753 



DINAN. 



DNIKPER. 



764 



order to prepare from its buds and leaves an intoxicating drug. The 

 horses and oxen bred in Dinagepore are of very degenerate kinds. 

 Tigers, bears, wild buffaloes, and wild hogs are very troublesome to 

 the cultivators of land. Otters and the common porcupine are also 

 numerous. Wild water-fowl of various kinds are seen in large flocks ; 

 the common wild goose is considered good eating. During the 

 periodical inundation of the rice-fields great numbers of small fishes 

 are taken in them, and on the subsidence of the water many are left 

 behind in the mud. 



The principal towns are Dinagepore, the capital ; Malda, Gour, and 

 Raygunge ; besides which the district contains a great number of 

 villages. Dinagepore, the capital of the district, ia situated in 25 37' 

 N. lat., 88" 43' E. long., about 100 miles N.N.E. from Moorshedabad. 

 The houses are mostly of a mean description ; a few dwellings of 

 European residents are large and commodious. The population of the 

 town is computed at 30,000. 



(Buchanan, Statistical Survey ; Parliamentary Papers.) 



DINAN. [COTES-DD-NORD.] 



DINANT, a very old town in the province of Namur, about 12 miles 

 S. from the city of Namur, is situated partly on the right bank of the 

 Meuse, at the base of a line of limestone cliffs, and partly on some 

 inlands in the river. On the cliff a strong citadel and a handsome 

 chapel is built, and winding stairs cut in the rock render the heights 

 accessible to the townsfolk. The population amounts to 5650. The 

 principal church is distinguished by a bulb-shaped steeple ; it is an 

 ancient structure, some parts of it dating from the 10th century; 

 and the interior is richly decorated. The town contains several salt- 

 refineries, four mills for sawing marble, some quarries of which are 

 worked in the neighbourhood, several grist-mills, paper-mills, breweries, 

 and tanneries. Dinant formerly contained many extensive copper 

 foundries, but this branch of industry has almost entirely disappeared. 

 A considerable quantity of gingerbread is made in the town. 



In 559 Dinant was enumerated among the possessions of the 

 bishopric of Liege. In 870 it came into the possession of Charles 

 the Bald. In the 12th century the town was fortified and considered 

 a place of great strength. In 1466 Dinant was besieged by Philip the 

 Good, and when summoned to surrender, the townsfolk hanged the 

 duke's messengers. The duke then prepared to take the town by 

 assault, when it surrendered and was given up to pillage during three 

 days. On this occasion 800 of the inhabitants were tied back to back 

 and thrown into the Maas ; at the same time the town was burnt and 

 its walls levelled to the ground. Charles the Bald a few years after- 

 wards allowed the town to bo rebuilt. In 1554 it was taken and 

 pillaged by the French, and again in 1575 after a siege of eight days. 

 At the treaty of Ryswick it was restored to the Bishop of Liege, but 

 was again taken by the .French in the war of the revolution, and 

 became the capital of an arrondissement in the department of Sambre- 

 et-Meuse. It was occupied by the allies in 1813. Dinant is on the 

 high road between Namur and Givet. A railroad is in course of 

 construction from Namur through Dinant to Luxembourg, and will 

 probably be continued thence to Metz. 



(Itii-tionnaire Geographique de la Province de Namur; Handbook 

 for Bdf/ium and the Rhine.) 



DINARIC ALPS. [AUSTRIA.] 



I UNAS MOWDDY. [MERIONETHSHIRE.] 



DINGLE, county of Kerry, Ireland, a market and post-town and 

 the seat of a Poor-Law Union, is situated on the north side of Dingle 

 Bay, in 52 8' N. lat., 10" 15' W. long. ; distant 208 miles S.W. from 

 Dublin. The population of the town in 1851 was 3261. Dingle Poor- 

 Law Union comprises 19 electoral divisions, with an area of 125,276 

 acres, and a population in 1851 of 26,725. 



The ancient name was Dangan-I-Cushy, or the fortress of Hussey, 

 an adventurer of English descent, to whom one of the family of 

 Desmond granted the tract of country on which the town stands. In 

 the 17th century Dingle enjoyed a considerable traffic with Spain, 

 from whence large quantities of wines and spices were annually 

 imported here in return for exports of tanned hides, Irish friezes, 

 woollen stockings, salt-beef, butter, and salmon. The town was 

 erected into a corporation by Queen Elizabeth in 1585, at which time 

 it sent members to the Irish Parliament. 



The town has an antique appearance. Some of the old houses are 

 in the Spanish taste, with stone balconies, &c., and several bear date 

 as early as the reign of Elizabeth. The parish church dedicated to 

 St. James is said to have been built at the charge of the Spanish who 

 frequented the port ; it is now much decayed. The residence of the 

 proprietor, the Knight of Kerry, is the principal modern building, 

 attached to which are some well-laid-out gardens. A bridewell, a market- 

 house, and a small barrack, are the principal buildings of the town. 



The harbour, a land-locked creek on the northern side of the great 

 sestuary called Dingle Bay, is capable of floating vessels of 300 tons 

 up to the town, and is pretty well protected from the westerly winds 

 which prevail on this coast. From the difficulty however of distin- 

 guishing the entrance, vessels bound for Dingle run a risk in a 

 westerly gale of going to leeward on the dangerous shoals of Castle- 

 main harbour at the head of the aeetuary. The chief trade consists 

 in the export of butter and corn to Liverpool. 



(Smith, History of the County of Kerry.) 

 I>IN(JWALL. [Ross AND CROMARTVSHIBE.] 

 OEOO. mv. VOL. ir. 



