373 



ANGORA. 



ANGOULEME. 



374 



each other in successive terraces. The rivers, with the exception of 

 the principal branch of the Coanza, all appear to originate in this 

 district, or in those farther to the east Most of them have been 

 already mentioned, and they all fall into the sea either by the Danda, 

 the Benga, or the Coanza. In the higher Illamba iron-mines have 

 been worked by the Portuguese. In other parts gold-dust is said to 

 have been formerly found. Mines of copper are said to exist some- 

 where in the interior ; but what the Cassanges sell to the Portuguese 

 comes from Moolooa, far to the south of Angola. Petroleum is found 

 in abundance in the province of Danda. Silver, lead, and sulphur are 

 said to be found also. The soil is fertile, and many parts well watered. 

 Most tropical plants succeed well in Angola. Among the products of 

 the soil are sugar, mandioc, cotton, &c. The chief exports are cotton, 

 iron, gums, and slaves. The country is sometimes visited by long 

 droughts. 



(Labat, Relation llistorlijue de I'Etkiopie Occidental, which contains 

 the Jesuit Father Cavazzi's interesting account of Angola ; Pinkerton'a 

 ift ; Bowdich, Account of the Dicwtrvx of the Portugitese in the 

 interior of Angola and JftMMMgM) 



ANGORA. [AHCYBA.] 



ANGOSTUTtA, a town in South America, on the Orinoco, in the 

 Republic of Venezuela, at a distance of about 240 miles from the 

 mouth of the river, in 8 8' 11 ' N. lat., 63 55' 21 " W. long. : popu- 

 lation about 6000. The town is built at a place where the bed of the 

 river is narrowed on both sides by rocks, and to this circumstance it 

 owe* Ho name, signifying the Strait ; its proper name is Santo Tome 1 

 de IA Nueva Guayana. 



The town is built on the face of a rock, which rises by a steep 

 ascent from the river to a email fort on the brow of the hill, com- 

 manding the anchorage and the road from the country. Along 

 the rirer, and about 100 paces from high water-mark a line of houses 

 extends for nearly a mile. Though these houses form a regular line 

 the buildings themselves are irregular in size and appearance. 

 Among them are several mansions of large dimensions, and some 

 with verandas. In this part are the city jail, an extensive building, 

 the Almiranteria, or admiral's house, and the custom-house; and 

 here live the most wealthy merchants. At the eastern extremity 

 of this row of houses is the Alameda, or public walk, planted with 

 poplar-trees. Opposite the Almiranteria i a small natural basin, 

 formed by a circular line of rocks, which serves as a floating dock. 

 From this part of the town seven streets run up to the great square 

 situated near the top of the hilL These streets are crossed again by 

 other wider streets, running parallel to each other, and the houses are 

 all well built of stone, and generally one story in height. The Plaza, 

 or principal square, forms an area of about two acres. It contains 

 the cathedral, and a palace inhabited by the Spanish governor, a plain 

 brick building of one story in height. The other two sides of the 

 Plaza are occupied by the prison, the barracks, and some other public 

 hull. lings. To the south-west of the city is s lagoon, filled every year 

 by the rising of the river, by means of a small canal at the end of the 

 Alameda. While this lagoon ia full the place is tolerably healthy, 

 but when the floods have subsided, and the water begins to diminish 

 by evaporation, the swamp exhales the most pestilential miasmata ; 

 and hence arise fevers and other contagious diseases. 



Opposite to the town, on the left bank of the river, there is a fort 

 surrounded by a number of houses. In the middle of the river is a 

 rocky island which sometimes is under water during floods. To the 

 south-west of the town, but contiguous to it, there is another fort. 

 The narrowest part of the river lies between the two forts, and here 

 its breadth was found by Humboldt to be 2430 feet; opposite the 

 town it was 3134 feet. When the waters are high, the river inundates 

 the quays ; and it has happened that careless people have become the 

 prey of alligators even in the streets. Though at so great a distance 

 from the ocean, the town is only about 191 feet above the level of the 

 sea. Large vessels cannot sail up to the town on account of the 

 shoals in the lower part of the Orinoco ; only such as do not draw 

 more than 8 feet can navigate it with ease. The best vessels require 

 15 days to sail from its mouths to Angostura. 



The inland trade of Angostura on the Orinoco and its tributaries 

 extends to a great distance westward. The cacao, indigo, cotton, 

 sugar, and tobacco of the rich country about Varinas are not conveyed 

 to the northern coast, which though not very distant is separated by 

 a hii?h range of mountains; but it descends the Orinoco and its tribu- 

 taries, though the sea in this direction is more than four times as 

 distant. Great numbers of cattle, horses, and mules bred on the 

 llanos in the neighbourhood are annually exported from Angostura to 

 Trinidad and other islands of the West Indies. Hides also and 

 jerked meat form considerable articles of commerce. 



( Travels of Humboldt and Depous ; Hippisley's Expedition to the 

 Rlvtrt Orinoco and Apure; and Campaigns and Cruitei in Venezuela, 

 Ac.) 



AjfOOTTLEME, an episcopal city in France, capital of the depart- 

 nf Charente, formerly of the province of Angoumois, a seat of 

 tribunals of first instance and of commerce, and of a consultative 

 chamber of manufactures, of senior and junior theological seminaries, 

 of a college, and an agricultural society, is situated in 45 39' N. lat., 

 9' W. long., on a high hill above the left bank of the river Charente, 

 and on the railway through Orleans from Paris to Bordeaux, from 



which two cities it is distant 276 miles and 65 miles respectively : 

 population about 19,000, including the suburbs. 



