352 
RON 
it is intended to express high esteem, is yet practised by the 
natives of Rona, all of whom are employed as servants by 
the tacksman of the island, which was let on lease about 
fifteen years ago for the annual rent of four pounds. A 
Description of the Western Islands of Scotland, by M. 
Martin, 1716, 8vo. Carlisle’s Topographical Dictionary of 
Scotland, 4to. 1813. The Statistical Account of Scot¬ 
land, &c. by Sir John Sinclair, Bait. vol. xix. Edin. 8vo. 
1797. 
RONA, a small island of the Hebrides, lying between 
Benbecula and North Uist; 1 mile north of the latter. Lat. 
57. 27. N. long. 7. 8. W. 
RONA, a small island of Scotland, at the north end of 
the island of Rasay. 
RONA, a mountain in Shetland, on the mainland, 
in the parish of Northmaven, which was found by 
accurate mensuration, to be 3944 feet above the level of the 
sea. 
RONABEA, an unexplained botanical term used by 
Aublit. This genus appears, as Jussieu says, very near 
P.-EDERIA. 
RONALDSIIAY, North, a small island of the Orkneys, 
about two miles long, and one broad, two leagues north of 
the isle of Sanday. The surface is low and Bat, and the 
soil sandy, with a mixture of clay in some places. The 
shores are flat and rocky, affording a considerable quantity 
of sea-weed, from which 120 tons of kelp are sometimes 
made in one year. There are some coarse slates found at 
the north-east extremity. It belongs to the parochial charge 
of Cross and Burness. It contained in 1811,384 inhabi¬ 
tants. 
RONALDSHAY, South, the most southern of the 
Orkney islands, is six miles long and three broad. The 
surface is pretty level, and the soil, though various, is in 
general tolerably fertile. It possesses several excellent har¬ 
bours, particularly Widewall bay on the west side, and St. 
Margaret’s Hope at the northern extremity. The shore is 
extremely rugged, and at three places forms lofty promon¬ 
tories, each of which are at least 250 feet perpendicular to 
the sea. At the harbour of St. Margaret’s Hope, there is a 
considerable village of the same name. South Ronaldshay 
contains about 1600 inhabitants. 
RONALDSHAY, South, and Burra y, an united 
parish in Orkney, comprehending the islands of South 
Ronaldshay, Burraa, and Swinna, besides three uninhabited 
islets, viz. Glimsholm, Horda, and Pentland Skerry. Popu¬ 
lation in 1801, 1881; in 1811, 1631. 
RON AY, an island of the Hebrides, lying between the 
mainland of Scotland and the isle of Sky, belonging to the 
parish of Portree. It is about four miles long and two 
broad, containing 2200 acres. The surface is pretty level, 
and the soil is tolerably fertile. It has a good harbour. 
Around the coast are extensive caves, some of which afford 
fine specimens of stalactites. 
RONCADOR, or Rum Key, one of the smaller Bahama 
islands. Lat. 23.26. N. long. 75. 3. W. 
RONCADOR, a small island in the Carribean sea; 35 
miles east-north-east of Old Providence. Lat. 13. 32. S. 
long. 80. 4. W. 
RONCAGLIA, a village of Italy, in the grand duchy of 
Parma, on the Po; 8 miles east of Piacenza. 
RONCESVALLES, a valley in the north-east of Spain, in 
the province of Navarre, between Pampeluna and St. Jean 
Pied du Port, surrounded by mountains, one of which, 
called Ronceval, is among the very highest of the Pyrenees. 
This valley is celebrated in romance for the defeat of Charle¬ 
magne by Loup, duke of Gascony, assisted by the Saracens. 
The account of this expedition divested of fable, seems 
to be that, on the return of Charlemagne from an ex¬ 
pedition into Spam, the rear of his army was attacked 
in the narrow passes of the mountains, and all that 
were separated from the main body were killed. Among 
these were several chiefs of note, Egbart, Anselm, 
and Roland. A pillar erected on the spot, in commemora¬ 
tion of the victory, was destroyed by the French troops in 
RON 
1794. The small town of Roncesvalles is 14 miles north- 
north-east of Pampeluna. 