DIOIS, a. district in the former province of Dauphine" in France, of 

 which Die was the capital. It now forms the arroudissement of Die 

 in the department of Drome. [DROME 1 



DIOMEDES ISLANDS. [BEHRINH'S STRAIT.] 



DIOU. [ALLIER.] 



DISMAL SWAMP. [CAROLINA, NORTH ; VIRGINIA.] 



DISS, Norfolk, a market-town in the parish of Diss, is situated iu 

 52 22' N. lat., 1 7' E. long. ; distant 22 miles S.S.W. from Norwich, 

 86 miles N.E.by N. from London byroad, and 94 4 miles by the Eastern 

 Counties and Eastern Union railways. The population of the town 

 in 1851 was 2419. For sanitary purposes the parish is under the 

 management of a Local Board of Health. The living is a rectory in 

 the archdeaconry of Norfolk and diocese of Norwich. 



Diss, anciently Disce or Dice, was held in royal demesne in the reign 

 of Henry I. In the reign of Edward I. it became the property of 

 Robert Fitzwalter. The town of Diss consists chiefly of three streets, 

 rather irregularly laid out on an uneven site ; many of the houses are 

 of considerable antiquity. The town is lighted with gas. The river 

 Waveney runs past the town, on the south, and separates here the 

 counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. The parish church is" a spacious 

 edifice of early English date and style, and is built partly of flints. 

 It has been recently thoroughly repaired and reseated. The Wesleyan 

 Methodists, Baptists, Independents, and Unitarian? have places of 

 worship. There are here National schools ; a public school for 

 general education ; a public library and scientific institution ; and a. 

 branch savings bank. 



Diss is the centre of an extensive agricultural district. The manu- 

 facture of coarse hempen cloth for sacking employs some of the 

 inhabitants. There are several breweries in the town and vicinity 

 The market is held weekly on Friday, and there is a cattle fair 011 

 November 8th. 



(Blomefield, Norfolk ; General History of Norfolk ; Communication 

 from Diss.) 



\ DITHMARSH (Ditmartken, Dan.), the most westerly of the four 

 districts of the Danish duchy of Holstein, has the German Ocean for 

 its western boundary and Holsteiu Proper for its eastern, to which 

 last it was united in 1459. On the north the Eider separates it from 

 the duchy of Schleswig, and on the south the Elbe divides it from 

 the Hanoverian duchy of Bremen. Its area is about 500 square miles, 

 and its population about 64,000. It is protected against the inroads 

 of the sea by strong dykes, is very productive in corn, pulse, linseed, 

 &c., and rears a considerable number of cattle. Its subdivisions are 

 the bailiwicks of North and South Dithmarsh. North Dithmarsh has 

 an area of 230 square miles, with a population in 1847 of about 33,500. 

 The principal town is Heyde, in the heart of the bailiwick, which has 

 a spacious market-place, a church, and public school, with about 4000 

 inhabitants ; it is the seat of administration. South Dithmarsh has 

 an area of 275 square miles, with a population of 33,400 in 1847. 

 The chief town is Meldorf, at the mouth of the Miele, which forma 

 a small harbour. It is well built, and was formerly fortified, has a 

 handsome church, a grammar-school, public gardens, and about 

 2020 inhabitants. 



DIXMUDE. [FLANDERS, WEST.] 



DIZIER, ST. [MARNE, HAUTE.] 



DNIEPER, the ancient Horj/st/tenes. From the swampy forest 

 highlands of Volkonsky, on the confines of the Russian governments 

 of Tver and Smolensk rise three great rivers, the Volga, the Diina, 

 and the Dnieper, which form the arteries of the internal navigation 

 of Russia, carrying their waters respectively to the Caspian, the 

 Baltic, and the Black seas, and flowing throughout their whole course 

 within the limits of the Russian empire. Of these the Dnieper, 

 rising in the circle of Viasma, in the northern part of Smolensk, 

 flows south to the town of Smolensk, whence it turns west as far as 

 Orcha, in the government of Mohilev ; here it resumes a southern 

 course and after running for several miles through that government, 

 it reaches the boundary and divides Mohilev from Minsk. In this 

 part of its course it is increased by many tributary streams, the chief 

 of which are the Droutz, the Soj, and the Berezina, which last is 

 united to the Diiua by means of a canal. [DiJNA.] After forming the 

 boundary between the governments of Minsk and Czernigoff, the 

 Dnieper enters the government of Kiev, where it receives the Pripet 

 (which the King's and Oginski canals connect with the Bug, the Vistula, 

 and the Niemen), the Desna, the Teterev, and the Irpen. Soon after 

 its junction with the Desna, the Dnieper forms the western limit of the 

 government of Pultava, and turning to the south-east, it enters that 

 of Ekaterinoslav, having received in this part of its course the Psjol, 

 Vorskia, Orel, Soula, and other streams. Having passed the town of 

 Ekaterinoslav, the river runs south for about 60 miles, and in this part 

 of its course forms thirteen rapids which impede the navigation for 

 above 40 miles ; below the rapids the river flows south-west between 

 the governments of Kherson and Taurida, and enters the Black Sea 

 by a wide embouchure, through which also the Bog, the ancient 

 Htjpani (which rises in Galicia, and drains the provinces of Podolia 

 and Kherson), pours itself into the same sea. The embouchure is in 

 fact rather a lake or gulf; it extends from Kherson to Oczakoff, about 

 50 miles, with a breadth of from one to six miles. _ It is for the most 

 part shallow, and its shores are very unhealthy in summer, during 

 which season salt is gathered from the dried-up swam | is. 



