﻿art 



MOSKLLE. 



MOSQUITO KINGDOM. 



m 



Raac7, rani up tbe rdlcy of the Moaalle to Melz, and then oroMdng 

 the departinnit to Forb«ch, where it pUMi the frontier, croeaet part 

 of the PruaaUn and BaTsriao temtoriea to Spirea, Mannheim, and 

 Majence on the Rhine. 



The climate of the department it on the whole mild ; in the north- 

 weateru and the eaatcn districta however, which are reapeotiTel^ oon- 

 Dtcted with the Ardennes Hilla and the Voagea Mountains, the air ia 

 ahwp, and the winters aometimei long and rigoroua. 



The oAhoots of the Vocgea in this department conriat of the forma- 

 tions which overlie the primitive rocks to the new red-aandatone 

 inclusive. The reat of the department is occupied by the formations 

 which intervene between the red tandstone and the chalk. Several 

 iron-mine* are worked, and the ore is smelted and made iato malleable 

 iron in 19 fomaoea and forges. Lead and copper are found, but no 

 minea are worked. Buildmg-stone, quarts, gypsum, crucible and 

 potters'-earth are quarried. Mari is found m great masses in the 

 north and north-west of the department, and is extensively used in 

 manure. Ilaster-of- Paris is also much used as a top-dressing for 

 meadow-land. Foasils abound in the strata of the hills, which are 

 gsnerally calcareous, except in the vicinity of the Yosgea ; among 

 other fossils, bones of the elephant and rhinoceros have been found. 



The industrial products consist of sheet- und bar-iron, block-tin, 

 nails, glass, unbleached- and table-linen, embroidered muslin, canvass, 

 paper, beer, tobacco, oil, starch, room-paper, beet-root sugar, tiles, 

 pipes, pottery, leather, hosiery, and common woollen and cotton stuffs. 

 Theae articles, together with timber and the products previously 

 mentioned, support an active commerce. About 90 fairs are held 

 during the yeir. 



The department contains 1,326,937 acres. Of the whole area 

 751,012 acres are under the plough; 112,677 acrea are grass-land; 

 SS1,21S acres are covered with woods and forests; 29,456 acres are 

 laid out in gardens, orchards, and plantations ; 16,2S7 acres consist 

 of heath and moor-land ; 30,227 acrea are occupied as roads, streets, 

 squares, &e. ; and 7759 acres with rivers, canals, and ponds. 



The department is divided into 4 arrondiasemeuta, which, with 

 their subdivisions and population, are as follows : — 





Cantons, 



Ooaunnaes, 



310 

 IIS 

 110 

 118 



FopoUtioBinlSSl. 1 



1. utu 



1. ThlonviUe . . . 



t. Brier 



4. BarregnrnUac* . 



9 



I 

 8 



160,473 

 91,708 

 67,481 



131,018 



TMal 



17 



87 1 



4t9,«8« 



1. Of the first arrondissement and of the whole department the 

 chief town is Mnz. Bovlay, a well-built little town, with a hand- 

 some square and a Urge richly-decorated church, is situated on the 

 ■lope and at the foot of a hill between the Nied and the Katzbacb, 

 fcsntrs of the Sarra, and has 2670 inhabitants, who manufacture 

 broadcloth, blankets, glue, ivory black, saddle-trees, hardware, foil 

 bfatdas, ootton-twist, and leather. 



2. In the second arrondissement the chief town, TkUmviUe, but- 

 rouoded with ramparts snd entered by three gates, stands 17 miles N. 

 from Mets on the Moselle (which is here crossed by a covered bridge), 

 and haa a tribunal of first instance, a college, and 5500 inhabitants in 

 the commune. The town atands on a level ground, and hns wide but 

 irregular streets, with solidly built houses, some of wliich date from 

 the 16th century. The Plsce-d'Armes, or drillingground, is a liand- 

 some square, surrounded on three sides by barracks, and on the fourth 

 by a large riding-school. Among the most remarkable buildings are 

 — the parish church, the corn-market, the theatre, the hospital, and 

 the towD-bouse, near which there is a good botanical garden. Hosiery 

 is the chief manufacture of the town ; in the environs there are 

 numerous spiritKlistilleries, iron-foundries, glass-works, tan-yards, and 

 btswsrias; there is also a good trade in com, hemp, and flax. 

