TEN 
TENNESSEE, one of the United States, bounded north 
by Kentucky, east by North Carolina and Virginia, south 
by Georgia, Alabama territory, and Mississippi State, and 
■west by the Mississippi. Lat. 35. to 36. 30. N. long. 81. 28. 
to 91. 37. W.; 420 miles long and 102 broad, containing 
40,000 square miles. 
This state is divided by the Cumberland mountains into 
two divisions. East Tennessee and West Tennessee. 
The counties and population are exhibited in the fol¬ 
lowing table:— 
East Tennessee. —Anderson, 3,959 ; Bledsoe, 8,839 ; 
Blount, 3,259 ; Campbell, 2,668 ; Carter, 4,190; Claiborne, 
4,798; Cocke, 5,154; Granger, 6,397 ; Greene, 9,713; 
Hawkins, 7,643; Jefferson, 7,309; Knox, 10,171; Rhea, 
2,504; Roane, 5,581; Sevier, 4,595; Sullivan, 6,847; 
Washington, 7,740. — Total: Counties, 17; Population, 
101,367. 
West TV/iwmee.—Bedford, 8,242; Davidson, 15,608 ; 
Dickson, 4,516 ; Franklin, 5,730; Giles, 4,536 ; Hickman, 
2,583 ; Humphries, 1,511; Jackson, 5,401; Lincoln, 6,104 ; 
Montgomery, 8,021; Maury, 10,359; Overton, 5,643; 
Robertson, 7,270; Rutherford, 10,265; Sumner, 13,792; 
Smith, 11,649; Stuart, 4,262; Wilson, 11,952; William¬ 
son, 13,153; White, 4,028 ; Warren, 5,725.—Total: Coun¬ 
ties, 21; Population, 160,350. 
This country is marked by bold and varied features. It is 
washed by the great river Mississippi on the west; and the 
fine rivers Tennessee and Cumberland pass through it in very 
serpentine courses. The western part is undulating; some of 
it level; in the middle it is hilly; and the eastern part, 
known by the name of East Tennessee, abounds in moun¬ 
tains, many of them lofty, and presenting scenery peculiarly 
grand and picturesque. Of these mountains, the Cumber¬ 
land, or great Laurel ridge, is the most remarkable. Stone, 
Yellow, Iron, Bald, Smoky, and Unaka mountains, join 
each other, and form, in a direction nearly north-east and 
south-west, the eastern boundary of the state. North-west 
of these, and separated from each other by valleys of from 
five to fifteen miles wide, are Bay’s mountain, Copper ridge, 
Clinch mountain, Powell’s mountain, and Welling’s ridge. 
The last four terminate north by Tennessee river. They are 
all encircled by valleys, which open passages for rivers and 
roads, and which, together with the numerous cascades, 
render the views very sublime. In the Cumberland moun¬ 
tains there are caverns of great extent, with fine streams 
running through them several hundred feet. In the free¬ 
stone rocks there are also numerous excavations called coves, 
from which issue fine springs of water. 
TENNESSEE, a large and navigable river of the United 
States, in Tennessee, which rises in the mountains of Virginia 
and Carolina, traverses the eastern parts of this state in a south¬ 
west direction, then passing into the Alabama and Mississippi 
countries, forms a great bend there, crosses the western parts 
of Tennessee in a northern direction, and after flowing 60 
miles through Kentucky, joins the Ohio, 57 miles from the 
Mississippi, by an outlet 600 yards wide. 
TENNESSEE RIDGE, mountains in the state of Ten¬ 
nessee, in the United States, between the rivers Tennessee and 
Cumberland. 
TE'NNIS, s. [this play is supposed by Skinner to be so 
named from the word tenez, take it, hold it, or there it goes, 
used by the French when they drive the ball.] A play at 
which a ball is driven with a racket.—The barber’s man 
hath been seen with him, and the old ornament of his cheek 
hath already stuffed tennis balls. Shakspeare. 
To TE'NNIS, v. a. To drive as a ball. Not used 
Those four garrisons issuing forth upon the enemy, will so 
drive him from one side to another, and tennis him amongst 
them, that he. shall find no where safe to keep his feet in, nor 
hide himself. Spenser. 
