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Dingwall about a quarter of a mile broad at its mouth, but wider 

 . H . within, so as to shelter ships from all winds. Vessels 



^ .' of 100 tons can come up to the town. Many of the 



houses are built in the Spanish style, with ranges of 

 stone balcony windows, owing- to several Spanish mer- 

 chants having resided here before the time of Queen 

 Elizabeth. In the neighbourhood of Dingle, a strong 

 linen fabric is made under the name of box and trap. 

 " Towards Dingle," says Mr Wakefield, " the linen 

 manufactured is 3-4ths wide, and sells for Is. and Id. 

 per yard. Every family of all classes sow their own 

 flax. In gentlemen's houses, the women servants spin 

 it, and it is given out to be wove. Except table linen, 

 every thing is manufactured at home." This town ex- 

 ports butter and other articles of provisions. It was 

 once a borough, but lost its privileges at the union. 

 See Smith's Account of Kern/; and Wakefield's Accconnl 

 of Ireland, Statistical and Political, vol. i. p. 6Q0. (V) 

 DINGWALL. See Ross-Shire. 

 DINKELSBUHL, or Dunkelsbuhl, Tricollis, 

 Zeacollis, or Zeapolis, is an ancient town of Ger- 

 many, situated on three lulls upon the river Wernitz. 

 It was once a free and imperial city, but at the treaty 

 of Luneville it was given to Bavaria as a part of her in- 

 demnities, for what she ceded on the Western bank 

 of the Rhine. The chief altar of the church of the 

 Carmes is adorned with a very fine painting. The prin- 

 cipal manufactures are those of woollen goods, shoes, 

 Jiats, stockings, fustians, and beer. The cheese of this 

 town is much admired. The inhabitants, half of whom 

 are Lutherans and the other half Catholics, amount to 

 6500. (.;') 



DINKIRA, a country of Africa in the interior of the 

 Gold Coast. It is distant about 10 days journey from 

 Axim on the coast, and about 5 from Mina or Elmina. 

 It is bounded by Kabesterra on the east, Adom on the 

 west, and Achen on the north. The roads from Axim 

 and Mina are extremely bad, though with very little 

 labour they might be greatly improved and shortened. 

 The Dinkirese are said to have much gold, which they 

 obtain partly from their own mines, partly by pillage, 

 but chiefly from commerce, which they understand bet- 

 ter than the other negroes. When the roads are open, 

 the Dinkirese and the Achenese merchants frequent 

 the markets of Schama, Axim, Commendo, Mina, and 

 Cape Coast ; but when the roads are shut up, they go 

 to the more distant parts of the coast. The gold of this 

 district is very fine, but is often mixed with the gold 

 of Fetiche. ( ;') 



DIOCLESIAN, or Diocletian, the forty-second 

 emperor of Rome, was born A. D. 245, at Doclea or 

 Dioclea, in the country of Dalmatia; and, from the 



Elace of his nativity, he bore originally the name of 

 tiocles, which he afterwards extended, by a Roman 

 termination, into Dioclesianus. His father was at one 

 time a slave, but afterwards obtained his freedom, and 

 appears to have raised himself at length to the office of 

 a notary or scribe. Dioclesian entered the army at an 

 early age, and, while he yet held the station only of a 

 common soldier, had his ambition remarkably excited 

 by the speech of a druidess at Tongres, in France, in 

 ■whose house he chanced to lodge ; and who, in settling 

 his daily charges, was provoked, on one occasion, by Ins 

 miserly disposition, to reproach him with covetousness. 

 " As a poor soldier," he replied, " I must exercise ceco- 

 nomy ; but I shall be more generous when I am empe- 

 xor." " Do not," said the druidess, " treat these words 



as a joke ; for, assuredly, you shall become emperor, af- Diocletian, 

 ter having slain a wild boar." From that moment he - ■"«■■ J 

 conceived the most aspiring hopes, and secretly impart- 

 ed his expectations to his friend Maximian. Mindful 

 of the prediction of his hostess, he was perpetually aim- 

 ing at its accomplishment, by seizing every opportuni- 

 ty, in hunting and putting to death wild boars with his 

 own hand ; and, as he saw the imperial authority pass- 

 ing successively through the hands of Aurelian, Taci- 

 tus, Probus, Carus, and Numerian, he used to say sport- 

 ingly to his friend, " I always kill the boars, but others 

 eat the venison." He pursued, however, a surer road 

 to the attainment of his object, by studying to excel in 

 the military art ; and soon became so eminent in his 

 profession, as to be generally ranked among the num- 

 ber of excellent commanders, who were formed under 

 the discipline of Probus. He distinguished himself so 

 much in the expedition of Carus against the Persians ; 

 that he was promoted to the consulship, and, at the 

 time of Numerian's death, he held the command of the 

 imperial guards. This was a station, from which more 

 than one of his predecessors had stepped into the throne; 

 and, as soon as the death of Numerian was known, he 

 was unanimously proclaimed emperor, by the army, at 

 Chalcedon, A. D. 284. Instantly ascending the tribu- 

 nal, he solemnly assured the soldiers with an oath, that 

 he was in no respect accessory to the removal of their 

 late sovereign ; summoned the actual murderer Arrius 

 Aper into his presence ; and, charging him with the 

 atrocity of his crime, plunged his sword into his breast. 

 To this summary punishment of the assassin, with lus 

 own hand, he is supposed to have been impelled by a 

 desire to fulfil the words of the druidess ; and is said to 

 have exclaimed, upon beholding Aper fall, " Now, at 

 last, I have killed the fatal boar !" * After making his 

 public entry into Nicomedia, in the character of emperor, 

 he prepared to meet Carinus, the brother of Numerian, 

 who was advancing from Gaul, with a powerful army 

 to contest the succession. Several bloody battles were 

 fought in Illyricum, between these two competitors, in 

 one of which, in Upper Mcesia, Dioclesian was entirely 

 defeated ; but Carinus, who was detested for his de- 

 baucheries, was slain while pursuing his adversary, by 

 a tribune of his own army, whose wife he had seduced ; 

 or, as Eutropius relates, was betrayed by his soldiers, 

 and put to death by the command of Dioclesian. Being 

 now sole master of the empire, he marched to Rome, 

 for the purpose of establishing his authority ; and com- 

 pletely gained the esteem of his subjects, by the gene- 

 rosity which he displayed towards those who had sup- 

 ported Carinus, and by the purpose which he professed 

 of making the emperor Antoninus his model. He soon 

 after set out for Germany, where he gained some ad- 

 vantages over the Allemanni ; and his generals in Bri- 

 tain having likewise proved successful, in the field, he 

 assumed, upon these grounds, the surnames of Germa- 

 nicus and Britannicus. Being tlu-eatened, however, by 

 several pretenders in Gaul, and having in his own dis- 

 position a greater portion of the statesman than of the 

 warrior, he began to experience the want of a more 

 warlike assistant; and, as he had no male issue, for 

 whom he might have Avished to secure the succes- 

 sion, he chose as his associate in the empire, A. D. 286', 

 Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maximian, whose personal 

 attachment he had long and fully experienced, and who 

 united the most undaunted courage, with the most emi- 

 nent military talents. Reserving to himself the eastern 



* The word Ag»r signifies a wild boar. 



