EKATARINOSLAV. 



ELBE. 



894 



and Taurida, The Greeks are under the bishop of Feodosia, and the 

 Armenians under the bishop of Nakitshevan. 



Ekatarinoslav is divided into seven circles named from the chief 

 town in each. Tbe principal towns are : Ekatarinoslav, described in 

 the next article [EKATAIUXOSLAV] ; Ale.mndrofek, on the left bank of 

 the Dnieper below the cataracts (about 4000 inhabitants) ; Novo- 

 Motkofik, a fortified town N.E. of Ekatarinoslav, on the Samara 

 (3000 inhabitants); Bachmut, on the Bachmuta, a feeder of the Donecz 

 (about 4500 inhabitants) ; near it are Tartar tombs and three lines of 

 old fortifications ; a coal mine has lately been discovered near this 

 town : TAGANBOG, on the Sea of Azof (about 16,000 inhabitants) ; 

 Mariapol, at the efflux of the Kalmius into the Sea of Azof, with about 

 3500 inhabitants ; JVai'c' ,/<. ran, on the right bank of the Don, which 

 is the seat of an Armenian patriarch, and has a population of 10,000 

 and manufactures of silk, woollens, and brandy ; and 6V. Dcmitria, 

 Jtottofskaye, or Rottw, a fortress a couple of miles west from Nakit- 

 Bchevan ; population about 2500. The town of Azof has been noticed 

 already. [AZOF]. 



The manufactures of Ekatarinoslav, which are of little importance, 

 are woollen cloths, silk, tallow and candles, leather, and beer. The 

 number of brandy distilleries is very great. The principal articles 

 exported are fish, wool, tallow, and other animal products. 



The province of Ekatarinoslav was first constituted by the empress 

 Catherine in the year 1784, and was composed of the districts lying 

 next the southern banks of the Dnieper (which were before this held 

 by the Cossaks), of several large districts wrested from the Turks, 

 Crimean Tartary as far as the shores of the Sea of Azof. In 

 lie emperor Paul augmented it by the addition of other lands 

 between the Bog and the Dniester, which had been ceded by Turkey, 

 and the peninsula of Taurida ; and he designated the whole of this 

 extensive country New Russia. In the year 1822 however the emperor 

 Alexander reorganised New Russia, dividing it into the three provinces 

 of Ekatarinosla", Cherson, and Taurida. 



EKATARINOSLAV, a town in South Russia, the capital of the 

 province of Ekatarinoslav, is situated on the right bank and just 

 above the cataracts of the Dnieper, at the junction of the Kaidak with 

 that river, in 48 27' N. lat., 35 5' E. long. The first stone was 

 laid by the empress Catherine II. in 1 787. The town is built close to the 

 foot of a hill, and according to an extended and regular plan adapted 

 for a much greater number of inhabitants than the .13,000 which it at 

 present contains. The streets are broad, and laid out in straight 

 lines. There are several churches, a gymnasium, and an ecclesiastical 

 seminary, an imperial manufacture of woollens, and several hospitals. 

 Silk stockings are made, and some retail trade is carried on. The 

 town is the residence of the archbishop of Ekatarinoslav, and has an 

 ecclesiastical seminary and a gymnasium. 

 EL CALLAH. [ALOKRIE.] 

 ELAM. [ELYMAIS.] 

 ELATMA, or YELATMA. [TAMBOV.] 



ELBA, the Ilva of the Romans, vEtlialia of the Greeks, is an island 

 in the Mediterranean Sea, near the coast of Tuscany, from which it is 

 divided by the channel of Piombino. This channel is about five miles 

 broad in its narrowest part opposite the town of Piombino, which is 

 on the main land. The shape of Elba is very irregular ; its length is 

 about 18 miles, from 10" 6' to 10 25' E. long., and its greatest breadth, 

 which is on its east side, is about ten miles, from Cape Calamita 

 42 43' to Cape Vito 42 52' N. lat.; but in its west part it is six 

 miles broad, and towards the middle of its length it is only three miles, 

 owing to the coast (which is high and bold) being indented by gulfs 

 both from the north and south. Its area including some adjacent 

 islets is 97 square miles; and the population is 20,061. The island is 

 mountainous ; the highest summit, Monte della Capanna, in its west 

 part, is 3000 feet above the sea. The mountains are mostly naked, 

 but the lower ridges and the valleys between them are planted with the 

 vine, olive, and mulberry, and other fruit trees. The island produces 

 also some wheat and Indian corn, vegetables, and water melons. 

