1009 



FICHTELGEBIRGE. 



FIFESHIRE. 



1010 



formerly a somewhat important commercial town, Fezzan being the 

 most frequented road by which Soodau communicated with the 

 countries along the Mediterranean. From October to January or 

 February numerous cafilas used to arrive at Mourzuk from Cairo, 

 Bengazi in Barca, Tripoli, Gadames, Twat, Boruou, and Soodan ; and 

 the neighbouring Tibboos, Tuaricks, and Arabs then visited its 

 market. The traders were accustomed to dispose of part of the 

 produce of their respective countries at Mourzuk, and carry the rest 

 farther on. This commerce has however greatly declined, owing to 

 the preference now given by the caravans to the route through Ghat, 

 though many caravans still follow the Mourzuk route, and others 

 trade to Mourzuk from Cairo without visiting Tripoli. Mourzuk is 

 also the mart of many British goods from the Levant; a British 

 consul is maintained here. The principal articles of traffic from the 

 interior are slaves, senna, and ivory ; according to Mr. Richardson 

 the value of the merchandise which changes hands here during the 

 great mart is from 40,000 to 60,000 Spanish dollars. The town is 

 surrounded by gardens and orchards. 



Sokna, the next most important town, is situated midway between 

 Mourzuk and Tripoli ; it is a tolerably built place, the houses being 

 of stone, and contains about 2000 inhabitants, who are nearly all 

 Moors. A good deal of commerce is carried on, the merchants having 

 the reputation of being richer than those of Mourzuk. Sokna is 

 celebrated for its dates ; much grain is grown around the town. Houn, 

 in the same district, is said to be nearly as large as Sokna. Tuelah, 

 formerly the capital of Fezzan, and the site of a Roman colony, is 

 now chiefly remarkable for its antiquities. 



(Hornemann, Journey from Egypt to Fezzan ; Denham and Clapper- 

 ton, Narrative of Travels; Richardson, Travels in the Great Sahara; 

 and Narrative of a Mission to Central Africa.) 



FICHTELGEBIRGE is a mountain-mass in Germany, situated 

 between 50 and 50 15' N. lat, 11 45' and 12 E. long. Its greatest 

 length from north-east to south-west, between the towns of Asch and 

 Baireuth, does not exceed 35 miles ; and its average width is about 

 28 miles. 



The whole mountain-mass is furrowed on all sides by narrow 

 valleys and glens ; its most elevated parts extend in plains, on which 

 a few summits rise in the form of domes. These summits form a 

 series arranged along the axis of the mass from south-west to north- 

 east. Those which attain the greatest elevation are the Kosseine, 

 which rises to 3024 feet ; the Ochseukopf, to 3328 feet ; and the 

 Schneeberg, to 3424 feet above the level of the sea. The base on 

 which the whole mass rests is about 1700 feet above the sea-level 

 towards the south and west, and towards the east and north about 

 1800 feet. 



The Fichtelgebirgo is the centre, in which three extensive mountain 

 ranges unite, and from which they may be considered to issue. The 

 Erzgebirge begins at its northern extremity near Asch, and runs off 

 in an east-north-east direction, dividing Saxony from Bohemia. From 

 its north-western extremity branches off another range, which is first 

 called the Frankenwald (or Forest of Franconia), and farther on takes 

 the name of the Thuringerwald (or Forest of Thuringia) ; the Harz 

 itself may be considered as the most northern branch of this range. 

 The third range, which is immediately connected with the Fichtel- 

 gebirge, is the Bohmerwald (or Forest of Bohemia), which runs off 

 in a south-eastern direction. [BOHEMIA ; BAVARIA ; ERZOEBIKOE.] 



In consequence of this disposition of the mountain ranges which 

 issue from the Fichtelgebirge, the waters collected on its slopes run 

 off to the four cardinal points. On its southern declivity rises the 

 Naab, which joins the Danube, by which its waters are carried to the 

 Black Sea ; the Main, rising on the western declivity, mingles its 

 waters with the Rhine ; and the Eger, which carries off the waters 

 from the eastern slopes, falls into the Elbe, as does also the Saale, 

 which rises near the northern extremity and runs northward. 



The nucleus of the mass is composed of granite, gneiss, and mica- 

 slate ; but on the north-western side it is surrounded by extensive 

 beds of clay-slate and grauwacke. Its mineral wealth is not great. It 

 contains extensive beds of iron ore, which is the only metal that is 

 worked on an extensive scale. Copper ore occurs frequently, but always 

 in such small quantities that it cannot be worked. Gold was formerly 

 obtained by washing the sand of some rivulets. Alum, serpentine, 

 and coal occur in some places in rather large quantities. In other 

 places there are some precious stones, as garnets, tourmalins, &c. 



FIESOLE. [ETBURIA ; FLORENCE.] 



FIFESHIRE, a maritime county in the east of Scotland, compris- 

 ing the peninsula between the Frith of Forth on the south, the 

 German Ocean on the east, and the Frith of Tay on the north, and 

 bounded on the west by the counties of Perth, Kinross, and Clack- 

 mannan. It lies between 56 and 56 26' N. lat., 2 35' and 3 40' 

 W. long. The outline is very irregular. The length of the county 

 from east to west is about 44 miles, and from north to south 18 miles. 

 Its area is 503 square miles, or 322,031 statute acres, of which more 

 than four-fifths are arable and pasture, while one-fifth consists of hills, 

 moss, moors, roads, and woods. The population in 1851 was 153,546. 

 Fifeshire returns one member to the Imperial Parliament. 



Coatt-line. The northern boundary of the county forms the 

 southern bank of the Frith of Tay, along which from Newburgh to 

 Ferry-port-on-Craig it extends about 18 miles. On the edge of the 



OEOO. HIV. VOL. II. 



