550 



THE STANDARD DICTIONARY OF FACTS 



toum, the Nile forms one grand main river, 

 taking a generally winding course north, as far 

 as Edab, in Dongola, where it forms what is 

 called the Great Bend. Thence flowing through 

 a country rich in architectural trophies of the 

 past, and rendered highly fertile by its annual 

 inundations, the Nile empties into the Mediter- 

 ranean by a delta of seven mouths, of which 

 that of Rosetta, the principal one, has a width 

 of 1,800 feet, with a depth of five feet in the 

 dry season. Total length, 3,500 miles from 

 Victoria Nyanxa. 



Norway is a kingdom of Europe, occupy- 

 ing the western portion of the Scandinavian 

 peninsula. The coast line is extensive, of bold 

 outline, and deeply indented by fiords and 

 fringed with almost innumerable islands, chief 

 among which are the Loffoden group. The 

 surface of the country is rugged and somewhat 

 bleak, comprising a succession of mountains and 

 valleys. The Kiolen, or Great Scandinavian 

 chain, running south from Finland for several 

 hundred miles, forms an Alpine barrier between 

 this country and Sweden; in the province of 

 Drontheim "it lapses into the Dovrefjeld, which, 

 with its^ spurs, extends nearly as far south 

 as the Naze. Highest points, Sneehcetta and 

 Skagtols-tind, each over 8,000 feet. Chief 

 rivers, the Glommen and Tana; lakes, those 

 of Miosen, Foemund, and Sperdillen. A large 

 extent of the mountain districts produces only 

 lichens, mosses, and hardy berry-yielding 

 plants; the Scotch fir, spruce and birch cover 

 extensive tracts, and constitute nearly a moiety 

 of the country. The hardier fruits flourish well. 

 Agriculture, though pursued with some vigor 

 of late years, is still unable to furnish sufficient 

 produce for home consumption. Flax and 

 hemp are raised in some parts; in others, 

 barley and oats. Next, or about equal, in im- 

 portance to the timber trade are the cod and 

 herring fisheries, which employ a very large 

 part of the population during the entire year. 

 In Finmark, the fisheries and reindeer form 

 the only wealth and source of subsistence of the 

 population. The mineral products are similar, 

 but less considerable than those of Sweden. 

 Shipbuilding is largely carried on, and the chief 

 exports include timber, fish, fish oil, minerals, 

 furs, feathers, and ice. Chief cities and towns 

 are Christiania, Bergen, and Trondhjem. 



Nyassa, a lake in the heart of Africa, which 

 Dr. Livingstone discovered in 1861, by ascend- 

 ing the River Shire". The lake is 300 miles long, 

 about twenty-six miles wide, and is 1,300 feet 

 above sea level. It is in many places over 100 

 fathoms in depth. The scenery of Nyassa is } 

 described as grand in the extreme, though much 

 of the land surrounding it is low and marshy. 



Obelisk, a column of a rectangular form, 

 diminishing towards the top, generally terminat- 

 ing in a low pyramid. The proportion of the 

 thickness to the height is nearly the same in all 

 obelisks, that is, between one-ninth and one- 

 tenth ; and the thickness at the top is never less 

 than half, nor greater than three-fourths of the 

 thickness at the bottom. Egypt abounded with 

 obelisks, which were always of a single block of 

 hard stone ; and many have been removed them-f 

 to Rome and other places. They seem to have 



been erected to record the honors or triumphs 

 of the monarchs. The two largest obelisks were 

 erected by Sesostris in Heliopolis; the height of 

 these was 1 80 feet. They were removed to Romi 

 by Augustus. A fine obelisk from Luxor was 

 erected in Paris in 1833, and the two known as 

 Cleopatra's Needles are now in London and New 

 York, ornaments of public parks. Besides those 

 of Egypt, monoliths of tnis appearance, but 

 smaller in size, have been found in the ruined 

 cities of Nineveh and NimrQd. The oboli>ks 

 which were common to Rome, Florence. etc., 

 had all been removed from Egypt during its 

 domination by the Roman emperors. 



Oberammergau, a village in Upper 

 Bavaria, celebrated for the performance, every 

 ten years, of the passion-play of Christ's cruci- 

 fixion and ascension. The performance takes 

 place every Sunday during the summer, on a 

 large wooden stage open to the sky, and it usually 

 lasts eight hours. Primarily regarded by these 

 Bavarian villagers as a religious exercise, it has 

 become in their performances a mystery play of 

 impressive beauty. Latterly, however, it has 

 taken the character of a European amusement 

 and a source of profit. 



Ohio, a river in the United States of America, 

 formed by the confluence of the Allegheny from 

 the north and the Monongahela from the south 

 at Pittsburg in Pennsylvania, where it is a navi- 

 gable stream 600 yards broad. It flows west- 

 southwest, separating the States of Virginia and 

 Kentucky on the south from Ohio, Indiana, and 

 Illinois on the north, and enters the Mississippi 

 at Cairo. Its length from Pittsburg to its junc- 

 tion with the Mississippi is 975 miles; area of 

 basin, 214,000 square miles. The width of the 

 river varies from 400 to 1,400 yards; average 

 width, about 800 yards, at its mouth 900 yards. 

 Its principal affluents are the Miami, Kentucky, 

 Wabash, Green, Cumberland, and Tennessee. 



Ontario, Lake, the most easterly of the 

 great lakes of North America, lying along the 

 northeast side of the State of New York, and 

 forming part of the boundary between the 

 United States and Canada; greatest length, 

 190 miles; greatest breadth, about fifty-five 

 miles; area, 5,400 square miles. It receives the 

 waters of Lake Erie by the Niagara, and dis- 

 charges its waters by the St. Lawrence into the 

 Atlantic, 1,000 miles distant. The Hudson, and 

 the Oswego and Erie canals, form a connection 

 through trie United States, between it and the 

 Atlantic. It is navigable throughout its whole 

 extent and at all seasons. The most important 

 places on its shores are Toronto, Hamilton, 

 Kingston, and Coburg in Canada, and Oswego 

 in the United States. 



Oporto, the second city of the kingdom 

 of Portugal, in the province of Minho, about 

 two miles from the mouth of the Douro. The 

 city is picturesquely situated on a declivity 

 above the river, and has several well-built sub- 

 urbs, with one of which, Villanova de Gaya, on 

 the opposite bank of the river, it is connected 

 by an elegant wire suspension bridge, about 750 

 feet in length. It is the seat of a bishopric, and 

 has a cathedral. The city has some manufac- 

 tures of hats, silks, linen, and pottery; but it 

 chiefly depends on its trade in wine, of which 