 Wine, both white and red, and of good quality, is made in considerable 

 quantities. A sweet wine is also made from the muBcadel grape. 

 Horned cattle and horses are rather scarce, but there are plenty of sheep, 

 goats, pigs, and asses. Fish is plentiful on the coast, and the tunny 

 fishery yields a considerable profit. The salt-pans on the sea-shore 

 produce about 50,000 cwts. of salt yearly. Elba is rich in iron, which 

 in of the best quality, and was worked in the time of the Romans. It 

 is found in a mountain, near Rio on the east coast, which is almost 

 entirely a mass of ore, about two miles in circumference, 500 feet in 

 ';t., and yields from 50 to 75 per cent, of pure metal. Owing to 

 the scnrcity of fuel the ore is embarked at Follonica on the channel of 

 Piombino and taken to the mainland to be smelted, as it was when 

 Strabo wrote. The other mineral productions of Elba are loadstone, 

 alum, vitriol, and marble of various kinds. Porto Ferrajo, the capital 

 and residence of the governor, has about 3000 inhabitants. Porto 

 Ferrajo lie* on the north coat of the island, and is strongly fortified 

 with two citadels on the hill above it, and has an excellent harbour. 

 The town has two parish churches, one hospital, and a lazzaretto ; it 

 has a garrison and military commander, a civil and criminal court. 

 From Porto Ferrajo a good road, five miles in length, made by 

 Napoleon I., leads to Porto Longone, a small fortress and harbour, on 

 the east coast. The other villages in the island are Rio, Marciana, 



Campo, and Capo Liveri. Napoleon I, Emperor of the French resided 

 in Porto Ferrajo after his first abdication, from May, 1814, to the 26th 

 of February, 1815, when he set sail for Cannes. Since that time Elba 

 has been annexed to the grand duchy of Tuscany. 



ELBE, one of the largest rivers in Europe, flows like the Weser 

 entirely within Germany. It originates in the confluence of a number 

 of rivulets and brooks which fall down the western aide of the Schnee- 

 koppe, one of the highest summits in the Riesengebirge of Bohemia, 

 and in that part of them which separates Bohemia from Silesia. The 

 stream thus formed runs southward to Hohenelbe, thence in a general 

 southern direction past Arnau and KonigBgriitz where it ia joined by 

 the Adler, and higher up near Joaephstadt by the Aupa and the 

 Metau, all on the left bank. After receiving the Chrudimka at Par- 

 dubitz, a station on the Vienna-Prague railway, the river takes a 

 westerly direction to Kollin, receiving in the interval the Dobrowa on 

 the left bank. From Kollin the Elbe runs north-west past Podicbrad 

 to Nimburg, where it receives on the right bank the Czidliua. It now 

 pursues a course due west for about 15 miles to Brandeis, above which 

 it receives the Iser, thence north-west past Melnik, where it is 

 increased by the waters of the Moldau on the left bank, and from 

 which place (in 50 20' N. lat., 14 28' E. long.) it has an unobstructed 

 navigation to its mouth. From Melnik it continues on a general 

 north-west course to below Leitmeritz, a few miles above which town 

 it is joined by the Eger on. the left bank. [EGEB]. From this place 

 it flows northwards to Ausaig, where it is joined by the Bila, and then 

 takes a winding easterly courae past Tetachen where it receives the 

 Pulznitz, bends gradually north-westwards, quits Bohemia near 

 Herrnnskretschen, and enters the kingdom of Saxony, being at this 

 point 355 feet in width. Below Tetschen the Elbe flows through a 

 defile between the Erz and the Rieaen Mountains; bold cliffs and 

 huge natural battlements of rock rising on either side, clothed with 

 rich foliage wherever it is possible for a tree to hang or broken by 

 smooth plots of verdure leading away into romautic dells. In Saxony 

 the Elbe takes a north-westerly courae past Schandau, between which 

 place and Dreaden it passes through the Lusatian and Ohre Mountains 

 of Saxony, then flows to Pirna, Dreaden, Meissen, Riess, and Strehla, 

 and enters Prussian Saxony at Loesnitz, about seven miles above 

 Miihlberg. From Miihlberg its course ia north-westerly to Torgau, 

 and thence to Wittenberg, above which it receives the Black Elster ; 