 Btmomidt, very prettily situated £. of Thionville, on the Nied, has 

 • population of 2160. Sirrck, a walled town, defended by a castle, is 

 ■itiiatad at the foot and on the slope of a steep hill, on the right bank 

 of the Moselle, near the Dutch and Prussian frontiers, and has 2189 

 tahabitants, who manufacttire eaii-decologne, glue, and leather, and 

 hav* a good trade in wine, timber, hides, ribands, and hardware. 



S. In the third arrondijawment the chief town, liriry, a small place 

 «f about 2000 inhabitanta, and the seat of a tribunal of firxt iuxtanoe, 

 il aitiiatsd in the west of the department, on a small stream that runs 

 iato the Onic. lotijieii, in the north of the department near the 

 Bskian frontier, 22 miles N. from Briey, is a fortified town, built on 

 a bill, not far from the lea bank of the Chiers, and has a population 

 of 4197, who manufacture calico, table-covers, lace, pottery, beer, and 

 laatber. The upper town, which is the fortified part, is well-bnilt, 

 aad oootaios a good town-house, a handsome church, an hospital, and 

 ssreral deep wells, which supply it with water. The lower town 

 is built below the southern escarpment, and contains several old 

 monaaterial buiMing*, the dark appearance of which forms a striking 

 contrast with the bandsoms country houses that stud both banks 

 of the Chiers. 



i. lu the fourth anwa Jt Ms tnwi t tha chief town Sarirffwmina, or 



Saar-Omemtimd, b built in a pretty situation at the oonfluenoe of the 

 Saare and the B^lise, 42 miles K. nom Metz, near the Bavarian frontisr, 

 and has a tribunal of first instance, a college, a custom-house, and 

 4917 inhabitants. Tlie most notable buildings sre — the old capudiin 

 convent, which now serves as a residence for the sub-prefect, as a 

 court-house, and college lecture-rooms ; and a prison. This town la 

 the' centre of a great tobacco manufacture, which is carried on in the 

 adjacent villages ; other industrial products are earthenware, glue, sUk, 

 velvet, and plush. The trade in com, canvass, fruits, timber, ko., is 

 considerable. Sl.-Avtld, a station on the railwsy to Metz, 20 miles 

 W. from Sarreguemines, stands in a hilly country on the Ro«<-l)e, and 

 haa 3403 inhabitants. It is a pretty little town, and li s, 



tile-works, tan-yards, and manufactures of swanskin and I le. 



