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GiEy. 



GIRONDE. 



J6 



houaea arc built in the English style, without regard to their ventila- 

 tion, 8u eawntial to the health of the inhabitants, and so studiously 

 observed in all Spanish towns. 



There is a charter according to which all criminal avuses are to be 

 determined according to the i&\v% of England. Disputes between 

 debtor and creditor are referred to the judge-advocate, from whose 

 award an appeal may be made to the governor, whose decision is 

 final, unless the sum exceed SOOL, in which case a fui-ther appeal may 

 be made to the privy council at home. Every precaution is taken to 

 prevent the increase of new residents. Foreiguera are allowed per- 

 mission to remain durin? speciSed periods on giving the required 

 security. The trade of Gibraltar has much declined within the last 

 half century. Gibraltar being a free port, subject to few duties and 

 few restrictions, is a convenient entrepdt for merchandise destined 

 for the neighbouring provinces of Spain and Africa. The principal 

 articles imported into (Jreat Britain and Ireland from Gibraltar in 

 1831 were sheep's wool, tobacco, wines, silk raw and thrown, and 

 senna. The articles of foreign and colonial merchandise exported 

 from Great Britain anil Ireland to Gibraltar in 1851 included spices, 

 Bpirita, tea, tobacco, wines, and cotton-wool. The declared value of 

 British and Irish produce exported to Gibraltar in 1851 was 481,280i. 

 The average annual revenue collected in the town appears to be 

 nearly 30,0002., which is about sufficient to defray the public civil 

 expeudittu^ of the pkce. The strength of the garrison in 1847 was 

 36ST of all arms. The population of the town in 1850 was 15,823, 

 being 7752 males and 8071 females : of the whole number 3(141 were 

 aliens. 



The Say of Gibraltar, formed by the headlands of Cabrita and 

 Kuro[>a Points, i.s commodious and secure from all the more dangerous 

 wind.-t. The greatest width from east to west is five miles ; the 

 greatest length from north to south, reckoning from Rocadillo to 

 Cabrita Point, is about eight miles ; the depth in the centre is about 

 110 fathoms. The tide rises about four feet, and the variation of the 

 needle is 22° 3V. The bay supplies the garrison with abundance of 

 fiah. The shipping is protecte<l by two moles, constructed at a great 

 expense, and extending into the bay to the respective distances of 700 

 and 1100 feet. On the western side is situated the pretty town of 

 Algeziru, which the Spaniards have fortified since Gibraltar haa been 

 in the poaaemion of England. A little to the south-west of this town 

 iji an inland (Isia Verde), which adds to the general beauty of the bay. 



The Straitt of Gibraltar, anciently called the Straits of Hercules, 

 are about 12 leagues in extent from Cape Spartal to Ceuta Point on 

 the African coast, and from Capo Trafalgar to Europa Point on the 

 coast of Spain. Their width at the western extremity is about 8 

 leagues, but at the eastern extremity it does not exceed 5 leagues. 

 A strong current is constantly running from the Atlantic into the 

 Mediterranean, which renders the passage of sailing vessels bound to 

 the westward extremely precarious, and only practicable by means of 

 a brisk Levant wind. Dr. Halley was of opinion that the daily eva- 

 poration of the SleilitciTanean was sufficient to account for the con- 

 sumption of this constiint influx of water; but there are two counter 

 currents along the shores of Spain and Africa respectively, although 

 their breadth and rapidity are small compared with the principal 

 current. 



{Parliamentary Papert.) 

 , GlEN. [LoiRCT.] 



GIES-SEK, a town in the grand-duchy of Hesse, is built on the 

 banks of the Labn and Wieseck, which form a junction at this spot in 

 the centre of a beautiful country. It is 41 miles by railway to the 

 north of Frankfurt-am-Main, and has about 0000 iubabitauts. The 

 town is old and ill-built, with the exception of three or four broad 

 streets. The fortifications have been razed and their site converted 

 into promenades. It has three squares, an old castle, an arsen.il, 

 three churehcs, university buildings, an hospital, and a house of cor- 

 rection. The University of Giessen, established in 1607, has become 

 famous in recent times for its school of organic chemistry under 

 Professor Liebig, whose classes are attended by students from all 

 parts of Europe. The buildings appropriated to its use are h.iud- 

 Mime, and contain lecture-rooms, a library of 3(>,000 volumes, clinical 

 establishment, chemical laboratory, museuius of natural history, &c. 

 Connected with it are an academy for forest economy, a gallery of 

 antiques, an obstetric institute and school, a botanic ganlcn, and an 

 obsorvatoty. The number of professors and teachers in the University 

 of (iieasen is about 40; of students, between 500 and COO. Giessen 

 is the seat of government for the province of Upper Hesse. It is not 

 a place of much commercial industry ; it h:is some mauufacturos of 

 wiKillen goods, cotton, tobacco, and leather. 



GIGGLESWICK. [YoitKSlllKE.] 



GIJON. [ASTUttIA8.J 



GILEAD. [Palbtike.] 



GILFOUD. [Dowji.] 



(JILLINGHAM. [DoRSETsniRE ; Kent.] 



GILLY. [llAISAULT.] 



GILMEKTUN. [EDiNBUBoiisiirp.i:.] 

 GH.OI.O. [.Moluccas.] 

 OINGEE. [CabsaticJ 

 OIOIA. [BABt, Teiiba Di] 

 OK (J A. [Calabbia.] 



GIOVEMAZZO. [Babi, Tkrua di.] 



GIHGEH. [EoypT.] 