TENNIS, the ruins of a large city of Lower Egypt, situ¬ 
ated on an island formed by the Lake Menzaleh, which bears 
sometimes the name of Tennis. The remains are now almost 
entirely subterranean, the columns and other monuments of 
architecture having been carried away for the ornament of 
Vol. XXIII. No. 1615. 
TEN 893 
Damietta and the neighbouring cities; 28 miles south-east of 
Damietta. Lat. 31. 2. N. long. 32. 14. E. 
TENNIS, or Tniss, a sea-port of Tlemsan, in Algiers, at 
the mouth of a river which falls into the Mediterranean, and 
has a small island at its mouth; 110 miles west of Algiers. 
Lat. 36. 33. N. long. 1. 10. E. 
TENNSTADT, a small town of Prussian Saxony ; 15 
miles north-north-west of Erfurt, and 15 east-south-east of 
Muhlhausen, It contains 3000 inhabitants, whose chief em¬ 
ployment, after agriculture, is the manufacture of flax. This 
was the native place of Ernesti, the well-known philologist. 
TENO, a river of Chili, in the district of Chauco, which 
runs east, and enters the Martaquino. 
TENOCHTITLAN, the ancient name of Mexico. 
TE'NON, s. The end of a timber cut to be fitted into 
another timber.—The tenant saw being thin, had a back to 
keep it from bending. Moxon. 
TENOS, Tine, or Istendil, an island of the Cyclades 
group, in the Grecian archipelago, between Myconi and 
Andros. The chief products are siik, wine, figs, oranges, and 
honey. The quantity of corn raised is scarcely sufficient to 
supply the wants of the inhabitants, who pay an annual tri¬ 
bute to the Porte. The island has no good harbour. St. 
Nicolo is the chief town. 
TE'NOUR, s. [tenor, Lat.] Continuity of state; con¬ 
stant mode; manner of continuity; general currency. 
Still I see the tenor of man’s woe 
Hold on the same, and from woman to begin. Milton. 
Sense contained; general course or drift. 
By the stern brow and waspish action. 
Which she did use as she was writing of it. 
It bears an angry tenor. Shakspeare , 
A sound in music. 
Water and air he for the tenor chose, 
Earth made the base, the treble flame arose. Cowley. 
TENSA, a settlement of New Granada, in the province of 
Tunja, containing 400 housekeepers and 100 Indians; 10 
leagues south-east of Tunja. 
TENSAW, the eastern outlet of the river Mobile, in Loui¬ 
siana, in the United States. It branches off six or seven miles 
below Fort Stoddart, and flows into Mobile bay five or six 
miles east of the western branch. Its channel is deeper and 
wider than that of the western branch. 
TENSAW, a small river of the United States, in Loui¬ 
siana, which flows south-south-west a few miles from the 
Missisippi, and falls into the Washita at the same point with 
the Catahoola. It communicates with the Mississippi low 
lands by the intervention of various creeks and lakes. 
TENSAW, Nine Brothers of, a channel in the United 
States, which unites the north end of Lake Chetimaches with 
the Atchafalaya. 
TENSAW, a post; township of the United States, in Wash¬ 
ington county, Alabama, near Mobile bay. 
TENSE, s. [tempus , Lat. In grammar.] Tense, in a 
strict speaking, is only a variation of the verb to signify 
time. Clarke .—Ladies, without knowing what tenses and 
participles are, speak as properly and as correctly as gentle¬ 
men. Locke. 
TENSE, adj. [tensus, Lat.] Stretched; stiff; not lax. 
—For the free passage of the sound into the ear, it is requisite 
that the tympanum be tense, and hard stretched, otherwise 
the laxness of the membrane will certainly dead and damp 
the sound. 
TENSENESS, s. Contraction ; tension -. the contrary 
to laxity. —Should the pain and tenseness of the part con¬ 
tinue, the operation must take place. Sharp. 
TENSIBLE, adj. [tensus, Lat.] Capable of being ex¬ 
tended.—Gold is the closest, and therefore the heaviest of 
metals, and is likewise the most flexible and tensible. Bacon. 
TENSILE, adj. [tensilis, Lat.] Capable of extension. 
—All bodies ductile and tensile, as metals, that will be 
drawn into wires, have the appetite of not discontinuing. 
Bacon. 
10 S TENSION, 
