﻿MONISTROL. 



UONMODTHSHIRE. 



dvil goTcrniDrut, mideut at Urpi, and two military goTennnanta, at 

 Ulis^autai and Kobdo. All their prince* aro obliged to pay a 6xed 

 tribute a« a token of th<-ir dependrncT, but it ia imall, and they 

 recaiTa ten timca it* amount back in prvMuta, given to them aa a 

 ramnneration for Uieir wrricea and fidelity. A few receive even a 

 fixed aalary. Some of their prince* alio are aln-aya married to a 

 luiiteee* of the imperial blood, and thus are more closely attached to 

 th* iatrresta of the emperor. By these means the court of Peking 

 keap* the unruly and warlike temper of this nation in subjection, in 

 which it is powerfully supported by the indelible hatred which the 

 Mongols bear to the Chinese. 



According to a rough estimate, it is thought that this nation, after 

 baTing lived in peace for more than a cent iiry, can bring to the field 

 SOO.OOO warriors ; and, as esch male is a warrior, it is presumed that 

 the whole population does not much exceed two uiillious. 



The Mongols hava been f ometimes strangely coufounded with the 

 Tartars, sn<l Mongolia is called Tartary on many old maps. No tvro 

 nations could physicully be more distinct, though both are ad>licted 

 to the same nomadic njode of life. The Tartars belong to the Turki 

 race, from «bom the European Turks are descended. I'enonally they 

 are n noble and intrepid race (though animated by fierce passions and 

 addietrd to plunder and robbery), obaervant of the duties of hospi- 

 tality, and all believers in Mohammed. They are all distinguished by 

 the same striking features of the finely-formed and light-coloured 

 Cauok-ian family to which they belong. The Mongols, on the other 

 hand, are characterised by a short stature, dark yellow colour, flat 

 nose, strong cheekbones, large and prominent ears, and by the almost 

 complete absence of beard. The Mongol race, which is far more 

 numerotu than the Tartar, is dispersed over almoet all the eastern 

 countries of Asia ; but it is to the restless hordes of middle Asia, and 

 to the Buriates, Bashkir*, Kalmucks, and other roving tribes that the 

 name of Mongols is chiefly restricted. Addicted to the same nomadiu 

 manner of life, and eqtially fond of horse and cattle breeding with the 

 Tartars, they wander in quest of pasturage over their boundless plains, 

 carrying with them their whole stock of property, and even their 

 houses, which sre placed upon wheels and drawn by oxen. Thus they 

 leaTe scarcely a trnue of their former residence in the places which 

 they abandon. Contending for temporary pasture grounds, or pro- 

 pellad by urgent uecenity, those innuwerablo crowds of Mongols, 

 though naturally faiuthearted and cowardly, have often invaded the 

 nei|;bbouring countries. 



The diatiuctive names of Mongols and Tartars did not become 

 known until after the conquests of Oengis Khan, who honoured his 

 Mongols with the pompous title of ' Koekae Mongho^l,' or Celestial 

 People ; whereas the conquered Turki hordrs were called Tributaries, 

 or Tatars, aa the word should be more correctly written. Ucngis 

 Khan, bom in 1 163, became the chief of a petty Mongol cinn in the 

 ISth year of his age. and having first overcome the neigbbouriLg 

 hordes, he soi>n uniud the numerous wandering tribes into a conquer- 

 ing nation, and successively subdued the greatest part of Asia. Uis 

 •on Oktai followed him, under the title of Great Khan, mid wa.s 

 equally sucocssfuL In their expeditions to the west, the Mongol 

 armies advanced even to Uuugary and Silesia; so that after the 

 drswlful bottle of Wahlstadt (1241) the Mongol empire extended 

 from the northern provinces of China to the frontiers of Poland and 

 Qermany. The Mongols (Khalkbas), under their kh.in Kublai, con- 

 qoered all China, auU remained in poasession of that country for a 

 oaotory. In the couras of the thirteenth century this vast empire 

 gndoatly split into several independent sovereignties, till it was once 

 nor* united, and even considerably enlan;ed in the direction of 

 Hindustnn, l>y the famous Tamerlime, ofter whose brilliant career 

 (133&-140S) the Mongol empire slowly dissolved. In the year 1519 a 

 lineal desoendaut of Timur, Zehireddin Mohammed Uaber, founded a 

 new monarchy in Hindustan, erroneously called the Mogul empire. 