RONCIGLIONE, a small town of Itlay, in the States 
of the Church, finely situated on the Tereia, near a lake 
called Vico di Ronciglione, supposed, from its shores being 
covered with pumice stone, to be the crater of an extinct 
volcano. Ronciglione is said to have been formerly more 
considerable than at present. . It is 12 miles south of Viterbo, 
and 30 north-north-west of Rome. 
RONCOFERRATO, a small town of Austrian Italy; 7 
miles east of Mantua. 
ROKCQ, a small town in the north-east of France, de¬ 
partment of the north. Population 2900; 8 miles north of 
Lisle. 
ROND A, a large town of the south of Spain, in Granada, 
on the river Guadiaro. It consists of the town and a large 
suburb called El Mercadello, on the other side of the river. 
The two contain about 20,000 inhabitants, with six churches, 
four monasteries, and two convents. Ronda has few re¬ 
markable buildings or specimens' of the fine arts; but its 
natural curiosities render it one of the most interesting places 
in the Peninsula. Few towns can be more romantically 
situated: it stands on the summit of a rocky mountain, 
divided by a deep ravine or fissure, which winds around 
the town on three sides, the river rushing along its bottom 
with great impetuosity. This ravine is full of abrupt cliffs 
and broken crags, lightly covered with earth; over the 
fissure there are two bridges at some distance from each other, 
but each of a single arch: the one is at the height of 120 
feet above the water, but the other is of the almost unpa¬ 
ralleled height of 280 feet; so that a tower as high as the 
monument in London, if placed under it, would be far from 
reaching it. This arch is 110 feet in span, and is supported, 
not by the opposite cliffs, but by solid pillars of masonry 
built from the bottom of the river. The Guadiaro, contemplat¬ 
ed from this elevation, seems dwindled to a brook. The in¬ 
habitants of Ronda are supplied with water from the river, 
and from springs at the bottom of the ravine, to which they 
descend by means of stairs. Nothing can be more striking 
than the view from below of this aerial bridge, and of part 
of the houses and spires of the town, which seem to overhang 
the head of the spectator. The public walk at Ronda is ex¬ 
tremely romantic and beautiful: the footpaths are paved with 
marble, and bordered with vine branches in trellises, which 
in hot weather afford an agreeable shade, and the parterres 
are filled with evergreens. 
The chief manufactures of Ronda are leather and silk stuffs. 
The environs are well cultivated and fertile; they produce 
corn, wine, and oil, and supply Cadiz and Seville with the 
fruits and vegetables of northern climates. The plain 
abounds in cattle, and the hills in all kinds of game. The 
Sierra de Ronda, which takes its name from this town, is a 
chain of mountains of considerable height, forming part of 
the Sierra Nevada. It extends all the way to Gibraltar, and 
is remarkable in several respects. About a league south-east 
of the town of Ronda, is the Cresta de Gallo, so called from 
a supposed resemblance to a cock’s comb. It is of such height 
that it is frequently the first land discerned at sea, on 
approaching Cadiz. It consists of two parallel ridges joined 
at the bottom. It contains mines of iron, tin, and lead, and 
attempts have been made to work them, but without success, 
so backward is this country in mechanical improvement. 
The roe-buck and fallow deer are found on the sides of the 
Sierra de Ronda, and the wild boar is common among the 
woods. Wolves are numerous, and so fierce as sometimes to 
attack horses and mules with their riders on their backs, on 
which account the peasantry, when they go from home, are 
always armed with a musket. 
The inhabitants of this mountain track appear at first to be 
a different race from those of the low country; but on a closer 
inspection, there is found no farther diversity than what arises 
from difference of situation. They have all the activity, the 
muscular form, the fresh complexion, and restless disposition 
of mountaineers; their dress also is calculated for warmth, 
but they have at the same time all the features of the lower 
and 
