﻿767 



MELOS. 



MENORCA. 



7ES 



improTement society, and a savings bank. The principal ntannfacture 

 is that of broadcloth and kerseymere ; rope-maWng is also carried on, 

 flat-rope being largely made. Extensive flour-mills are on the river 

 Avon. The market-day is Tuesday ; a fair is held on July 27th for 

 horses, cattle, sheep, and pigs. Petty-sessions and a county court 

 are held. 



MELOS. [MiLO.] 



MELROSE. rRoxBUROHsniBE.] 



MELS0NGEN. [Hesse-Cassel.] 



MELTON MOW'BRAY, Leicestershire, a market-town and the seat 

 of a Poor-Law Union in the parish of Melton Mowbray, is situated 

 in a valley on the river Eye, or Wreak, in S2° 46' N. lat, 0° 63' 

 W. long., distant 16 miles N.E. from Leicester, 105 miles N.N.W. 

 from London by road, and 1171 miles by the Great Northern and 

 Syston and Peterborough railways. The population of the town of 

 Melton Mowbray in 1S51 was 4391. The living is a vicarage in the 

 archdeaconry of Leicester and diocese of Peterborough. Melton 

 Mowbray Poor-Law Union contains 54 parishes and townships, with 

 an area of 93,015 acres, and a population in 1851 of 20,530. 



Melton is the seat of the well-known Melton Hunt. Stables to 

 accommodate 500 horses have been provided. Many hunting 

 seats are in the immediate neighbourhood. The town is watched, 

 lighted, and paved, and the three bridges in and near it are kept in 

 repair from trust property called 'the Town Estate.' The river is 

 navigable to the Soar navigation at Syston. A canal unites Melton 

 Mowbray with Oakham iu Rutlandshire. The church is large, and 

 has a fine tower, partly in the early English style. Independents, 

 Wesleyan and Primitive Methodists, and R««"tn CkthoUcB have places 

 of worship. Melton Orammar school was olooed in 1848. There are 

 a National school and a Roman Catholic Free school; a literary 

 ioBtitnte with a museum ; a mechanics institute ; and a savings bank. 

 The chief manufacture is that of bobbin-net lace. Fork pie* are 

 extensively made chiefly for sale in Liondon, Manchester, and Leeds. 

 Petty^essions and a county court are held. The market is on 

 Tuesday ; six fairs are held in the year. 



MELUN, a town in France, capital of the department of Seine-et- 

 Mame, is situated on the Seine, 28 miles by railway S.E. from Paris, 

 in 48° 82' 82'' N. Ut., 2" 89' 33" E. long., 229 feet aboveithe level of 

 the sea, and bad 7528 inhabitants in the commune in 1861. 



Csaar, who mentions the place by the name Melodunum, describes 

 it *s being "a town of the Senones, situated in an island of the Sequana 

 (Seine), in the same manner as Lutetia (Paris)." (' De Bello Gsllico,' 

 viL 58.) It was taken by Lnbienus in his campaign against the ParisiL 

 In the earlier times of the French monarchy Melun was a place of 

 note ; it was repeatedly taken by the Northmen and the English. It 

 was taken by the English under Henry V. after an obstinate resistance 

 in 1420 ; but iu 1 4 35 the inhabitants drove them out and •AmiUj>ti the 

 troops of Charles VII. 



The town is built on an island (the site of Melodunum) and on both 

 banks of the river, the largest quarter standing on a slope on the 

 right bank, and the three puis being united by two bridges. It is on 

 the whole a well-built town; the hsoki of die river are lined with 

 quays, and several new promenades have been formed. Th« principal 

 square, which is regulariy built ; the church of St.-Aspais, on the 

 light bcmk of the 8c^ ; the church of Notre-Dame, on the island ; 

 the former monastery of St-Pire, now the residence of the prefect ; 

 the Carmelite convent, now converted into a oourt.house, a prison, a 

 guard-house, and a theatre ; the old monastery of La-Maisoiwles-Frires, 

 which now serves for a cavalry barrack ; and the central prison for 

 five departments, are tlie chief structures in the town. The maau- 

 factoras are woollen stufis, printed calicoes, cotton twist, and leather. 

