ALA 



ALA 



government of Finland, fincc the year 1634, hotli as to 

 fpiritual :inJ temporal alTiiirs. The bafis of the foil feemcd 

 to Mr. Ciixc, ■who vifited it, to be granite. It is fo fertile, 

 that the inhabitants fcldom experienee any fearcity of corn ; 

 it lias alfo rich palUnes, forells of wood, and lime-ftonc 

 quarries. Tiie inhabitanti chiefly fnbfill by agriculture, 

 hunting, and iidiing ; and they traflle in butter, wooden- 

 ware, coalii and lime. The principal place is Caltelhohn. 

 This duller of iflands appears like a ridge of rocks, which 

 had been once j<,'ined to each other, and the continent, but 

 undermined and kparated by the fea. N. lat. 60° 18'. E. 

 long. 19° 40'. 



^Vi.AND is alio the name of an ifland on the Norway 

 coall, nearly v.eil of Bergen. 



Aland, a river of Germany, which runs into the Elbe, 

 Bear Schnackenburg, in the principality of Lunenburg. 



Aland'j- Bay, hes on the fouth coall of Ireland, between 

 the harbour of Waterford and Tramore bay ; eight miles 

 fouth of Waterford. 



A LANDER, in j^naent Geo^rnphy, a river of Afia 

 Minor, the fource of which is referred by Livy to Phrygia 

 Major. 



ALANDSHAGE, a cape at the foulhern extremity of 

 the iOand of Amack. 



ALANS, or Alanm, a people who, like the Huns, 

 were of Afiatic origin, but reprefented by Ammianus Mar- 

 cellinus, as " viclu mitiores et cnltu ;" more polilhed in their 

 curtoms and manners. Pliny (f-f.N. lib. iv. c. i2.)erroneonny 

 places them in Europe, beyond the mouth of the Danube : 

 but Jofephus (De Bell. Jiid. lib. vii. c. 29.) traces their 

 origin more accurately, and defcribes them as Scythians, 

 who dwelt between the river Taiiais and the lake Mxotis. 

 Ptolemy mentions two forts of Alans, the one in Europe 

 and the other in Afia. From M. de Guignes, Hill. Huns, 

 torn. ii. who has taken pains in inveftigating their origin 

 and hillory, we laarn that the name .^/;'« fignifies mountain, 

 and that thefe people derived their appellalion from the 

 mountains which they inhabited towards the fources of the 

 Jaick and near the dillrifts of Oufa,and Solemfl<oi. In pro- 

 cefs of time they migrated fouthward, to the plains that are 

 fituated to the north of Circaflia and Derbend. Abcnit 

 A. D. 73, they formed an alliance with the king of Hir- 

 cania, and entered Media ; but being prevented at this 

 time, and afterwards by Adrian, A. D. 130, from purfuing 

 their march to the fouth, they direfted their courfe weft- 

 ward, and eftablilhed themfelves on the borders of the 

 Danube. About the year 406, they advanced from the 

 banks of the Danube to the Rhine, and being joined by 

 the Vandals, and fome other nations, they traverfed Gaul, 

 and fettled at the foot of the Pyrenees. In 409 they 

 took the advantage of the revolt of thofe troops who were 

 ftationed to guard the paffage of thefe mountains, and pro- 

 ceeded into Spain, where they fettled in 411. Some of 

 them entered Lufitania, and others the province of Cartha- 

 gena : and many of them remained in Gaul, particularly in 

 Brittany and Normandy. The Goths in Spain, and the 

 Franks in Gaul, diliperfed the Alani, fo that they were at 

 length confounded with their conquerors. The Alani, ac- 

 cording to Ammianus Marcellinus, had no other houfes 

 than their waggons, which they removed to fnch places as 

 they found moil convenient for their flocks and herds, which 

 conftituted their wealth, and fupplied, with their flefh and 

 milk, the means of their fublillcnce. War was their chief 

 occupation ; and vvhilft their wives and children were left at 

 home, all who were able to bear arms renewed, from time 

 to time, and as they advanced in their progrefs, their mili- 

 tary {allies againft theiv neighbours. They deemed it dii- 



graccful to grow old and die peaciaMy with their famillrt { 

 thofc were reckoned the happitft who diid in battle, and 

 wlio had killed the greateft number of their enemies ; the 

 fcalps (if tl'.ofe whom tiny Ikw formed thecolUy trappings of 

 their lunfcs; ar.d fo devoted were thefe peo;)le to military 

 occupations, that a naked fcyiretar planted in the ground 

 was tlie only objcft of their religious v.'orfl;ip. Tliiir di- 

 vinations were performed by means of rods, chofen with 

 proper charms. 



