u 



con, RIVI:I;. 





the jurisdiction of the High Court of Rennea, and in in. ln.l.-.l in the 

 18th Military Division, of which Rennes is head-quarters. 



(Dicli'mitairt dt la France; Balbi, Ofoyrapkie ; Annttairt dtt Cottt- 

 dtt-fforH ; Aimtuiirt pour CAtt 1863.) 



COTI, RIVER. [BORNEO.] 



COTRONE. [CALABRIA.] 



COTSWOLD HILLS. [GLOUCESTERSHIRE.] 



COTTBUS, properly KOTTBCS. [B 



GOTTEN HAM. [CAMBRIDGESHIRE.] 



COUCT. [AnwE. 1 ! 



COUBCELLEa [HAIXADLT.] 



COURLAND, Kurland, or Kourland, one of the Baltic provinces of 

 Russia in Europe, is composed of the former duchies of Courland and 

 Semigallia, of the old bishopric of Pilton, and of Polangen, a district 

 of Samogitia. It was until 1795 a possession of the Polish crown. 

 Courland is bounded N. by the Baltic Sea, the Gulf of Riga, and the 

 province of Livonia; W. by the Baltic Sea; S. by the province of 

 Wilna, and Prussia ; and E. by the provinces of Vitepsk and Minsk. 

 Its area is 10,490 square miles; the population in 1846 was estimated 

 at 653,300. 



The surface towards the sea-coast is level, and presents a sandy 

 plain about Mitau, Windau, and Goldingen, but its general character 

 is undulating. It is intersected by two ranges of heights, one of 

 which runs parallel with the Diina or Dwina, while the other takes a 

 more westerly direction, and spreads its arms out in various directions. 

 The most elevated points are the Huningberg, an agglomeration of 

 sand, which is about 450 feet high, and the Silberberg. The coast is 

 partly flat, and partly lined with sand-hills. Tho most northerly 

 point is the dangerous promontory of Domes-Nils, which U a continu- 

 ation of the Blue Mountains, and stretches out between the Baltic and 

 the Gulf of Riga. Two-fifths of the soil are covered with forests or 

 underwood, and a considerable part by moors of peat ; nearly 15,000 

 acres are covered with marshes, or occupied by the 300 lakes and 

 ponds and 118 small streams and rivulets, which render the climate 

 of Courland, though not unhealthy on the whole, raw, moist, and 

 foggy. The largest of these lakes is the Usmaiten (in the western 

 district of Goldingen, and about 15 miles north-north-east from the 

 town of Goldingen), which has an area of 34 square miles ; that of 

 Sausken is 10 miles long, and nearly 24 miles broad. The shore-lake of 

 Angersk or Angerstkoe is properly a bay or ' haff ' of the Gulf of Riga, 

 with which it communicates by a channel in the narrow tongue of 

 land that bounds it on the east This lake is famous for the quantity 

 and quality of the amber found upon its shores. The principal river 

 is the Diina, which skirts the eastern boundary of Courland, and of 

 which the Aa or Buller-Aa, one branch of which flows into it by a 

 north-westerly course from tho Livonian frontier, is a tributary. 

 Besides these two rivers, Courland is watered by the Windau (which, 

 entering it from the province of Wilna, takes a northerly course, 

 forms a fine cataract near Goldingen, and falls into the Baltic at Win- 

 dau), the Libau, the Trcider-Aa (which passes Mitau), the Anger, 

 Bartau, tc. The Windau i connected by a canal with the Niemen. 

 There are sulphurous springs at Smoden, Baber, and Baldanen. 



The soil of Courland in in general light and sandy, and rendered 

 productive only by constant manuring ; it is most productive on the 

 side towards Livonia. In the moors and morasses blocks of granite 

 are occasionally found imbedded. Agriculture is the principal occu- 

 pation of the inhabitants, who raise Urge quantities of rye, barley, 

 and oats, but less in proportion of wheat, and still less of peas and 

 beans. Rye, which is the principal grain crop, grows very fast It 

 is sown in the end of April and reaped in July at night, as the dews 

 then close the ears and prevent the heavy grain from falling out as it 

 would do by day. After the harvest the grain is dried in a kind of 

 oren in one end of a large building called ' rige,' the other end serves 

 for a threshing-floor. The corn u thus rendered firmer, drier, and 

 lees liable to worms. This practice of drying corn by fire Iwfore 

 threshing it is common also in all the neighbouring provinces ol 

 Russia. The crops of grain are more than adequate to thi 

 consumption. 



Flax and hemp are extensively cultivated, and of excellent quality 

 the seed of the first, which is sown in June, yields a crop in eight 

 weeks. A little tobacco U raised, and some fruit is produced ; the 

 ordinary sorts of vegetables are grown everywhere. Courland has not 

 sufficient pasture land to make the rearing of cattle a common occu 

 I** 011 - i^* "* """""d Mle are of inferior kinds, and tin 

 beep yieU but an indifferent quality of wool. The value of the 

 fisheries along the coast is not important The supply of game is 

 abundant The extensive foresU are in general situated on marshy 

 ground, and consist principallT of pine, fir, birch, beech, aide/ 

 oak, and elm. The forest land covers one third of the area of the 

 province. Large pines and oaks are said to be scarce now, owing to 

 the immense consumption in the houses, ovens, baths, distilleries, 

 and in the manuring processes of the province. Of minerals, Cour- 

 land contains small quantities of bog-iron, lime, and gypsum. It has 

 also coal and marble, but they have not hitherto been turned to much 

 account Amber is thrown up on the coast The bear, which was 

 formerly common in Courland, has quite abandoned the province 

 Wolves, foxes, elks, hares, and deer are found. 