The city occupies the site of the ancient Iculirnia, the existence of 

 which is testified by Roman coins found ou the spot. Since the year 

 A.D. 260 it has given title to a bishop, whose see now comprises the 

 department of Charente. On the decline of the Roman empire, 

 Angouleme fell under the yoke of the Visigoths, who held it till 507, 

 when it came into the hands of Clovis after the decisive battle of 

 Vouilld. In the 9th century the northmen plundered and demolished 

 the town. Soon after its reconstruction it fell for three or four 

 centuries under the feudal sway of the counts of Angouleme, and was 

 united to France in 1303. The town was ceded to the English after 

 the battle of Poictiers ; but the inhabitants drove out the English 

 garrison, for which conduct several privileges were conferred on the 

 corporation, and the town itself became an appanage of one of the 

 princes royal of France. Angouleme suffered severely in the civil 

 wars of the 16th century. It was recovered from the Calvinists hi 

 1562, but soon after surrendered to Coligny, whose soldiers killed 

 many of the inhabitants, plundered the churches, and greatly injured 

 the cathedral. The younger branch of the house of Valois derived 

 the title of count from Angouleme ; in 1515 Francois I. erected the 

 city and its territory into a duchy, which subsequently passed to 

 the house of Guise, but was reunited to the crown of France in 1710. 

 Councils were held in Angouleme in 1118 and 1180. 



Situated on a hill about 300 feet above the plain of the Charente, 

 Angouleme is a conspicuous object for a long distance, and the views 

 it commands over the surrounding country are very extensive and 

 beautiful. The city is reached by several inclined planes, two of 

 which exteud to the suburb of Houmeau one from the Chandos-gate, 

 the other from the Palet-gate to the bridge of St-Cybard over the 

 Charente : the ascent of these roads is difficult enough. A splendid 

 road however, of gentle ascent and recently formed, runs through the 

 suburb of St-Pierre to the Paris and Bordeaux road from the St.- 

 Pierre gate of the city ; after running half round the hill on which 

 the city stands it incloses about the middle of its length a circular space 

 prettily planted, surrounded by stone benches, and adorned in the 

 centre with an Ionic column which is 50 feet high and surmounted by 

 a globe. Neither the high road from Paris to Bordeaux nor the railway 

 enters the city; they traverse the suburb of Houmeau, the moat 

 commercial part of the town, which runs at the southern base of the 

 hill along the quays that line the Charente, and contains about one- 

 fourth of all the population of Angouleme. The Charente is navigable 

 for small steamers up to the suburb of Houmeau. 



The city is in form an irregular oval, and consists of two parts 

 the old town on the summit of the hill, a dismal ill-built place, with 

 narrow winding streets ; and the new town, which covers the rocky 

 slope to the south of the castle, and forms a rapidly increasing aud 

 well-built quarter. The houses are constructed of very white stone, 

 and have a cheerful appearance. There are seven squares. The 

 Cours Napoleon, the prettiest of the public walks, is a large area 

 planted with trees so as to form a large central alley, and two lateral 

 ones ; it is separated by a balustrade from the streets of handsome 

 houses which inclose it. At one end of the square are the town-hall 

 and the theatre ; and the other opens on the Desaix rampart, one of the 

 terraced walks which are formed out of the old walls and run all round 

 the town. The Place Beaulieu in planted with mulberry trees, aud 

 affords fine shady walks. The extensive area of the Champ de Mars 

 serves for military exercises and also for a fair-green. The gates of 

 the town present nothing remarkable now ; they were formerly flanked 

 with towers, which formed part of the defences of the city ; but these 

 towers have been almost all demolished, and of the fortifications there 

 remain very few vestiges. Though occupying so high a site, the town 

 is well supplied with water, which is raised from the river by machi- 

 nery for the supply of the fountains in the squares and streets. 



The cathedral, dedicated to St. Pierre in A.D. 570, waa entirely rebuilt 

 in 1120 ; it stands on the hill, and consists of a nave and choir 

 with a semicircular apse ; the roof is divided into three parts by 

 three cupolas, and surmounted by a high tower, terminating in a 

 pyramid which is seen for many a league all round the city. In the 

 first revolution this church was roughly treated ; it was however 

 converted into a ' Temple of Reason,' and long bore an inscription to 

 that effect on its west front. The castle, distinguished by three 

 round towers and a tall ke,ep ( which dates froni the 12th century ), 

 was the residence of the counts of Angouleme a'nd the birth-place of 

 Marguerite de Valois, sister of Francois I. and queen of Navarre. It 

 stands in an irregular square in the centre of the upper town, and 

 now serves for a prison. Among other buildings worthy of mention 

 are the church of St.-Andrd ; the college which is established in the 

 buildings of the abbey of St.-Ausone near the Beaulieu promenade, 

 and contains a good library ; the prefect's residence ; the baths 

 near the castle ramparts ; the court-house, a handsome modern buil- 

 ding, in the upper part of which is a public library of 15,000 volumes; 

 the town liMl ; and the large structure in the suburb of Houmeau, 

 formerly occupied as a naval school. The Hotel-Dieu is surrounded 

 by gardens. The general hospital stands in a pretty well-watered 

 valley. Near the town are many paper-mills, a powder-factory, and 

 a cannon-foundry. 



The inhabitants pride themselves upon the purity of their accent 