 Being himself of Turki origiu, Bahcr not only wrote his interesting 

 'Memoin' in the purest Turki dialect, but often censures in the 

 •trongaat terms the depravity, perfidy, veoal character, and cowardioe 

 of the Mongols. 



(Timkowskv; Pallas; KUproth; Staunton, Account of an EmbcMj/ 

 to China : M'Lsod, Karratire of a Voyage to the YtUow S<a ; Ritter, 

 BT^kw»d* von Aiim ; Abulghasi Bebadurkhau, Hittoria Mongolorum et 

 Tataronim ; Hullmann, Oachiehtt der MongoUn.) 



MONISTROU [Loire. IJaute.] 



MONMOUTH, the capital town of Monmouthshire, a market-town, 

 iraici|ial and parliamentary borough, and the s.at of a Poor-Law 

 Union, ts situatwl at the c^influence of the rivers Wye and Munnow, 

 b 61* «8' N. lat, 2* t2' W. long., distant 1^9 miles W. by N. from 

 iMdoo. The popoUtioo of the borough iu 18fil was 6710. The 

 borough is governed by 4 aldermen and 12 councillors, one of whom 

 t* mayor; and, in ounjuiictioii with the bnro\ighs of Newport and 

 U*k, retoms on* member to the In. penal I'urliament. The living is 

 • vioarage in the arclideaoonry of Monmouth and diocese of Llandafi'. 

 Monmouth Puarr-L«w Union contains 88 parishes and townships, with 

 an am of 92,427 acre% and a inpulation in 1851 of 27.348. 



Monmouth appear* to be the Blestium of the lioman Itineraries. 

 It was in eariy time* occupied by the Saxons, who fortified it to 

 maintain their ooaqnevia between tlie Severn and tlie Wye, and to 

 prtrent ttie inounioa* of the Welsh. The town was at one period 



surrounded by walls and by a moat on the aide* which are not 

 protected by the river : one gate still remains, but the walls have 

 been demobsbed. A remnant only is left of the castle. Monmouth 

 Castle was the favourite residence of John of Gaunt, of his son Henry 

 Bolingbroke, afterwards Henry IV. ; and the birth-plice of Henry V., 

 who was thence called Harnr of Monmouth. Charters were granted 

 to the borough by Edward VI., and by subsequent sovereigns. The 

 town is lighted with gaa and well supplied with water. The pariah 

 church of St. Mary haa a tower which dates from about the l-lth 

 century, and is surmounted with a beautiful spire. The body of the 

 church was rebuilt about the beKiimiug of the ISth century. A 

 district church has been opened, which is a restoration of a curioui 

 edifice of early Norman date. Wealeyan Methodists, ludependentL 

 and Roman Catholics have places of worship ; and there are National 

 and Infant schools, and Jones's Charity school and almshouses. The 

 Hsberdashers' Company of London are trustee* for Jones's charity. 

 The town possesses a dispensary and a savings bank. A county court 

 is held here. Markets are held on Wednesday and Saturday ; and on 

 the first Wednesday in each month there is a great market or fair 

 for cattle. Three fairs are held anniuilly. There is a considerable 

 trade in timber and iron. FishiDg is carried on in the Wye willt 

 coracles. Monmouth is much resorted to in the summer by tourists. 

 The neighbourhood of Monmouth abounds with old castles, abbey*, 

 and other memorials of the olden time, and the scenery of the Wy* 

 is here very beautiful. 



