H 



cONC-rrriox. 



( OKOO 



- nviox. [OiiiLi.1 



iIOX HAY. |Nh--UV.NI>LA.ND.] 

 MiK. [CALVADOS; NoRO.l 

 1 DOM. [UKHS.] 



( < 'XDOMOIS, dUtrict in the- south of Franco, was a dependency 

 according to some of Oasoogne, to others of (iuicnue. It was bounded 

 X. by Agenois, of which it originally funned part ; S. by Armngnac ; 

 nnd K. by the I.omngue. The capital wan I'.nnloui : other towns were 

 Vino and Gabarret I'ond.iinoid now forms the m<t northern 

 part of the department of Gero, the most southern part of Lot-ct- 

 Uaronne, and the most eastcr.i part of Laude*. In Julius Ctewr'i 

 time the territory of Condomois via inhabited by the Nitobrigea, and 

 was included in Aquitauia. From the Koinan* it pawed to I 1 

 goths, and suboeqnenUy to the dukes of Gascogne and Guiennc. In 

 ilc- reign of Charles VII. it was united to the crown of France along 

 v i'h the Bordelais and the rent of Guienuc. 



' 'ILETON, Cheshire, a market-town, municipal borough, and 

 the ae*t of a Poor-Law Union, in the parish of Antbury and hundred 

 of Xorthwich, U situated in 5:1" 111' X. lit., 2' 11' W. lou.-., distant 

 !'.:! miles 1". from Chester, 1C2 miles N.W. by N. from London I 

 and I'll mile* by the North-Western ami North Staff, ,rd.-<liirc railways. 

 The population of the town of CongU-ton in 1851 was 10,f.20. The 

 borough is governed by G aldermen aud 18 councillors, one of wlioin 

 is mayor. The living is n perpetual curacy in the archdeaconry and 

 diocese of Chester. Conglutou Poor-I <aw I'll ion contains 32 parishes 

 and townships, with an area of 50,357 acres, aud a imputation i 

 of Si'..' 



The town of Cough-ton is about a mile in length : many of the 

 houses are coii.it rucU-d of timber framu-wurk and planter. Tl. 

 lion of the town is extremely picturci<ie ; it is embosomed in 

 valley on the banks of the river Dane, and i Mirrmm.lrd by fertile 

 fa-Ids incloiicd by well-timbered ! ..hi, h r.t .1 distance give 



the appearance of a miniature forest Numerous ; land at 



the west end of the town, and have ornainc nl.U gardens and . -hrnb- 

 bcries attached. The guildhall is a commodious brick building, 

 erected in 1804 on the site of the old hall. The market-hall and 

 assembly-room was erected in 1S22 at the expense of Sir K. Antrobus 

 of Eaton Hall, Astbury. Some have supposed that the Unmans had 

 a military station at Congletou. In Domesday Book it appears to 

 be written Coglcton. From ancient burgh records it appears that 

 bear-baiting was at one time a favourite amusement with the inha- 

 bitants. 



There ore three churches belonging t > the K-tablishment. St. 

 I'-t.-rX a plain building, neatly fitted >ip in the interior, was rebuilt 

 in 1740, with the exception of the tower, which was then repaired 

 i.nly, and had a clock placed in it with four dials. St. Stephen's, a 

 i.-k edifice, will accommodate about 1000 persona. St. James's 

 U a new building in the Htyle of the 13th century. The I; 

 Independent', \Vcidcyan, Primitive, and New ('. mnexiou Met! 



i i.inn, and Koman Catholics have places of worship. The Free 

 Grammar school, founded in 1590, hod SO scholars in 1851. There 

 are several National and Infant school*, and schools connected with 

 tomtf of the Dissenting cbapcl*. In the town are an Athememn news- 

 room and library, aud a savings bank. A county court and jietty 

 sessions are held here. 



The Hacclesficld Canal passes through Congletou. At one period 

 tli.- i lii.-f manufacture* of Congleton were gloves, aud togged : 

 lace* called 'Congletou points,' but for nearly a century the silk 

 manufacture has been tin- principal occupation. The making of silk 

 ribands has of Inte years grown into an important branch of industry, 

 in which females as well as males find < -inpl.iynn lit. In II: 

 1'iiirhixid are several extensive coal mimi. The m:ul.,i,l.iv i 

 day. Fairs are held on the Thursday before Shn>v.-tidc, on'jl., 

 July 12th, and November 22ml, fur cattle, Yorkshire woi.ll.-n '< h.ihs. 

 and |Hv||.-ry. The Congleton vi.-idu.-t of the North SI ,le,:-d*liirc rail- 

 way, about half a mile from the station, U a fine work ,,f ten archeH. 

 It U c-iintructed of blue brick with stone bastions and stone parapet, 

 The arches an 60 feet in spun. The height from the bed of tl,, 

 to the raili is 114 feet; the length of the viaduct, exclusive of the 

 embankment*. U 231 foot. 



CONGO. This name, in iU most extensive application, as explained 

 under the word AUGOLA, OOtnnnheodl the whole of the region lyin 

 along the wwtern ooait of Africa, which in more correctly div'id. .1 

 into the four kingdom, or districts of Loango, Congo Pi 



l'.<*iguela. To this largo and loose sense it extends fron. 

 Lope. Oomolvo, in 0' 44' 8. lat, to Cape Negro, in 15 40' S. hit. 

 ,ngo properly o called, howevr, at least according to its . 



