



The entire length of the Dnieper, with iU windings, i* above 

 1000 mile*; its average width U estimated at 700 pace* IU banin 

 comprises fourteen of the finest provinces of Rnuia, with ail of 

 which it has oommunioation by it* navignblo branches and by canal*. 

 The Dnieper flow* for the most part between hixh banki, tl>o greatest 

 deration of which U along the eastern side. The upper part of iU 

 court* a through a marshy fure*t country, and in the middle and 

 lower oourae it psssos over many rock*. The river i* navigable 

 almost from iU source to iU mouth ; eren the obstruction* presented 

 liy the cataracts hare bee* removed by the magnificent hydraulic 

 works of the Rusaian government ; several of the ledges of rocks 

 having been entirely removed, and channel* formed which ore 

 protected from winds by lofty dike* of granite. Produce is generally 

 conveyed down the river to the cities on the Black Sea, but fleets of 

 Urge barks also pass annually by the canal* mentioned (and those 

 that connect the Dun* with the Neva) to Riga and St. Petersburg. 

 The freights eonsist chiefly of timber, com, iron, linen, hemp, Bait, 

 &c. Below the cataract* upwards of 70 uland* occur, which produce 

 a grape resembling the currant; they are full of serpents and 

 wild oats. 



As the Dnieper flows through more than nine degrees of latitude. 

 there is great diversity of climate in various parts of its basin : at 

 Smolensk the waters freeze iu November, and continue ice-bound 

 until April ; at Kiev they are frozen from January to March only. 

 The river abounds in sturgeon, carp, pike, and shad. There are 

 bridges across it at Smolensk and Kiev, the latter, which is 1638 

 yards in length, and constructed with rafts, 13 removed about the 

 rnd of October and replaced in the spring, as it would otherwise be 

 destroyed on the breaking up of the ice. 



The root syllable (Don or Dan) in the names of almost nil the 

 crreat rivers that flow into the mouth of the Block Sea Don (Tan-aTs), 

 Dnieper (Don-ieper), Dniester (Don-iestr), Don-au (Dan-nbe) is 

 probably an old Scythian or Slavic word for 'water.' 



1 IX I ESTER, a river of European Russia, has its source in a small 

 lake on the north-eastern slope of the Carpathian Mountains, in the 

 circle of Sambor, in the Austrian crownland of Ualicia, near 49 12' 

 X. 1st, 88 E. long. Within Onlicia the Dniester receives the 

 Tismenica, Stry, Kwica, Lomnica, and Bistritza on its right, and the 

 Lips, Strip*, and Send on ita left bank. Its course is north-easterly 

 from its source to Bambor, after pacing which it pursues a south- 

 easterly oourae to Halicz, Mariampol, and Zaleszcyki. Thence it runs 

 iu an east-south-east direction to Chotym, at the north-western 

 extremity of Bessarabia, where, leaving the Austrian, it enters the 

 Russian territory. At Chotym it receives the Podhorzc, which 

 separates Oalicia from the government of Podolia, nnd thence flows 

 between Podolia and Bessarabia, first in an eastern then iu a south- 

 eastern direction, and with many windings to about 42 52' N. lat, 

 29* 3' E. long. From this point to its mouth in the Black Sea the 

 coarse of the river is south-south-east, the river separating for about 

 100 miles of its course the boundary between Bessarabia and the 

 government of Kherson. Its tributaries in Russia are small, and its 

 basin narrow. From Ushitza, where it takes a southern course, it 

 passes the towns of Yampol, Dubossari, Bender, and Tiraspol. It 

 enters the Black Sea by a broad liman, or shore-lake, about 19 miles 

 in length and 6 miles in breadth, but not more than 7 feet in depth, 

 which lies between Akerman and Ovidiopol, and communicates with 

 the Black Sea by the Otchakov and Tsarigrod channels, which are 

 separated by a series of low sandy islands. 



The current of the Dniester is exceedingly rapid. The navigation 

 commences at Halicz, bnt is interrupted two miles below Yampol 

 by two considerable falls and several whirlpools; and it does not 

 become free again until it reaches Bender. As far as Old Sambor it 

 flows through a deep broad valley, which afterwards expands on its 

 eastern bank into an extensive plain ; while on its right bank it is 

 occasionally skirted by onsets from the Carpathian chain, varying 

 from 180 to 9(0 feet in height. These elevations accompany its course 

 as low down as Chotym, from which point the river flows through an 

 open (Ut country. The bed is innd.ly, and its waters, which arc 

 tnrbid and of a yellowish hue, and often broken by masses of rock, 

 are frequently covered with foam. The whole length of the river 

 is about 800 miles. Wood, grain, and other products are conveyed 

 down the Dniester to Odessa. The principal places at which vessels 

 load sad unload are Stria and HaleU-hi on the Austrian, and Zranetz 

 and Dnbossmri on the Russian side. The Dniester abounds in 

 tarpon. Herodotus (iv. 81), calls the river Tyrcu ; and it was 

 subsequently named /Atmufru. 



