083 



DEAL. 



DECG'AN. 



depth in the centre is still very great, but it gradually diminishes. 

 Opposite its northern promontory, at the centre of the strait on the 

 west side the depth is 107 fathoms ; thence to the southern end and 

 narrowest part of the strait there is a rapid ascent of the bottom, the 

 greatest depth here being only 3 fathoms. The eastern bay also rises 

 rapidly from 24 fathoms to one fathom at its southern extremity. In 

 all this northern part of the sea the bottom for the most part consists 

 of mud (yellow, gray, brown, or blue), with cubical and rhomboidal 

 crystals of salt ; a hard bottom was found in one or two places only, and 

 in a few others sand and salt. The temperature of the water decreases 

 from the surface to a depth of 10 fathoms, where there is a stratum of 

 cold water ; below this the temperature increases. For instance, the 

 surface-water was found to mark 76 Fahr., at 10 fathoms depth 59, 

 and at 174 fathoms, or 1044 feet, 62. The coldest water is found at 

 the uniform depth of 10 fathoms. 



In the south bay, which, according to De Saulcy, occupies the 

 valley of Siddim, the depth is in summer comparatively inconsiderable, 

 nowhere more than two fathoms and a half, or 15 feet, and the water 

 shoals rapidly towards the southern extremity of the sea, so that for 

 a mile from the shore the depth varies from half a foot to a foot. 

 A ford is marked on some maps from the south of the peninsula to 

 the western shore, but Lynch could not find it. There may be a ford 

 however later iu the summer. There is a frothy scum and flakes of 

 i'-n floating on the water. The bottom is black or gray slimy 

 mud. Along the shore are many dead bushes, the soil marshy, 

 oyerlaid with salt and bitumen, and yielding to the foot. The utter 

 tion of the scenery, the profound silence, and the general absence 

 of any living thing, are very impressive everywhere along the Dead 

 Sea, and especially in this part of it. It is not however to be supposed 

 that animals do not live along its shores ; flocks of ducks and other 

 birds, herons, storks, doves, humming-birds, brown hares, partridges, 

 snipe, butterflies, and cat-birds are among the animals seen by Lieu- 

 tenant Lynch's party at different parts along the coast. A duck was 

 once seen upon the sea, and now and then a dead quail was picked up 

 that had died of exhaustion ; tracks of panthers, tigers, and gazelles 

 were observed. It must be acknowledged however that it is rare to 

 see any animal (except mosquitoes perhaps) near the sea in summer, 

 unless it be after storms ; not that there is any exhalation from the 

 sea itself that is offensive or fatal to them, but that perhaps the same 

 sulphureous and other nauseous vapours that rise from the sour and 

 slimy marshes along the shore are disagreeable and injurious to the 

 lower animals as well as to man. The Arabs who dwell in the wadys 

 and upon the mountains along the coast arc ragged, filthy, lean, and 

 hungry, but well-formed savages. 



The bottom of this remarkable sea seems to consist of two submerged 

 plains, one averaging 13 feet and the other 1 300 feet below the surface, 

 and in the deepest part of the northern plain is a ravine correspond- 

 ing to the bed of the Jordan ; and it has been inferred further from 

 the sudden break-down in the valley of the Jordan between the Jabok 

 and the Dead Sea [JORDAN], from the geological structure of the 

 mountains, the nature of the watercourses, and the clear marks of 

 volcanic agency, that the whole Ghor subsided in consequence of some 

 extraordinary convulsion. On this supposition the northern plain 

 may have been always water, the south plain may once have been 

 dry land. M. de Saulcy, who visited the country in 1850 and 1851, 

 comes to the conclusion that the sites of Sodom, Gomorrah, and 

 Zoar are to be sought on the western shores of the Dead Sea, and 

 that the common belief of these cities being buried by the waters of 

 the Dead Sea has no foundation in the history of their destruction. 

 He adds, that the mountain of Usdum, or Esdum, " bears on all its 

 declivities flanking its northern part, the extensive ruins of a city ; 

 ruins among which you can distinguish, on a careful examination, 

 many foundations of walls." A mile and a half distant, to the north- 

 west, near the wild rock-strewn wady Ez-Zouera, at the southern end 

 of the Canaanitish Mountains, he discovered the ruins of another town 

 which he considers to be those of Zoar. 



(Lynch, Expedition to tlte River Jordan, 1849; De Saulcy, Ditcovery 

 of the Site of the Deitrayed Citiet of the Plain, London.) 



DEAL, Kent, a municipal and parliamentary borough and market- 

 town in the parish of Deal, hundred of Bewsborough and lathe of 

 St. Augustine, is situated close to the sea on a bold open beach 

 between the North and South Forelands, in 51 14' N. lat., 1 23' 

 Iv long., 18 miles E. by S. from Canterbury, 74 miles E.S.E. from 

 I. 'in<l'n by road, and 102 miles by the South-Eastern railway. The 

 population in 1 "iSl was 7067. The borough is governed by 6 alder- 

 men and 18 councillors, one of whom is mayor; and with Sandwich 

 and Walmer returns two members to the Imperial Parliament. The 

 living is a rectory in the archdeaconry and diocese of Canterbury. 