 Kelun has a tribimal of first instance, a college, and a good trade in com, 

 flour, wool, and cattle. It is a station on the Paris-Dijon railroad. 



MELVILLE ISLAND. [Nobth Polab CocuiKies.) 



MEtlEL. [KoxiosBCRO.] 



MEMPHia [EoTPT.] 



MENAI strait. [A»ol«mt.] 



MENDF. [LoztRE.] 



MENDEFI mountains. [Africa.] 



MENDKRKH, river. [Anatolia.] 



MENDll' HILL.S. [Someiisetbuibe.] 



M^NDLESHAM. tSuFFouc] 



MENDOCINO, CAPE. [Califobitia.] 



MENDOZA, one of the provinces of the Argentine Confederation, 

 South America, extends between 32° and 35° S. lat, along the eastern 

 side of the Andes, for 150 miles from north to south, with a nearly equal 

 breadth ; and is bounded S, and 8.E. by the province of Buenos 

 Ayres, N.E. by that of San Luis, N. by that of San Juan, and W. by 

 the republic of Chili The population is Toriously estimated «t from 

 36,000 to 45,000. 



The surface of the country is described generally under Aboiittiki 

 CoNFECKKATio.v. The westsm side is mountainous, containing that 

 portion of the chain of tha Andss which includes the volcanoes of 

 Aco n cagua, Maypn, Banoagna, and Peteroa. Ths Andes are here 

 MDSsad hj the most freqoeotad roads which lead over the mountain 

 passu of Uspallata, PortUlo, and Las Dainaa. Eastward the mountuns 

 decline into bills towards the Mendosi River, east of which are broad 

 plains. Within this provinea are the southern part of the Yale of 



Uspallata and the whole of that of Tunuyan. The valleys of Uspal- 

 lata and Tunuyan are barren, and nearly uninhabited. The plain 

 which stretches from the Andes eastward has a sandy soil and does 

 not produce grain, or even grass, without iirigatiou, but when 

 in'igated, it yields abundant crops of wheat, maize, barley, and lucerne ; 

 the lucerne may be cut 14 times in a year. The Desaguadero River 

 forms the northern boundary-Hue of the province, and like the 

 Mendoza affords remarkable facilities for irrigating the dry land along 

 its banks. The confluence of the Desaguadero and the Meudoza forms 

 a remai-kable chain of lakes called the Guauacache; some distance 

 south of which it forms with the San Juan and a portion of the 

 Tunuyau rivers, another great lake called the Bevedoro. The main 

 portion of Tunuyan now branches off some distance west of this lake, 

 and forms a junction many miles south with the Diamente. The 

 Tunuyau then receives another important tributary the Chadileuba, 

 and soon after expands into another vast inland lake without any 

 outlet, called, from the extreme saltness of its waters, the Urrelauquen, 

 or Bitter Lake. Rain and dew are very rare iu Mendoza, except in 

 the southern districts on the banks of the llio Diamante, which forms 

 the southern boundary-line of the province, where the rains are so 

 abundant that com may be raised without artificial irrigation. The 

 chief productions of the province are wine and brandy, wheat, mnize, 

 fruit, tallow, and soap, which are chiefly sent to the provinces farther 

 east, Buenos Ayres, San Luis, Cordova, and Santa F6 ; with dried 

 figs, raisins, peaches, apples, nuts, and olives, which go mostly to 

 Chili, whither also from 300 to 400 mules and a large quantity of 

 hides are annually sent. Silver-mines have been worked at Uspallatu, 

 and veins of copper are also known to exist, though they have not 

 hitherto been opened. Limestone, slates, gypsum, alum, mineral 

 pitch, bituminous shales, with traces of coal, have been found all 

 along this portion of the Cordillera of the Andes ; a vainety of saline 

 deposits, including common and Epsom salts, are also fuuud in the 



Srovince. Like the other provinces of the Argentine Confederation, 

 [endoza is a federal state, owning little dependence upon the central 

 government. The executive power is vested in a governor elected by 

 the junta or provincial assembly. 