The population is of the MOM extraction as the Lithuanian*, from 



whom the native rourlanilera differ in no other respects than that 

 they are more advanced in civilisation, and use a slightly varied 

 dialect Independently of these native Courlandera there are several 

 housand Livonians, Lithuanians, Jews, Germans, Krewincks (a race 

 if Finnish descent), Russians, and Poles, scattered throughout the 

 province. The inhabitants are mostly Lutherans. The Jews number 

 ibout 10,000 ; many of them are inn-keepers nnd small shop-keepers. 



The land belongs principally to the Courland nobility, who are 

 either Germans or Poles; they are possessed of peculiar rights, such 

 as their own civil jurisdiction, exemption from taxation, and from 

 military service. These rights, where not in direct opposition to 

 the Russian laws, were confirmed to them when the partition of 1 795 

 transferred their country to Russia, Courland, like all the other 

 Baltic provinces, is divided (with the exception of the land near the 

 great towns) into estates varying in size from 15 to 100 square miles, 

 which are never divided but descend entire, population and all, to the 

 eldest son. The number of these estates in the province is about 

 ii. 1 '. The residence of a nobleman called a 'Hof is usually built 

 on a hill or on the bank of a river. Besides a dwelling-house of 

 large extent, the establishment includes a building for domestics, 

 stables, mills, breweries, inns, distilleries, &c., often amounting to 

 twenty or thirty buildings, surrounded by gardens, parks, woods, and 

 corn-fields. The peasants reside at some distance from the 1 1 

 little communities called 'gesinde :' to each of these a piece of land is 

 attached, which the serfs cultivate for their own profit The towns 

 are mostly inhabited by individual* of German extraction ; they are 

 five, and quite independent of the nobility. The peasant, though by 

 law no longer bound to the soil (he may after half a year's notice quit 

 the estate), yet in consequence of his being almost always in debt to 

 his lord he is virtually a serf in the strictest sense, and in vassalage 

 either to the nobility or the burgesses ; he has no property which he can 

 call his own, may be forced from the estate after half a year's notice 

 from his lord, and is subject to the chastisement of his own. r. 



The wants of each estate are mostly supplied by the serfs them- 

 selves, part of whom are brought up to mechanical arts ; the peasant 

 makes his own clothing, furniture, and domestic utensils, and con- 

 structs his own humble dwelling : he buys no manufactures. There 

 is a vast number of brandy distilleries, the only species of industrial 

 establishments worth naming in the whole of the province. 



Courland is under the general direction of the governor-general of 

 the Baltic provinces, and the administrative duties devolve upon a 

 civil governor, resident at Mitau ; both are subordinate to the execu- 

 tive at St Petersburg. The ecclesiastical affairs of the Protestants 

 ore conducted by the consistory of Mitau ; the Roman Catholics and 

 Greeks together possess but 19 churches, which are subject respec- 

 tively to the Bishop of Samogitia and the Bishop of Pskof. 



Courland is in general administered according to its own laws and 

 usages ; but in regard to fiscal and military affairs, it has been placed 

 on the same footing as the other provinces of the empire. Durpat is 

 the university for this province ; the only high school is the gymi. 

 at Mitau. The nobility assemble at diets, and have a permanent 

 committee at Milan. The province is divided into head-cspti. 

 and each of these into two captaincies, besides the district of Pilten. 

 Courlnnd Proper, or the northern parts, contain the captaincies of 

 '1'wk urn, of which Tuckum (about 1300 inhabitants) is the capital; 

 and Goldingen, of which Goldingen, with about 2400 inhabitants, 

 is the capital Semigallia, the southern part, in divided into the 

 captaincies of Mitau and Seelburg; of the Intter Jakobstadt on tho 

 Diina, with about 1800 inhabitants, is the capital. Tho district or 

 bishopric of Pilten lii.sin the south-west, and is named from Pilten 

 its former capital, which has about 600 inhabitants. This district is 

 also known by the name of Hasenpotli, which is derived from that 

 of the largest town in it, now become tho capital ; it has about 1100 

 inhabitants. 



Mitau, the capital of the province of Courland, is situated in a flat 

 marshy district on the left bank of the Treider-Aa, in about 56 39' 

 N. lat, 23 43' K. long., and has about 10,000 inhabitants. The 

 town is walled, well built, and from its favourable situation on a 

 navigable river it is a place of considerable traffic. The houses are 

 chiefly constructed with wood, which is painted green or reddish 

 brown. The Gymnasium above mentioned as the most important of 

 the few educational establishments of the province, has a library of 

 26,000 volumes. The town has also a casino, or club-house, which U 

 patronised by all the Courland nobility. The most interesting building 

 in tho town is the old castle of the dukes of Courland, whicli is sur- 

 rounded by canals from the river, and was built by Marshal Biron, 

 the favourite of the empress Anne. Louis XVIII. resided in this 

 castle for some time when travelling under the title of Count de 

 Lille. There are coaches daily from Mitau to Riga. The walk of 

 the town inclose Urge gardens. The streets are not well paved. 

 Mitau contains nine churches, a synagogue, an observatory, and two 

 public libraries ; it has manufactures of linen, leather, and soap. 



Courland has two shipping ports, Libau and Windau, both sit 

 on its western coast Libau is the principal shipping port of the 

 province. The harbour, formed by a salt lagoon, has a bar across the 

 entrance, but admits vessels of 12 feet draught at all times; larger 

 Teasels are loaded or unloaded one or two miles from the town by 

 lighters. The import* are chiefly salt, coals, mill-stones, machinery 



