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737 



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Van tion. Tiie geographical discoveries arc, perhaps, of less 

 Bremen's importance than those which were made in natural 

 Island, history, or there might be less opportunity for them, 

 Die ppe^ a £ ter tne suj^tjjs of D'Entrecasteaux, particularly to 

 r "" Y ~" the south and south-east of tl>e island. Part of the 

 years 1801 and 1802 were occupied in circumnaviga- 

 tion, and in observations on the coast. Some geogra- 

 phical errors were corrected, and the French ascertain- 

 ed, that several of what preceding navigators had sup- 

 posed adjacent islands, were only so many lofty moun- 

 tains, connected by isthmuses to the shore. But they 

 made numerous and rich collections of the products of 

 Australasia, both aquatic and terrestrial, from which 

 many genera and species, heretofore unknown, have 

 been constituted. Their interview with the natives, 

 conducted with every precaution, led to the same con- 

 clusion that we have deduced from their conduct to 

 M. Marion, that, although at one instant they prove 

 courteous and amicable to strangers, in the next their 

 innate treachery and ferocity will appear. The French, 

 had good reason to be satisfied, that none of their man- 

 bers fell victims to such a malevolent race. Yet various 

 tribes may differ in character ; and even comparing all 

 that has been experienced from the Diemenese with 

 the demeanour of many other savages, they are infinite- 

 ly to be preferred. While some approached without 

 reserve, others anxiously shunned their visitors, and re- 

 treated with loud clamours to the mountains. The 

 whole country was set in flames, as if they were con- 

 tent by that sacrifice to drive them away; and they 

 seemed to shelter themselves amidst columns of fiYe and 

 smoke. Sickness compelled the French to abandon 

 their researches on Van Diemen's Land, which were 

 resumed at various intervals in the course of the voyage. 

 Only part of their discoveries have hitherto been made 

 public ; and the death of M. Peron, in December 

 1810, interrupted the work devoted for that purpose; 

 but the remainder, we have understood, was far ad- 

 vanced a considerable time ago, and was to be com- 

 pleted by one of the literati of the expedition, suf- 

 ficiently qualified for the task. More recently, a Bri- 

 tish settlement has been established on this island, 

 which is divided into different counties ; two towns are 

 founded ; and the whole is said to be now in a flourish- 

 ing condition. See Tasman's Voyage; Novveau Voyage 

 a la Merdu Sud ; Collins' Account of Botany Bay, vol. 

 ii. ; Cook's Third Voyage, vol. i. ; Peron Voyage aux ter- 

 res Australes ; La Billardiere Voyage ; Rossel Voyage de 

 Denlrccasteaux, torn. i. p. 54, 213 ; and Memoir e sur la 

 vie, de Peron. An account of the Botany of New Hol- 

 land will be found in R. Brown's Prodromus Planta- 

 rum Novas Hollandia: et Insula: Van Diemen, London, 

 1812. The plants which that able botanist discovered 

 in this island, are likewise noticed in our article Bo- 

 tany. See also the articles Australasia, Maria's 

 Island, and Preservation Island, (c) 



DIEPPE, a sea-port town of France, in the depart- 

 ment of the Lower Seine, and the principal place of a 

 district of the same name, is situated between two rocky 

 mountains on the English Channel, at the embouchure 

 of the river Arques. The town is handsome and well 

 built, and the streets are regular, straight, and spacious, 

 particularly the high street, which is about a mile 

 long. To an English eye, however, the aspect of the 

 town is by no means agreeable, the fronts of the 

 iiouses are black, the windows frequently filled with 

 clothes hung out to dry, and the corners disfigured 

 with spiders and other vermin. The pavement is also 

 very inferior to those in English towns, the streets 

 vol. vh. part n. 



being cleaned by gutters running down the middle, 

 with cuts on each side leading to the homes. The 

 town has two suburbs, one of which, called the Paulet, 

 is inhabited principally by fishermen and sailors. The 

 principal public buildings are the parish church of St 

 James's, which is a fine edifice, and from the tower of 

 which the English coast can fee distinctly seen ; and 

 the old castle, at the western end of the town, which is 

 very badly fortified. Besides these buildings, there are 

 two parish churches ; nine religious houses, an hospi- 

 tal, and a hotel-dieu. There is a pleasant promenade 

 on the ramparts. 



The harbour, at -the east end of the town, is in the 

 form of a semicircle, has about 18 feet at high wa- 

 ter, and has two very fine moles of strong brickwork 

 about half a mile long. It contains only about 200 ves- 

 sels of not more than 400 tons burden. 



The principal manufactures of Dieppe are those of 

 thread, lace, ivory and horn toys, and barrels. I« 

 the year 1788, the lace manufacture gave employment 

 to about 4000 females and children, who were mostly 

 the wives and daughters of fishermen, and its annual 

 amount was estimated at 400,000 livres. It belongs 

 to about 50 merchants established in Dieppe, who found 

 a vent for it in the interior of the kingdom, in Spain, 

 and in the American islands. The articles in ivory and 

 bone are wrought with great skill, and sold at a very 

 reasonable price, a figure of 8 or 10 inches, well finish- 

 ed, costing only about six livres. In the manufacture 

 of barrels for the fisheries, more than 400 master coop- 

 ers are employed. 



The herring, whiting, and mackerel fisheries, are car- 

 ried on to a great extent in Dieppe. During the nine 

 years from 1781 to 1789 inclusive, about 58 vessels 

 at an average were employed in the herring fishery, 

 which produced at an average 6206 lasts of fish, worth 

 about 1,820,900 livres. During the peace of Amiens, 

 only 40,000 barrels were caught. The mackerel fish- 

 ery, which employs about 45 vessels, produces annually 

 about 280,000 livres, and the whitings, which are 

 caught in December, January, and February, are sent 

 to Paris in light carts, which travel both night and day. 

 There are regular packet boats, in time of peace, be- 

 tween Dieppe and Brighton, a passage of 66 miles, 

 which generally occupies from 10 to 24 hours. Popu- 

 lation 20,000. East Long. 1° 4' 44", and North Lat. 

 49°55' 34". High water at spring tides 10 h 30'. A 

 copious history of the trade and commerce of Dieppe 

 will be found in Peuchet's Dictionnaire de Geographic 

 Commercante. See also Herbin Slatistiqtee de la France, 

 and a Tour hi France in August 1789. (f) 



DIESIS, in Music, was originally, we are told, in- 

 tended by the Greeks, to express certain intervals lar- 

 ger than a comma, but smaller than a semitone ; yet 

 this distinction has not been adhered to by more mo- 

 dern writers : but a great number of small intervals, 

 and some larger, have received this name, and it is very 

 necessary that the musical calculator should be apprised 

 of these, which can only be done by having them ex- 

 pressed in the same notation, and placed in alphabeti- 

 cal order, as follows : 



DIESIS of Boethius, and which also has been called 

 by some, his diaschisma and his semitone minor, is the 

 half limma (or i L) = 22.925 1 695 2 + f -f- 2 m, or 23 £ 

 -f.4f-f.2m, and its common log. is .9886813,5414. 

 It is r= ^t — ^2, and its approximate ratio, found by 

 our theorem in the article Diaschisma, is -^Vr very 

 nearly. 



DIESIS of Euclid, in his enharmonic seseunlum genus. 



J">irf>|W, 



Dit-.is. 



