerly were very plentiful, have been nearly destroyed by the 

 avidity of the inhabitants. Rein-deer, bears, and red foxes, are the 

 only large animals which are found in great numbers, but towards 

 the east are also wolves and a kind of mountain-sheep, perhaps also 

 the musk-ox. Seals and sea-lions visit the deeper inlets, and afford to 

 the inhabitants some additional articles of commerce. 



The number of settlements made on this peninsula does not exceed 

 ten. Those west of 155 W. long, are dependent on the establishment 

 of Oonalashka, and those east of it on that of Kodiak. The largest of 

 those settlements is the village of Katmaiskoi, on the Bay of Katmai, 

 which has 90 inhabitants. 



i l.i it In''.-- Voyage autourdu Monde; Krusenstern's Voyage Sound the 

 World; Kotzebue's Voyage of Discovery to the South Sea.} 



ALICANTE, Province. [VALENCIA.] 



ALICANTE, a sea-port town in the province of Valencia, in Spain, 

 and capital of the modern province of Alicante, is situated in the Bay 

 of Alicante, in the Mediterranean Sea, in 38 22' N. lat., 25' \V. long', 

 85 miles S. from the city of Valencia. The town stands at the foot of 

 a lofty hill, which overlooks the bay on the south. Large ships anchor 

 in the bay, which has good anchoring ground and is well sheltered ; 

 smaller vessels come up to the mole or pier. There is a fixed light, 

 95 feet high, on the mole, which may be seen at a distance of 1 5 miles. 

 The town and harbour are defended by a strong castle 400 feet 

 above the sea and overhanging the houses, and there are other 

 fortifications. 



The houses look white and pretty, and there are many good shops ; 

 but the streets are very uneven, and are not paved, so that in dry weather 

 they send tip clouds of dust, and are deep in mud when the weather is 

 wet. There is a large square, and the town-hall is a handsome building. 

 There is also a pretty public walk, but the immediate vicinity is generally 

 stony and barren. Alicante is the second city of Valencia, and the 

 principal port. It is the Cadiz of the eastern coast of Spain. The 

 commerce was formerly large; but prohibitions and the heavy duties 

 of the last tariff have almost destroyed it, and have left little besides 

 the smuggling which is carried on in the vicinity from Gibraltar and 

 elsewhere. The imports are chiefly salt-fish; manufactured goods, 

 being prohibited, are obtained by contraband means. The exports 

 are chiefly coarse raisins, almonds, wine, olive-oil, barilla, and a little 

 silk and saffron. Jn 1842 ( before the last tariff ) 229 vessels arrived 

 at Alicante, of which 81 were British, and 226 departed. In 1847 

 the number of English vessels which entered the port was 19; in 

 1848 the number was 8; in 1849 the number was 9. (Hoskins's 

 'Spain as it is,' Lond. 1851.) Many of the inhabitants have emigrated, 