DOAIJ, a word signifying 'two waters,' is used in Hindustan 

 t denote say tract of land Included between two rivers. Three 

 districts to which the name of Dob is applied are situated in the 

 province of Labors. Ono of these, the Donb or Doabeh Barry is 

 Included between the Rnvoy nn.l IV-yah rivers and contains the 

 cities of Lahore and Amritsir; the second, the Doabeh Jail 

 included between the Beyah and the Kutlrj, and forms the most 

 fertfU portion of the Panjab district ; the third, the Doabeh Rechtna, 

 comprehends the Rnvey sad Uw Chinaub. The district however to 

 which the name is most commonly applied is situated between the 

 OMMS and the Jumna. This district ha* its eastern extremity at 

 Allahabad, whence it proceeds in a north-west direction to the hilly 



country in northern Hindustan, the northern frontier of 

 of Saharunpore in the province of Delhi forming its north-westsm 

 boundary. The length of this tract is more than SOU m 

 mean breadth about 54 miles; its prevailing character ! flatness 

 and nakedness. The principal productions are millet and barley, 

 sugar, tobacco, cotton, and indigo. The straw of the mi! 

 serviceable as provender for cattle. The temperature of the air in 

 this part of India is liable to sudden and violent alternations ; the 

 range of the thermometer between the morning and nl 

 sometimes 40 degrees. In April and May, when the hot wind* 

 prevail, the thermometer often rises higher than 1 20 iu the shade, 

 and at other seasons the temperature at daybreak is sometimes 

 below the freezing point 



The southern part of the Doab came into the possession of the 

 English in 1801, when it was acquired from the king of Uude. In 

 1803 the more northern parb was ceded to the Koglish by Dowlnt 

 Roa Scindia. The population is of a very ' nict-cr, and 



consists of Jhats, Rajpoots, Patans, Thugs, and var; 

 who, previous to the acquisition of the country by 

 been much addicted to plunder, and dacoity or gang i 

 of frequent occurrence ; thi* has been greatly remedied. 



DOBKRAX. I \: no.] 



DOBOKA. [TRANSVLVAJIIA.] 



DOBRUDSCHA. a district in Kuropean Turkey, forms the north- 

 eastern part of Bulgaria, and comprises the country north of the 

 earthen rampart called Trajan's Wall, between the D.inube on the 

 west and north, and the Black Sen on the cast. Trajan's Wall leaves 

 the Danube between Rassova and Czernavoda, and runs across to th 

 Black Sea a little south of Kuntcnjr, a distance of about ',',. 

 its western part the wall skirts a small stream, the Kara Su (Black- 

 water), that connects several small lakes, and enters the Danube abifve 

 Czernavods, At the head of the valley of the Kara-Su, near Bourlak, 

 a line of bills or downs composed chiefly of a porous limestone rock 

 runs north apd south 104 feet above the level of the Black Sea. Along 

 the coast at Kustcnje also there is an uninterrupted range of low hills 

 and cliffs, HO that it is certain the Danube never had an outlet across 

 the Dobmdscha in this direction. The formation of a canal from 

 Czernavoda to Ku-tcnje has been long n favourite project ; but on the 

 summit-level, which consists of porous limestone, no water ever rests 

 to feed such a canal if it were cut Besides, the only water communi- 

 cation between these two points that would be of much use wo;: 

 a ship-canal, or, in other words, the opening of a new bed for the 

 Danube ; and this the nature of the ground renders all but 

 physically impossible. 



The low undulating down runs northward all through the Dobrud- 

 scha, forming a small watershed between the Danube and the sea ; on 

 the north it joins a lofty mountainous mass which covers the north of 

 the district between Baba-Dagh and Matchin. [BESSARABIA.] On the 

 eastern side the Dobrudscha is marshy, and contains several lakes. 

 There is a great scarcity of drinkable water in this district It contains 

 however many fertile spots, although in the hot season of the year, like 

 all the countries near it, it resembles a desert In the spring, on the 

 melting of the snows, the soil is saturated with \\vt, and ii 

 is converted into a sea of mud. The inhabitants are chiefly Bul- 

 garians, Tartars, and runaway Cossaks, who rear sheep and buffaloes. 

 Eagles, bustards, cranes, wild geese, partridges, kites, ducks, wild 

 swans, and wild dogs are extremely numerous in the Dobrudscha. 

 Along the Danube are the fortresses of Hirsova, Matchin, Isoaktchn, 

 and Tulcha, Tulcha stands at the head of the St. George mo 

 the Danube, which forms part of the boundary between the I), ilmidscha 

 an 1 Uiisaiu. In the interior is the town of Baba-Dagh, between tb 

 mountains of that name and Lake Rassein. Kustenje is a mere village. 

 At the time we* write (April, 1854) the Russians are in posses 

 the Dobrudscha, nnd the Turks are posted in strong force ! 

 'a Wall, which they have repaired and strengthened. 



DOCKING, Norfolk, a village and the seat of a Poor-Law Union in 

 the pnrish of Docking, is situated in 52 55' N. lat, 38' E. long., 

 distant S3 miles X.W. from Norwich, 113 miles N. 1,_. 

 byroad. The population of t king in 1851 was liito. 



Tlie living is a vicarage iu the an! <>f Norfolk and , 



Docking Poor-Law Union cont i;n- "<', ; 



townships, with an area of 80,053 acres, and a population in 1 

 18,146. Docking parish church is chiefly of perpendicular -tyle and 



<lcynn nnd Primitive Methodists have place* of 

 There is a National school. Petty sessions are held monthly iu the 



-y of Norfolk ; Communication from Docking.) 



, i HE.] 



kVBBIDOsnnUL] 

 I ii 1 1 ancient oracle of Greece, wag probably eitu- 



Kjiinis, lint its exact i 

 lieen ascertained. <',,!, ,r,,l Leake places it 

 extremity of the lake of near Kaitritza, and there aro many 



'!' tl.at Mr ' 



vail' v at the south of that sheet of water. It is true that there is no 



i f a lake in the neighbourhood of tl. ! ' >dona ; but 



it is described as surrounded by marshes, and it u not unlikely that 



the lake of Joannina may have been increased in later times from the 



