ORlON 



3870 



ORKNEY ISLANDS 



Miiinly insvtt\ i>n.ii-*, the birds con- 

 Minn- ln-rri-* ill (In- autumn. The 

 to-called Oriole* of the U.S.A. are 

 not related, but belong to the 

 family lotoridae. 



Orion. In Greek mythology, a 

 i. mi. .us giant and hunter. Falling 

 in lu\i- \wtli .Mimpe, daughter of 

 Oenopion, king of Chios, he ob- 

 tained from her father the pro- 

 mise of her hand, pn>vnli-l ) 

 cleared the island of wild animals, 

 supposed to be an impossible task. 

 ()iii in, however, duly performed it ; 

 lint OriiiMiimi math- luiii drunk and 



Git out his eyes as he lay asleep, 

 aving recovered his sight by 

 following the advice of an oracle, 

 Orion took vengeance upon Oeno- 

 pion. He was slain by Artemis 

 with her arrows for attempting to 

 violate her ; or was killed by the 

 bite of a scorpion as a punishment 

 for boasting about his prowess as 

 a hunter. After his death Orion 

 was placed among the stars. 



Orion. In astronomy, one oi 

 the constellations. Lying on the 

 celestial equator, S.E. of Taurus, 

 it contains the three famous stars, 

 Rigel, Betelgcux, and Bellatrix. 

 The constellation as a whole is one 

 of the brightest in the sky. It con- 

 tains a large number of variable 

 stars and the great Orion nebula, 



Orion. Nameship of a class of 

 British battleships completed in 

 1911-12. They are 545 ft. long, 

 88} ft. in beam, displace 22,500 

 tons, and have engines of 27,000 

 h.p., giving a speed of 21 knots. 

 They carry ten 13'5-in., sixteen 

 4 in., and four 3-pounder guns. In 

 this class are the Monarch, Thun- 

 derer, and Conqueror. The Orion 

 was broken up in 1923. 



Orissa. S. portion of the prov. 

 of Bihar and Orissa, India. It 

 includes the area where the pre- 

 dominant language is Oriya, and 

 is composed of the Orissa division, 

 area 13,743 sq. in., and the Orissa 

 Feudatory States, area 28,046 sq. 

 m., with pops, of 5,132,000 and 

 3,797,000 respectively. It con- 

 tains the S. part of the Chota 

 Nagpur plateau, and includes the 

 lower valley and the delta of the 

 Mahanadi and the greater portion 

 of the Brahmani tributary. It 

 contains the whole of the coast of 

 the prov. in the division of Cut- 

 tack between Madras on the S. and 

 Bengal on the N. 



Oristano. City oi Italy, in 

 Sardinia. Situated almost in the 

 middle of the wide sweep of the 

 Gulf of Oristano, on the W. coast, 

 it has rly. and steamer connexion 

 with the other chief towns of the 

 island, has important potteries, 

 and trades in wheat, wine, and fish. 

 Parts of the medieval fortifications 

 are still standing. Pop. 7,100. 



Oristano, GULF or. Arm of the 

 Mediterranean Sea. It U almost in 

 the middle of the W. coast of Sar- 

 dinia, 10m. long and 5 m. wide, and 

 receive* the Oristano river, which 

 has a counte of 80 m. It form* 

 a safe harbour for Oristano City. 



Orizaba. City of Mexico, in tho 

 state of Vera Cruz. It is 70 m. 

 S.W. of Vera Cruz, on the rly t., 

 Mexico. Situated 

 in a fertile vallrv. 

 more than 4.i" 

 alt., it is a centre 

 of the sugar trade, 

 and has manu- 

 factures of textiles 

 and tobacco, 

 breweries, and rly. 

 workshops. Pop. 

 35,700. 



Orizaba, Pico 

 DE. Highest peak 

 in Mexico. Known 

 to the Aztecs as 

 Citlaltepetl (star 

 mountain), it is 

 situated 25- m. N. 

 of the city of 

 Orizaba, and rises to a height of 

 18,200 ft. An extinct volcano, its 

 last noteworthy eruption occurred 

 in 1566. In 1848 it was ascended 

 for the first time. 



. Orkhon Inscriptions. Ancient 

 stone records S. of Lake Baikal in 

 the Orkhon valley, N.W. Mon- 

 golia. Discovered in 1889, the 

 principal monument is four-sided, 

 and bears tribal records in Chinese 

 and old Turkic, incised in A.D. 733 

 in an alphabet derived from an 

 Aramaic source. A later inscrip- 

 tion, dated 805, was made under 

 Uigur direction. These and others 

 prove that the Turkic and Uiguric 

 peoples of that time were predatory 

 mounted nomads, having no settled 

 town life, but with some cultural 

 elements absorbed from the adja- 

 cent populations. The inscriptions 

 have an important bearing on 

 Finno-Ugrian origins. Although 

 presenting some resemblances to 

 runes, they have no Scandinavian 

 relationships. See Rune. 



Orkney Islands. Group of 

 islands off the N. coast of Scotland. 

 Pentland Firth, 6 m. wide, divides 

 them from the 

 mainland. The 

 total area is 375 

 sq. m., and they 

 form a county of 

 Scotland. Islands 

 and islets num- 

 b e r altogether 

 about 90,but only 

 30 are inhabited. 

 Mainland, is the 

 North and 



Kirk wall on Pomona is the capital 

 and largest place. StromneM is 

 the only other town. With the 

 Shetland Inlands they send one 

 member to Parliament. 



The surface is mainly flat, 

 Accept on the west coast of the 

 larger inlands and in Hoy, al- 

 though there are hills in Pomona. 



Orizaba, Mexico. Main street with the cathedral, 

 looking toward the mountain 



in Pomona, are the largest of a 

 number of lakes. The chief indus- 

 tries are agriculture and fishing. 

 The former includes the raising of 

 oats and barley, and the rearing of 

 cattle, sheep, and pigs. The culti- 

 vators of the land are mainly 

 crofters. Scapa Flow (q.v.) is 

 between Pomona and Hoy. 



The Orkneys were known in 

 early times as the Orcades. In 

 the 9th century they were con- 

 quered by the Norsemen, and 

 made dependencies of Norway and 

 Denmark. In 1468, when Christian 



ORKNEY ISLAND 

 English Miles 



~ 



JfQX TH 









Orkney arms 

 Pomona, or 

 largest. Others are 

 South Ronald say, Stronsay, Hoy, 

 Flotta, Rousay, Westray, Sanday, 

 Shapinsay, Burray, and Eday. 



Orkney Islands. Map oi the island 

 group off the north coast ot Scotland 



1 of Denmark married his daughter 

 to James III of Scotland, he hand- 

 ed over the islands to Scotland as 

 security for a dowry, but this was 

 not paid, and the islands became 

 definitely Scottish. On several are 

 remains left by the Picts and 

 earlier inhabitants. Pop. 26,000. 