Meadoza, the capital of the province and the centre of its commerce, 

 is situated at the foot of the Andes, 2S91 feet above the level of the 

 Atlantic, in a country irrigated by numerous cuts from the Rio do 

 Mendoza, in 32° 53' S. Ut, 69° 6' W. long. : population, about 10,000. 

 It is a neat and pleasant dty ; the houses, a large proportion of which 

 are built of mud (adobe), are only one story high, aud have porticoes. 

 The Alameda, or public walk, is nearly a mile, well planted aud kept, 

 and is considered to be one of the finest iu South America. The 

 climate is dry and noted for its salubrity. Around the city are 

 numerous w«l cultivated vineyards. San Martin, or VUla-Nueva, 

 W. of Mendosa, is a thriving place, with some 1500 inhabitants, 



MEN^HOULD, ST. [Mabhe.] 



MENIN. [Flahders, West.] 



MEN LOUGH. [Oalwat.] 



MENORCA, or MINORCA, is the second in size of the Balearic 

 Islands. It is situated in the Mediterranean, off the eastern coast of 

 Spain, between 39° 47' and 40° 21' N. lat, 3° 50' and 4° 23' E. long. 

 It lies 24 miles E.N.E. from Mallorca, about 130 miles S.E. 

 from Barcelona and the coast of Catalufia, 160 miles E. by S. from 

 the mouth of the Ebro, the nearest part of Valencia, and about 190 

 miles N. from the territory of Algiers in Africa. The circumference 

 is about 62 miles, and the area about 300 square miles. In form it is 

 irregular; being in length 33 miles, and in the broadest part 13 miles. 

 The poptilation is about 44,000. 



Coait, Sv.rfa.et, Jcc. — The coast is indented on every side with small 

 bays or deep creeks, and surrounded with islets, rocks, and shoals. 

 The surface of the country is a gently undulating plain, rocky and 

 barren, or partially clothed with wild olives aud com. The southern 

 shore is the most level. The soil is for the most part poor and sandy ; 

 but is much richer on the slopes of the hills thou on the low grounds. 

 The only eminence deserving the name of mountain is Monte Toro, 

 4793 feet high, iu the centre of the island. It is in the form of a cone, 

 with a flat summit surmounted by a convent which formerly belonged 

 to the Augustines, and to which pilgrimages were made by the natives 

 with bare feet Mount St. Agatha, the eminence next in importance, 

 is supposed to have been a military post in the time of the Romans, 

 and traces of a Moorish fortification are still visible on its summit. 

 Two miles south of Ciudadela is a curious grotto, called La Cava 

 Perella, full of stalactites and stalagmites ; and iu the same vicinity is 

 another cavern containing a pool or lake of salt-water. 



The mineral productions of Menorca are limestone, freestone, 

 marble of various colours, slate, of which a quarry is worked at Cape 

 Mola on the east side of the island, gypsum, used for cement, and 

 potters'-clay. There are a few lead-mines, very unproductive, and 

 iron-ore is foimd in small quantities. 



The spring of the year is generally clear, mild, and temperate ; the 

 summer is intensely hot; the autumn is the season of the annual rains, 

 which are exceedingly heavy ; the winter is often cold, tliongh snow 

 and ice are rare. On the whole the climate is less agreeable than 

 that of Mallorca ; the air is more humid ; and the summer hesAs more 

 oppressive, which arises from the comparatively Isvsl chMaater of 

 the island. 