 here it takes a westerly direction, traverses the Duchy of Auhalt in 

 which it receives the Saale and Muldc, and then turning northward, 

 re-enters Prussia above Aacken, and flows N.N.E past Magdeburg 

 (receiving the Ohre on its left bank) and as far as Sandow, where it is 

 joined by the Havel. Here it again takes a north-westerly direction, 

 forming first the boundary between Brandenburg and Prussian Saxony 

 till it passes Schneckendorf, and next for a short distance between 

 Brandenburg and Hanover : thence it separates Hanover from Meck- 

 lenburg until it enters the north-eastern districts of that kingdom 

 between Db'mitz and Hitzacker. After traversing them as far as 

 Boitzi>nburg, it divides the Hanoverian dominions from tho duchies of 

 Lauenburg and Holstein anfl the Hamburg territory, until it discharges 

 itself into the North Sea. Altogether it traverses Hanover or forms 

 its north-eastern boundary for about 120 miles. Below Winaen, which 

 lies to the south-east of Harburg in Hanover, the Ilmenau falls into 

 it, and below Neuhauss somewhat above Altona, but on the left bank 

 like the former, the Oste. From Hamburg and Altoua downwards to 

 GHickstadt in Holstein and thence to the North Sea it becomes navi- 

 gable for large ships. Vessels of 14 feet draught can at all times 

 ascend the river to Hamburg. Its mouth lies north of Cuxhaven, 

 about 85 miles below Hamburg, and is about 12 miles wide. C'pnals 

 connect the Elbe with the Oder and the Trave tributaries of the 

 Baltic. The railway from Vienna to Dresden runs at a little distance 

 from the left bank of the river all the way from Pardubitz to Dresden 

 (nearly 120 miles); and from this city the stream is in parts skirted 

 and at points crossed by sections of the Saxon, Prussian, Hanoverian, 

 Oldenburg, and Danish lines down to Gliickstadt and Holsteint 



In the lower part of its course, namely, between Harburg on ita 

 left bank and Hamburg and Altona on its right bank, the Elbe is 

 divided into several arms by five large and seven small islands; these 

 arms however unite again in a single channel at Blankenese, about 

 five miles below Hamburg. The whole length of the Elbe is between 

 600 and 700 miles, and it is navigable for about 470 miles. Its mean 

 depth is 1 feet, and its average breadth 900 feet ; but it widens at 

 some pointa to 1000 feet and more, and near its mouth to several 

 miles. The height of this river above the level of the sea ia aa follows : 

 Near its source, 4151 feet; at Kouigsgriitz, 618 ; at Melnik, 426; 

 at Schandau, 320 ; at Pirna, 287 ; at Dresden, 262 ; at Wittenberg, 

 204 ; at Magdeburg, 128 ; at Tangermiinde, 87 ; at Losenrade, 48 ; at 

 Db'mitz, 26; at Hitzaeker, 19; at Bleckede, 11; and at Boitzenburg 

 9 feet. 



There are 35 bridges across the Elbe between its source and Torgau, 

 below which town the communication between both banks (except 

 where the river is crossed by railways) is by ferries. Tho principal 

 * are one at Leitmeritz, which is of wood and stone, and 823 feet 

 in length ; one at Dresden, of stone, 1420 feet long and 36 feet broad ; 

 one at Wittenberg, of stone and wood, 1 000 feet long ; and at Magdeburg, 

 where there are three wooden bridges across the three arms of the river. 



The waters of the Elbe are increased by tho confluence of 17 rivers 