MONMOUTHSHIRE, a maritime English county, lying between 

 51° 29' and 51° 69' N. lat., '^' 39' and 8° 17' W. long., is bounded \V. 

 and N.W. by the WeUh couuties of Glamorgan and Brecknock, N. 

 and N.E. by Herefordshire, E. by Gloucestershire, and S. by the 

 Bristol Channel and the acatuary of the Severn. Its greatest leugth, 

 from a point iu the Black Mountains on the north, to the Qoldclifi" 

 Headland on the south coast is 31 miles : its greatest breadth from 

 the point where the Wye enters the couuty on the east to a little west 

 of Tredegar, is 28 miles. The area ia 57(> square miles, or 863,899 

 statute acres. In 1841 the population was 134,368; iu 1861 it 

 amounted to 157,418. 



Cuaat-Une and Surface. — The coast-line extends 22 miles along the 

 tcstuary of the Severn, and a part of the Bristol Channel, between 

 the mouths of the Wye and the Kumney. The only indentation 

 within this distance is that formed by the sestuary of the Usk. which 

 is navigable for vessels of the largest size, up to the town of Newport. 

 The coast is exposed to the high spriug-tides which rush up the 

 Severn from the Bristol Channel, rising at Newport to 40 feet, and ^it 

 Chepstow sometimes to 60 feet, the highest tidal altitude reached iu 

 Great Britain. The southern part of the county east and west of the 

 Usk, consists of two extensive levels, called respectively the Csldecot 

 and Weniloog Levels, which are protected from the wash of the ton 

 by vast sea-walls and earth-works, and are under the control of a 

 Court of Sewers. The Caldecot Level is diversified by the hill and 

 headland of GoldcU£ 



The district north of the Caldecot Level, and between tho Usk, the 

 Wye, and the Munnow, is iu parts undulating, but gtruerally present* 

 an irregular hilly surface, rising here and there into bold bluffs, and 

 diversified by wooded knolls and deep shady dells. This part of the 

 county is famous for its scenery, which is greatly set off by a back- 

 ground of misty mountains on the north and west, by numerous 

 primitive churches, half concealed by chutering ivy or tho shade of 

 aged yews, by the picturesque ruins of feudal strongholds and grand 

 ecclesiastical structures, and on the eastern boundary by the graceful 

 windings of the Munnow and the Wye. The most noi theru part of 

 the county consists of a long narrow projection, formed by ofi^oots 

 from the Black Mountains of Brecknockshire, inclosing between their 

 dark and lofty ridges two wild and secluded gWns, one of wbuch, 

 watered by the Qruny Vawr, forms the chief portion of a detached 

 part of Herefordshire, called tho Ffuddog: the more eastern glen 

 called the Vale of Ewias, and celebrated lor its romantic mountain 

 scenery, is watered by the Uonddu. 



South of the glen of the Gruny Vawr, and about 4 miles N.W. 

 from Abergavenny, is a remarkable peaked mountain 1856 feet high, 

 called the Pen-y-Val, or Sugar-Loaf. At a distance of 3 or 4 milea £. 

 from the Sugar-Loaf, is a much more wild and rugged height, called 

 Scyrryd Vawr, or Holy Mountain, 1498 feet high, on the north-eastern 

 point of which formerly stood the ancient chapel of the Archangel 

 Michael North-east of the Holy Mountain, and commanding the 

 finest soaDary of the Munnow, is Oraig HilL 



From the west side of the Vale of Criokhowell, in Breckuockshire, 

 and at a little distance from the left bank of the Usk, a high range of 

 hills enters the couuty west of Abergavenny, and after running for a few 

 miles south-south-east, sweeps gradually round to the south-west, 

 terminating on the left bank of the Rumney, a little west of New- 

 port In the northern part of the chain, is the Blawrenge Mountain, 

 1720 feet high. This ridge lies on the eastern edge of the South 

 Wales mineral field, and between it and the Rumney, on the western 

 boimdary of the county, aie several lower chains of hills, inclosing 

 voles watered by small rivers, which converge upon the Usk, near 

 Newport All this western district is dotted with iron and coal 

 works. 



Jlydrogt-aphy and CvmmMnicationt, — The principal rivers of Mon- 