On the banks of the Vanais, fays Mr. Gibbon, the miii- 

 tai-y power of the Huns and the Alani encountered each 

 other with equal valour, but with unequal fucccf-i. 'J'hc 

 Huns prevailed ; the king of the Alani was killed ; and the 

 remains of the vanquifhed nation were difperfed by the or- 

 dinary alternative of flight or fiiimiflion. A colony cf 

 exiles found a feeure refuge in the mountains of CaiicafL", 

 between the Euxine and tiie Cafpian, where they ftill prc- 

 ferve their name and independence. Another colony ad- 

 vanced With n-.ore intrepid courage, towards the fliores of 

 the Baltic ; afTociated themfelves with tiie iiorthoni tribes 

 of Germany, and .liared the fpoil of the Roman province* 

 of Gaul and Spain. But tlie greatcll part of the nation of 

 the Alani embraced the oflers of an honourable and advan- 

 tageous union ; and the Huns, who elleemed the va- 

 lour of their lefs fortunate enemies, proceeded with an in- 

 creafc of numbi rs and confidence, to invade the limits of 

 the Gothic empire. Ammianus xxxi. 2. M. de Giiigncx 

 Hill, des Finns, torn. ii. p. 279. Gibbon's Flilt. of the 

 Deel. and Fall of tiie Rom. Empire, vol. iv. p. 373. 



ALANI, a mountain of Seythia, on one lide of Imaus, 

 and call of the Hyperbmean mountains. 



ALANGUER, or Alesq^'kr, in Ce'j^ra;tL\, a town 

 and dillriifl of Portugal, in Eilremaduia. Tlie town is faiit 

 to have been built by the Alani, and was anciently called 

 Ahnht-r Kana, i. e. the temple of the Alans. It cortaina 

 about 2500 inhabitants, five churches, one cafa da miferi- 

 cordia, one hofpital, and three convents ; and it is the 

 chief town of the queen's cllates. 



ALANORARIUS,inour y'/nc;<«/ Ctijlnttis, a keeper or 

 manager of fpaniels, or fctting-dogs, for tlie fjiort of hunt- 

 ing, hawking, &c. The word is formed from the Gothic, 

 alcin, a greyhound. 



ALAPA, ill Gccgraphy, mountains of Aftatic RnlTia, 

 in Siberia, extending from the lake of Jaiokaia to the con- 

 fines of Baflcina, all having mines of very rich copper. 



ALAP./EV, a town of Ruifia, in the government of 

 Perm, on the river Tagil. N. lat. 58°. E. long. 61'' 14'. 



ALAPI, in Ornithology, is a fpeeies of TuRnus, in the 

 Linnsan fyllem by Gmelin, and the white-backed thrufli of 

 Latham ; its fpccific charadlers are, that the colour above 

 is olive-brown, the throat and breaft black, the abdomen 

 cinereous, and the tail wedge-fhaped and blackilh. Its leg.i 

 are yellowifli, the wings above cinereous-brown, and 

 fuperior coverts fpotted witli white : the male has 3 

 white fpot on the middle of the back ; the female has none, 

 but its chin is white, the retl of the under-pait of the body 

 and the points of the coverts of the wings mil v. Its 

 length is fix inches ; it feeds on ants ; feldoni flies for any 

 time, though ver^' agile, and is found in the thick woods 

 of Guiana. 



ALAPIA, in Ancient Geography, a town of Calo- 

 Syria, crilkd alfo Nerea. 



ALANGIUM, in Botany, a genus of the lUcandria mo- 

 nogyn'ta elafs and order : the charatlers of which are, that 

 it has from fix to ten linear petals, from 10 to 1 2 ila- 

 mina, the calyx dentatcd, in fix to ten notches, and fuperior ; 

 the fniit a fpberical berry, lllghtly eoraccoiis, fingle celled, 



aubt 