Frith the ground is nearly level ; farther inland there is a hilly range, 

 a continuation of the Ochils, but none of the eminences attain any 

 great height. In Forgan parish however where the tcstuary is 

 narrowed, the coast is bold and rocky. On this part of the coast is 

 the village of Woodhaven, with a harbour capable of accommodating 

 vessels of from 100 to 150 tons. The ferry to Dundee, which was 

 formerly at Woodhaven, is now at the village of Newport, opposite 

 Dundee and about one mile and a half distant from it. There is here 

 a ferry pier 350 feet long and 60 feet wide. Eastward of Newport 

 the coast continues bold and rocky, as far as the village of Ferry-port- 

 on-Craig, where is a small pier and a regular ferry to Broughty, on 

 the opposite coast of Forfarshire. Eastward of this village, the 

 shore is flat and sandy, and continues so along the north coast of the 

 Bay of St. Andrews to the sestuary of the river Eden, which is 

 navigable as far as the Guard bridge, a little way from its mouth, 

 where there is a small harbour, which vessels of considerable burden 

 can enter, but at spring tides only, there beiug a bar at the mouth 

 of the river. Beyond St. Andrews the coast is again rocky, the sand- 

 stone in this extreme eastern part of the county ruuniug out to the 

 sea in long ridges. Fifeness, the most eastern point, is situated in 

 56 17' N. lat., 2 35' W. long. The shore is composed of cliffs much 

 worn by the action of the waves. Westward of Grail to St. Monaus 

 the shore still presents sandstone cliffs to the Frith of Forth. Here 

 are the burghs of Easter and Wester Anstruther, westward of which 

 are the small harbours of Pittenweem and St. Monans. Off the coast 

 here is the island of May, with its lighthouse, which are noticed in 

 the article CRAIL. The population of the isle (in 1851) ia returned 

 with the parish of Anstruther Wester. The isle is claimed by the 

 parish of Crail, but it is considered by the Commissioners of Northern 

 Lights not to be part of any parish. The Bay of Elie, a small but 

 very convenient harbour, is formed by two promontories in the Frith, 

 composed of basalt greenstone and trap. The shore on each side of 

 these promontories is low and sandy ; as is the coast generally along 

 the Bay of Largo to the mouth of the river Leven, after which, 

 turning southward, the coast again, in Wemyss parish, presents a line 

 of rocks which extend occasionally a good way iuto the Frith. On 

 this part of the coast is the small harbour of Buckhaven, and farther 

 south are the more important towns of Dysart, Kirkcaldy, and King- 

 horn. Turning Kinghorn-ness, opposite which is the island and 

 lighthouse of Inchkeith, about 3 miles westward is the town of 

 Burntisland, and farther west are Aberdour and Inverkeithing. The 

 coast in the neighbourhood of Aberdour is rocky and steep. Wood 

 has been planted close to the shore, which continues rocky and 

 occasionally sandy westward to Inverkeithing and along the tongue 

 of land at the extremity of which is North Queensferry. The 

 remaining part of the coast to the westward is generally low. Some 

 of the strata of the great carboniferous formation on which this part 

 of the county rests, crop out at one or two places on the shore. 



Surface, Hydrography, Communications. In the northern part of 

 the county is a continuation of the Ochils, gradually diminishing in 

 height as the range approaches the east. The Lomonds, or Lomond 

 Hills, a small range about 4 miles long, run nearly parallel to this 

 northern range, in the middle of the county. The Eden traverses the 

 valley, or Strath of Eden between these ranges, and the Leven and 

 Orr rivers water th valley south of the Lomonds, formed by the 

 eminences on the shore of the Forth. The Ochils are composed of 

 trap rock. In the north-eastern part of the county, their elevation 

 does not exceed 400 feet, but in the extreme west of the county thev 

 reach a much greater height. The Lomouds have three peaks called 

 respectively East, Mid, and West Lomond hills. They slope to the 

 south, and to the north are generally steep or precipitous, in some 

 places presenting regular columns of trap rock to the view. The 

 West Lomond is said to be 1720 feet above the sea. The other 

 eminences of the county are generally single hills, such as the Largo 

 Law, which is above 900 feet high, and the Brinnarty Hills between 

 Loch Leven in Kinross-shire and Loch Orr in this county. 



Fifeshire is watered by numerous streams, of which the Eden and 

 the Leven are the chief. The Eden, which rises in the Lomond Hills, 

 flows about 20 miles east and north-east through the central vale, or 

 Howe of Fife, sometimes called Stratheden, past the town of Cupar 

 into the German Ocean. The stream is slow, and of little force ; art 

 however 'has made it available for the movement of mills and of 

 powerful manufacturing machinery. [CupAR.] Red and white trout, 

 pike, and eels are abundant in the deeper parts, and salmon are 

 taken near its mouth. The Leven issues from Loch Leven in Kinross- 

 shire, and taking an easterly direction, receives the Orr Water from 

 Loch Fitty, and flows into the Frith of Forth at the village of Leven. 

 In its course of 12 miles it turns a great many mills for cotton, flax, 

 paper, corn, &c. The water beiug very clear and soft is well adapted 

 for bleaching. Before the establishment of bleaching-fields along its 

 banks, it was the best trout stream in the county. Fine salmon were 

 taken in the loch, and thousands of eels in their passage thcnco to 

 the sea. There is still a salmon fishery at the mouth. Many of the 

 numerous small lochs of this county have been drained, and their 

 sites have become cultivated fields. Several .of those which remain 

 greatly enhance, the picturesque beauty of the scenery. The Loch 

 of Lindores in the north-west is a beautiful sheet of water, covering 

 70 acres, with a depth of 20 feet. Loch Fitty, near Dunfermline, is 



3 T 