In the reign of Henry VIII. Deal was but a little fishing village 

 about half a mile from the coast, but it is now a good-sized town 

 running close along the shore. The former village is now called 

 Upper Deal, while the present town has grown into existence in 

 modern times. It has arisen in a great measure to supply tbe wants 

 of the seamen belonging to the ships passing up and down the channel 

 or riding at anchor in the Downs. The town is much resorted to 

 for sea-bathing. The climate of Deal is healthy ; the soil is dry, and 

 the air pure and free from marshy vapours and from fogs. Deal was 

 annexed to the Cinque Ports in the 13th century as a member of 



Sandwich, and though now of much greater importance stiil ranks as 

 one of its members. At the south end of the town is a strong castle 

 erected in 1539 by Henry VIII. In the fine roadstead called the 

 Downs, between the shore and the Goodwin Sands, vessels of all 

 dimensions, to the number of occasionally four or five hundred, ride 

 windbound and with safety, except during heavy gales, when some 

 put into Ramsgate for greater security. The pilots of Deal have a 

 high character, and the boatmen are an intrepid race of men. Their 

 courage ia often manifested in aifording assistance to vessels in distress. 

 The town is well paved and lighted, and watched by a police force. 

 It contains a custom-house, a yard for naval stores, a naval and military 

 hospital, barracks, a pilot-house, a town-hall, and a jail. The inha- 

 bitants are chiefly engaged in boat-building, sail-making, and other 

 pursuits subservient to maritime business ; but there is a considerable 

 trade occasioned by supplies required for shipping detained in the 

 Downs by contrary winds. 



Besides the parish church, a new church, and a chapel of ease, there 

 are chapels belonging to Independents, Wesleyan Methodists, and 

 Baptists, There are also National schools and a Nautical school. 

 Markets are held on Tuesday and Saturday, and two small fairs in 

 April and October. There is a savings bank. 



The village of Walmer adjoins Deal. Walmer Castle, the official 

 residence of the Warden of the Cinque Ports, is about half a mile 

 from Deal. Sandown Castle, erected by Henry VIII. about the same 

 time as Deal Castle, is about a mile east of Deal. 



(Hasted, Kent; Laud We Live In; Communication from Deal.) 



DEBA. [BASQUE PROVINCES.] 



DEBENHAM. [SUFFOLK.] 



DEBRECZIN, or DEBRECZYN, a royal free town in the western 

 part of Upper Hungary, is the capital of the county of Bihar, and 

 the largest town in the kingdom, Pesth only excepted. It stands in 

 the centre of an extensive sandy but fertile plain, about 120 miles E. 

 from Pesth, to which a railway is in course of construction. The 

 town is open, and has a rustic appearance ; for the houses, which are 

 about 4000 in number, seldom exceed one story in height, and are as 

 humble in their exterior as common cottages. Including the three 

 suburbs, from which it is separated by a slight palisade, Debreczin 

 contains about 60,000 inhabitants. The streets are unpaved, and the 

 foot-passenger has consequently to wade either through mud or sand, 

 according to the season of the year, with the aid of a few planks, laid 

 down for crossing the streets. Debreczin has several handsome 

 buildings, among which are the town-hall, the Protestant and Roman 

 Catholic churches, the Franciscan and Piarist monasteries, and the 

 handsome Protestant Collegium, to which a small church and a 

 library of 20,000 volumes are attached. There is also a Roman 

 Catholic gymnasium, a school of design for mechanics, &c., an orphan 

 asylum, three dispensaries, three hospitals, and a house of correction. 

 The inhabitants derive their subsistence from agriculture and the 

 manufacture of coarse woollens, sheep-skins 'for clothing, pottery, 

 leather, saltpetre, soap, and tobacco-pipes (about 13 millions per 

 annum are made with horn mouth-pieces and red or black clay heads). 

 Other industrial products comprise cutlery, combs, buttons, pearl 

 necklaces, &c. Four periodical fairs are held in wooden booths outside 

 the town, and are the resort of buyers and sellers from all parts of the 

 kingdom. Debreczin is noted for the excellence of its bread. It 

 suffers greatly from want of water in summer. 



DECAZEVILLE. [AvETRON.] 



DECCAN (Dacshina, the south) was anciently understood to 

 comprehend the whole of the peninsula of India south of the river 

 Nerbudda and the southern boundaries of Bengal and Bahar, and 

 included nearly one half of the territory generally known under the 

 name of the Mogul empire. The name Deccan now denotes the 

 countries lying between the Nerbudda and the Gap of Coimbatore. 

 The Deccan therefore comprehends the following divisions : Candeish, 

 Gundwana, Orissa, Berar, the Northern Circars, Beeder, Aurungabad, 

 Hyderabad, Bejapore, and Mysore. 



The interior of this extensive region is an elevated table-laud 

 encircled by lofty hills called the Ghauts, which are bordered by low 

 plains extending to the sea-shore. The table-land extends from 

 12 to 22 N. lat. Between 12 and 16 its average breadth is about 

 150 miles, but north of 16 it widens gradually to 400 miles. The 

 hills on the table-land are barren, but some of the valleys are very 

 fertile. Over the whole surface a black soil prevails favourable to the 

 growth of cotton. The physical features of the Deccan are described 

 under HINDUSTAN. 



The first Mohammedan invasion of the Deccan occurred at the close 

 of the 13th century, in the reign of Feroze. About the year 1350 the 

 Afghan Hussun ascended the throne under the title of Sultan Alia 

 ad Dien Hussun Kongoh. He was the first acknowledged independent 

 sovereign of the Deccan, and became the founder of the Bhaminee 

 dynasty, of which twelve members in turn succeeded him. After 

 this the Deccan was again divided, and a large part was formed into 

 i province of the Mogul empire. About the close of the 17th century 

 Aurengzebe reduced the country under his immediate sway ; but in 

 1717 Nizam ab Mulk, who had been sent as viceroy into the Deccan, 

 made himself its virtual sovereign ; and the whole country continued 

 independent of the Mogul empire until 1818, when a largo part of it 

 came under the dominion of the English. 