(for it U mid to have been more extensive former] -, 

 twtcl beyond the river Zaire (oth.mi .' , .,:! ,1 the 



Congo), in about C' K -epante* it from : , to the 



tmtb beyond tl. ado, in 8' W 8. 1 r;>tc s it 



fn.m Angola. It is believed to extend a considerable distance into 

 ateior, btit we have no duttiiict information respecting it, li n its 

 in that direction, and they ore probably not very definitely marked. 



The first European who reached Congo wan the I 

 gator, Diego Cam, who made his way thither from Klinina in 1484 

 Diego revisited the country in 1 i <P, making his voyage on that occa- 

 sion from Portugal. The following year another armament arrive.! 



from, Portugal, under the command of Ituy de Souza, Ai 

 king of Congo and many of his subjects made profeasioi 

 lianity, and the Portuguese farmed con-idcrable establishments in the 

 country. It was in the course of the 17th century however that the 

 most strenuous endeavours were mado in the work of co.. 

 natives. Ample accounts of the proceeding* of the I'ortugm- 

 nonaries are given in the ' Voyage ' of Michel Angelo di > 

 lliiii-i Carli di Piacenza, two Capuchin friars, who set out t 

 the mission in Congo in 16GO; in that of Ueronim., 



hiu, wh i joined the KUUC mis i-,u in ' 



and in a work tlr.iwn up by Filippo Pigafetta from ili<- juun 

 Dtiarte Lopez, a Portuguese 



tion about the country is given al.- . in I'm-, ':,:.-. Ilakhut, ami "tli . i 

 Knglish collections. lint it may bo ad.! 



been written about Congo, not much is rcsJly known about th 

 country. 



According to the old accoun 1 . , the native division of Cungo i 



of lininba, S.igno (or S,.nio), Somli, I 1 .. 

 a:> 1 I'.inl.i. The Portuguese how 

 country into what they calle 1 l!ie Metrop.)lit.aii pr. 

 vodor, the duchy of Bambo, the duchy of Suuili, tlif i> 

 Pcmba, and the county (or carl. Icnn) of Sogno, thus ouiit ting ult". 

 Piuigo and Batta, nr comprehending them under Home oi 

 names. The Portuguese province of San Salvador i.- a jiurt < 

 native province of Pemba, the marquisatc of Pemba being the i . 

 iler. It is place-. 1 along a portion of the left bank of the i ' 

 immediately to the north-east of Sogno, which occupi. 

 formed by the river and the sea-coast. In this 

 called Banza Congo, or ' chief town of Congo.' The Portu 



lied a settlement here, gave the place the name of San Sa! 

 It is described as situated about 150 miles from the sea, and al 

 third of that distance from the river, in a hollow on the south-east 

 side of a lofty mountain, having on the summit a plain of about ten 

 miles in circuit, which is covered with towns and villages. The ; 

 of the native sovereign and the Portuguese part of the town ni 

 surrounded by an inclosure of about a mile in circumference ; but the 

 suburbs of the Portuguese town arc described as also of . 

 extent. The principal ornaments of San SaK 



and nine or ten other churcluw, all built of stone, although, with the 

 exception of that of the Jesuits, roofed only with 1! reli- 



gious establishment consisted of a bishop and chapter, a .Ici-niti o 

 lit of Capuchins, ic. It appears however tli.it even i 

 the end of the 17th century the ravages of war had almost : 

 San Salvador, and the native sovereign hod transferred liin re-. 

 to another place, called Lemba, in the province of Iluiuba, an. I : 

 tl.f . . . 



The Congo I'.iver was form, "iieiimv ..f 



1'iit long before this point v, -t geo- 



graphers were of a difl'ercnt opinion, although t'aj.1- 

 (iition (of which a 'Narrative was published in Loni 

 uudortaken with tlie view of oKcitrtiiinin;; the in: ni Un- 



official account of the voyage the i I. iitity of 

 rately contended for by a writer v. "the. hyp, 



which m:ili ' lull' nf r.enin IM 



entitled to very little atteutio i 'ongo is uol. properly 



the Zaire, it seen (that being 



merely a word signifying any r), but the 



which mem: swallows up all i.lher riv, rs. Tl. 



accounts represent the 

 IHJ so great that it 



for twenty leagues or i: e,ie. ! ption Caul louml 



reason to belie\, C-, MI- i.li r.il,l> J. It had been usually 



that the I'on^o was always full . f water ; leit ; . it, in 



I it. frol.i tv;l.t i . r than 



.;oiu tli/ marks on the rocky banks it 

 '. at other seasons. Tl> i!e al 



140 miles up the river. 'Hie velocity of the current ut the mouth of 

 i'..;iu.l nonhcn- i our, and in 



it was no* i -JJ. Th 



ceding navigators make it flow at the rate of nix or 

 MI it very possibly may do win n the channel is more full of 

 The depth however in the mi, Idle of tin- 

 no bottom having In en found with a line of li'iii fathom* ; so th;. 

 the river is at high Hood the mass of water which it pours forth must 



be immense. It* breadth for some, dista 



five or six miles ; it is then divided by a number of i. hind- 



streams : at the distance of HO miles from tin- mouth the ' Xarrows ' 



comni' utiiiiio for about during which it 



its way 1*1.- than 



from 300 to 500 yards asunder. Many ledges of rocks stretch across 



this part of the river, the moht fo. 



.itaract, has a fall of only about 30 ;, . t in :!uu 



yards, and would be more appropriately doignnU-.l by the term 

 ' liapid.' Above the ' :.ite al a place called 



%pands to a breadth of two, three, and even four 

 Tuckey ascended it for about 100 miles hevon.l :hi< ],oiut, 

 and ho was asmired l>y ' ' afti < thii there was no i< 



incut to it* coniin fur a great distance, Its dir. 



