TOR 
43 
TOR 
TORT, s. [tortum, low Lat.] Mischief; injury; cala¬ 
mity. Obsolete. 
Then gan triumphant trumpets sound on high. 
That sent to Heaven the echoed report 
Of their new joy, and happy victory 
Against him that had been long opprest with tort, 
And fast imprisoned in sieged lort. Spenser. 
TORTHORWALD, a. parish of Scotland, in Dumfries¬ 
shire, containing about 87 square miles, 900 acres of which 
are included in Lochar Moss. 
TORTHERWALD, a village in the above parish. Popu¬ 
lation 932. 
TO'RTILE, adj. [tor til is, Lat.] Twisted; wreathed. 
TORTINGTON, a parish of England in Sussex; 3 miles 
south-west-by-west of Arundel. 
TO'RTION, s. [tortus, Lat.] Torment; pain, fiot in 
use .—All purgers have a raw spirit or wind, which is the prin¬ 
cipal cause of tort ion in the stomach and belly. Bacon. 
TO'RTIOUS, adj. Injurious; doing wrong. 
Ne ought he cared whom he endamaged 
By tortious wrong, or whom bereaved of right. Spenser. 
TO'RTIVE, adj. [tortus, Lat.] Twisted; wreathed. 
Knots by the conflux of meeting sap, 
Infect the sound pine, and divert his grain 
Tortive and errant from his course of growth. Shakspeare. 
TO'RTOISE, s. [tortue, Fr.] An animal covered with a 
hard shell: there are tortoises both of land and water. 
In his needy shop a tortoise hung, 
An alligator stuft. Shakspeare. 
A form into which the ancient soldiers used to throw their 
troops, by bending down and holding their bucklers above 
their heads so that no darts could hurt them. 
Their targets in a tortoise cast, the foes 
Secure advancing, to the turrets rose. Dr//den. 
TORTOLA, a small town of the interior of Spain, in 
New Castile, on the river Ilenares; 7 miles above Guada- 
laxara. 
TORTONA, a town of Italy, in the Sardinian states, 
the capital of a province of the same name. It is the see 
of a bishop ; 22 miles south-south-west of Pavia, and 56 east- 
south-east of Turin. Lat. 44. 53. 26. N. long. 8 . 56. 32. E. 
TORTONA, a province of the Sardinian states, formed 
of a part of the duchy of Milan, and comprising 220 square 
miles, with a population of nearly 40,000. 
TORTORICI, a small town in the island of Sicily, in the 
Val di Demona. Population 2800 ; 20 miles south-west of 
Melazzo, and 40 west-south-west of Messina. 
TORTOSA, a considerable town in the north-east of 
Spain, in the province of Catalonia, on the left bank of the 
Ebro. It is the see of a bishop, has a population of 11,000, 
and is divided into the old and new towns, both surrounded 
with walls; 93 miles south-east of Sarragossa, and 92 west- 
by-south of Barcelona. 
TORTOSA, a sea-port of Syria, formerly called Orthosia, 
supposed to be built about the fifth or sixth century; 35 
miles north of Tripoli. Lat. 34.55. N. long. 35.58. E. 
TORTOSA, Cape, a promontory of Spain, on the coast 
of Catalonia. Lat. 40. 40. N. long. 0. 47. E. 
TORTUE, a river of America, which runs into the 
Wabash. Lat. 39. 30. N. long. 87. 55. W. 
TORTUE, La, a small river of Lower Canada, which 
falls into the St. Lawrence from the south, about 4 miles 
above Montreal. 
TORTUES, a river of the United States, in Louisiana, 
which runs into the Missouri. Lat. 38. 26. N. long. 94. 