GIRGE'UTI, the chief town of a province of Sicily, is built on t:ie 

 slope of a hill about three miles from the coast, and about one 

 mile from the ruins of old Agrigeutum. The town is irregularly 

 built ; it is a bishop's see, and has a clerical seminary with a library 

 and cabinet of medals. The population, which is about 15,000, carry 

 on some trade in agricultural produce through the neighbouring har- 

 bour, which is frequented ouly by small vessels. The principal articles 

 of exportation are com, fruit, oil, and sulphur. The principal build- 

 ings are — the cathedral ; the public seminary; the public library and 

 museum ; and several churches and convents. [Agkiuextum.] The 

 province of Girgenti has an ai-ea of 889 square miles, and a population 

 (according to the census of 1851) of 245,974. It is divided into throe 

 districts, Girgenti, Soiacca, and Bivoua. The other towns besides 

 Girgeuti are — Hciacca, a maritimo town with 13,000 inhabitants, 

 whose chief occupation is the fishing and pickling of sardines, which 

 abound on this coast. The country around has many plantations of 

 pistachio nut3. Hot mineral springs, the ancient Thermas Selinuntiio, 

 are in this neighbourhood. Oaslronovo, inland, on a mountain, with 

 6000 inhabitants. Bivona, with 6000 inhabitants, and a royal college. 

 Petroleum is procured in the neighbourhood. Aragona, with an old 

 castle and 6500 inhabitants, is situated in a deliglitful country inter- 

 spersed with almond plantations. The mud volcano of Maccaluba 

 is in the neighbourhood. 



GIRONDE, a maritime department in the south-west of France, 

 lies between 44° 10' and 45° 34' N. lat., 0° 15' E. and 1° IS' W. long. 

 It ia bounded N. by the department of Charente-Iuferieure, E. by 

 that of Dordogne, S.E. by that of Lot-et-Garoune S. by Landes, and 

 W. by the Bay of Biscay. The form of the department is very 

 irregular. The greatest length of the department is 106 miles; its 

 greatest breadth 80 miles. The area is 3761 square miles. The 

 population in 1841 was 568,034— in 1851 it was 614,387, which gives 

 10<i'35 to the square mile, being 11-23 below the avemge for all France. 

 This is the largest department in France ; it is formed out of the 

 western part of the old province of Guienne. 



Coatl-line. — ^The coast, which runs in nearly a direct line north and 

 south for 75 miles, ia lined with sand-hills, and these are skirted on 

 the land side by the shore-lakes of Cai'cans and Cauau, and the Bay 

 of Arcachon. The lakes communicate with each other and with the 

 bay, which is shallow and studded with islets, and opens into the sea. 

 On the land side the Bay of Arcachon forms a vast shallow lagoon 

 iuclosinj several small islets. A considerable portion of this part of 

 the bay has been recently drained and converted into arable land. The 

 river Leyre runs into the south-eastern angle of the hxj. The sand- 

 hills along the coast between the Gironde and the Adorn- are in many 

 places planted with pines, from which rosin and pitch are made, the 

 chief exports besides fish from the Bay of Arcachon. The harbour is 

 at T6te-de-Buch, a fishing village near the entrance of the bay which 

 is rising into some importance since its connection by railwiiy with 

 Bordeaux, some of whose exports are shipped in the Bay of Arcachon. 

 On Cape Feret (the ancient Curianum Promoutorium), on the northeiu 

 side of the entrance, there is a lighthouse, in 44° 39' N. lat., 1° 15' 

 W. long. 



Surface, <Lc. — The general character of the surface in the interior is 

 level except towards the east, where there are some hills ; the country 

 west of the Garonne is a dead flat. The principal rivers are the 

 Garonne and the Doudogne, which unite in this department to form 

 the Gironde ; and the uorth-eiist is watered by the Isle, an affluent of 

 the Dordogne from the north bank. The feeders of the Garonne 

 which are in the department are, with the exception of the Dropt, all 

 small. In the south of the department the Leyre flows into the bay 

 of Areachon. The department is crossed by 7 imperial, 19 depart- 

 mental, and a great number of parish roads. A railroad running 

 northwaixl through Angoulome and Poitiers to the Paris-Nantes line 

 at Tours connects Bordeaux with Paris. There is also the railroad to 

 Tete-de-Buch. A line is projected to connect Bordeaux with Cette, 

 which is to run up the valley of the Garonne to Toulouse ; and 

 another railway is to run from the Tete-de-Buch line to Bayonne. 



The climate is temperate, and, except in the Landes, generally 

 healthy ; the sea-breezes and the frequent rains temper the heat, 

 which would otherwise be excessive. The Landes, or sandy heaths, 

 of which only a small part has been brought into cultivation, occupy 

 ncai-ly half of the department, extending from the seji to the valley 

 of the Garonne. The sands of the downs along the seashore, driven 

 inland by the winds, gradually overspread a considerable tract of 

 country, encroaching yearly from 70 to SO feet along the whole extent 

 of the coast. The increasing devastation has however been checked 

 by planting pines, broom, and other shrubs, by means of which the 

 sand has in most parts become fixed. Between the Garonne and the 

 Dordogne, and in that part of the department which ia to the north 

 of the latter river, the soil is chiefly calcareous ; it is mingled with 

 considerable districts of sandy and some of gravelly soil, and with 

 rich loamy tracts. 



Prodaclt, d-c. — The surface of the department measures 2,406,972 

 acres. Of this area 564,293 acres are arable ; 150,650 .are grass-land ; 

 343,051 are midor vine-culture ; 800,600 are barren heath and sand; 

 274,030 are covered with woods and forests ; 07,841 various cultiva- 