Bitche, n small fortified town, which commands the ui-iuu ui tiia 

 Vosges Mountains between Weissenbourg and Sarreguemines, stands 

 16 miles K from Sarreguemines, and ha< 8011 inhabitints. The town 

 is well-built in shape of a half-moon. The citadel, built on an isolated 

 rook near the centre of the town, is considered a masterpiece in the 

 art of fortificatioD. In the environs of liitche there are glass-works, the 

 products of which are in great request. Forbaeh, 12 miles N.W. from 

 Sarreguemines, 43 miles by railway E. by N. from Metz, stands in a 

 hilly and woody country, near the Prussian frontier, and haa 4288 

 inhabitants, who manufacture pipes, iron chains, soap, leather, and 

 glass. The town, which was formerly defended by a strong castle, 

 now in ruins, is ill-built, with narrow, crooked, and steep streets. It 

 has a custom-house, and is one of the principal outlets between France 

 and Germany in this part Santalbe, situated in a fine grazing 

 country, 10 miles S. by W. from Sarreguemines, at the confluence of 

 the Sarro and the Albe, has S484 inhabitants, who manufacture 

 household linen, straw-hats, tobacco, and steeL 



The department forms the see of the Bishop of Metz ; is included 

 in the junsdiction of the High Court of Metz, and within the limits of 

 the University-Academy of Nancy, and belongs to the 5th Military 

 Division, of which Metz is h^l-quarters. It retiuns 3 members to 

 the Legislative Assembly of the French empire. Besides the colleges 

 in the four chief towns of arrondissements there are at Metz a school 

 of artillery, an endowed college, a normal school, an ecclesiastical 

 seminary, aud a preparatory ecclesiastical college. The Calviuists have 

 a consistorial church at Metz^ and three meeting-houses elsewhere in 

 the department. The Jews also have a contistorial synagogue at 

 Metz, and a central rabbinical school. 



{Diclionnaire de la Pranca; Annwiin pour VAn 1853; Oficial 

 Paptrt.) 



MOSQUITO KINGDOM, Central America, an independent Indian 

 kingdom, which occupies the tract of country known as the Mo»(]uito 

 Coast, extending along the shore of the Caribbean Sea from the mouth 

 of the river San Juan de Nicaragua, 10° 56' N. lat, 83° 47' W. long., 

 to Cape Camaron, 15° 57' N. lat, 86° W. long. It is bounded N. and 

 E. by the Caribbean Sea, S. by the republic of Costa Rica, W. by tlmt 

 of Nicaragua, and N.W. by that of Honduras. The boundaries 

 between this kingdom and the neighbouring republics are not very 

 clearly defined ; but the area is roughly estimated at 20,000 square 

 miles : the population is said not to exceed 6000 or 7000. 



The northern extremity of the coast is hilly. Mount Pojros, the 

 termination of the mountain chain which stretches through Honduras, 

 at tlie boundary of the two states, is above 3000 feet high ; but from 

 thi.i pi^int the land rapidly descends to the south, and the remainder 

 of the shore is low. Along the northern part of this low line of 

 coast, from Governor's Point to the Patook River, is a series of cays, 

 from 10 to 35 miles from the shore, known as the Mosquito Cays ; 

 and along the southern pnrt of the coast are numerous other caya, 

 lying closer to the sliorq. They are dangerous to inexperienced 

 navigators, but shelter that narrow part of the sea which lies between 

 them and the mainlind from the oceanic swell. Along the low coast 

 the country is a level plain, slightly elevated above the sea, but on 

 proceeding farther inland it rises in terraces, and here the plain is 

 frequently interrupted by depressions and by elevated tracts which 

 are connected with the mountain ranges. The terraces are furrowed 

 by valleys scooped out by the currents of the rivers. The lower 

 portions of the country are savannahs, vrithout trees and frequently 

 without bushes, but where the countiy rises and forms hills it is over- 

 grown with trees. In the vicinity of the sea the soil of the savannahs 

 is light. The whole country, as far as it is known, presents a continual 

 alternation of wooded lands and prairies. 



The Mosquito coast is drained by numerous rivers. Many of them 

 are navigable to a considerable distanoe from their moutlis, but the 

 navigation ia frequently impeded by the trees which are brought down 

 during the rains. Most of the embouchures of the rivers form har)io<in<, 

 which however are only accessible to small vessels. The Rin I 

 dido, or Blewflelds River, rises in Nicaragua and falls into Bl<' 

 Lagime(12° N. lat.) after a course of considerably more tlmn i'>w 

 miles. Wanks, or Segovia, River also rises in Nicaragua, where it 

 ]«sses near the town of Matagalpa and Segovia, and falls into the sea 

 near the Bay of Cape Gracias a Dios after a course of 250 miles. It 

 is navigable for boats throughout MoiHjuito. The San Juan issues 

 from the Lake of Nicaragua, aud at its mouth is Greytown : it is 

 navigable throughout. [Nic&baoca.] The Patook and the Pinto, in 

 the northern part of the state, are both of considerable size and 