24. W. 
TORTUGA SALADA, an island in the Caribean sea, 
about 36 miles in circumference. The east end is full of 
rugged and broken rocks, which stretch themselves a little 
way out to sea. At the south-east part is an indifferent 
good road for shipping. The turtles come into the 
sandy bays to lay their eggs, and from hence the island has 
its name. There is no anchoring anywhere but in the road 
where the salt ponds are, or in the harbour. It is unin¬ 
habited, and is 95 miles east-north-east of the port of La 
Guaira. Lat. 11. 7. N. long. 64. 30. W. 
TORTUGA, an island of the North Atlantic ocean, about 
six miles from the north coast of the island of Hispaniola. 
It is about 60 miles in circumference. It is surrounded by 
rocks on the north and west side, and the bottom on the 
east is not only difficult to find, but very dangerous, through 
shoals and rocks of sand. It is fertile, and abundant in 
tobacco, palms, sandal wood, resin, China root, aloes, sugar, 
indigo, cotton, and all sorts of tropical fruits. It is scarce 
of water. It abounds in wild boars. It has only one con¬ 
venient port, the entrance into which forms two channels. 
Lat. 20. 4. N. long. 72. 44. 
TORTUGA, a small island in the North Atlantic ocean, 
near the coast of the province of Honduras. 
TORTUGA, a small island on the coast of the province 
and government of Carthagena, in the new kingdom of 
Granada, on the side of the entrance of the mouth of the 
river San Juan. 
TORTUGA, a small island in the gulf of California, lying 
in the centre, about an equal distance from the coast of Ca¬ 
lifornia and that of Mexico. 
TORTUGA, a port of Peru, in the province of Santa. 
TORTUGA, Punta de, a cape on the coast of Brazil. 
Lat. 3. S. long. 41. W. 
TORTUUAS, Dry, shoals to the westward, a little south¬ 
erly from Cape Florida, or the south point of Florida, in 
South America. They are 134 leagues from the bar of 
Pensacolo, and in lat. 24.32. N. and long. 83. 40. W. 
TORTUGAS, Point, the south point of the port of Co- 
quimbo, on the coast of Chili. The road or harbour is well 
sheltered, but will not contain above 20 or 30 vessels safely. 
Lat. 29. 37. S. 
TORTUGILLA, a small island in the Spanish Main, near 
the coast of South America. Lat. 8 .45. N. long. 76.20. W. 
TORTUGUITAS, some small islands in the gulf of Cali¬ 
fornia, situate one at the bay of Conception, and the other 
within the same. 
TORTULA, a genus of mosses, in Hedwig’s fundam. 2. 
92. comprehending some species of mnium and bryum. 
TORTUO'SITY, s. Wreath; flexure.—These the mid¬ 
wife contriveth unto a knot close unto the body of the infant, 
from whence ensueth that tortuosity, or complicated nodo¬ 
sity, called the navel. Brown. —Crookedness; depravity,.— 
He discerneth the uprightness of godliness, and the tortuosity 
of wickedness. Granger. 
TO'RTUOUS, adj. [from tortuosus, tortus, Lat.] Twist¬ 
ed ; wreathed; winding. 
So vary’d he, and of his tortuous train 
Curl’d many a wanton wreath. Milton. 
Aqueous vapours, like a dry wind, pass through so long 
and tortuous a pipe of lead. Boyle. —Mischievous. 
What tortuous planets, or malevolent 
Conspiring power? Lodge. 
TORTURA,a small sea-port of Palestine, called in Scrip¬ 
ture, Dor and Nephath. The environs are very fertile; 15 
miles south of Acre. 
TO'RTURE, s. [torture, Fr.; tortura. Lat.] Tor¬ 
ments judicially inflicted; pain by which guilt is punished, 
or confession extorted. 
Hecate 
Then led me trembling through those dire abodes, 
And taught the tortures of th’ avenging gods. Dry den. 
Pain; anguish; pang. 
Better be with the dead, 
Than on the torture of the mind to lie 
In restless extasy. Shakspeare. 
To TO'RTURE, v. a. To punish with tortures. 
Hipparchus my enfranchis’d bondman. 
He may at pleasure whip, or hang, or torture. Shakspeare. 
To 
