538 WALES. 
WALDKIRCHEN, a town of Germany, in Baden, on 
the Elz, with 2100 inhabitants. 
WALDKIRCHEN, a small town of Lower Bavaria; 14 
miles north-north-east of Passau. 
WALD-LEININGEN, a town of the Bavarian circle of 
the Rhine, in the district of Spire, with 1800 inhabitants. 
WALDMICHELBACH, a village of the west of Ger¬ 
many, in Hesse-Darmstadt; 15 miles north-north-east of 
Heidelberg. Population 1100. 
WALDMOHR, a small town of the Bavarian circle of the 
Rhine, in the Duchy of Deux Ponts. 
WALDMUNCHEN, a town of Bavaria, in the Upper 
Palatinate; 31 miles north-east of Ratisbon. Population 
1300. 
WALDNIEL, a town of Prussian Westphalia, in the 
duchy of Juliers; 2 miles east of Ruremond. Population 
1100 . . 
WALDOBOROUGH, a sea-port of Ihe United States, in 
Lincoln county, Maine. It is a considerable town; 22 miles 
east-north-east of Wiscasset, and 180 norih-east of Borton. 
WALDBR1DGE, a village of England, in Buckingham¬ 
shire, near Aylesbury. 
WALDRIDGE, a hamlet of England, county of Durham, 
south-west of Lumley castle. 
WALDR1NGFIELD, a parish of England, in Suffolk ; 
3§ miles south-by-east of Woodbridge. 
WALDRON, a parish of England, in the county of Sus¬ 
sex ; 5 miles east-south-east of Uuckfield. Population 840. 
WALDSASSEN, a town of Germany, in the Upper Pala¬ 
tinate; 69 miles north-by-east of Ratisbon. Population 1400. 
WALDSEE, a town of Germany, in Wirtemberg; 62 
miles south-south-east of Stutgard. Population 1400. 
WALDSHUT, a town of Germany, in Baden, on the 
Rhine, at the entrance into the Black Forest; 20 miles west- 
by-south of Schaff hausen. Population 1100. 
WALDSTETTEN, a towm of Germany, in Bavaria; 7 
miles south-west of Burgau. Population 1000. 
WALDSTETTEN, a village and parish of Germany, in 
Wirtemberg ; 29 miles east of Stutgard. Population 1500. 
WALDTHURN, a small town of Germany, in Bavaria, 
near the borders of Bohemia : 24 miles north-east of Amberg. 
WALDURBA, a track of hot and level country, extend¬ 
ing along the northern frontier of Abyssinia, upon the banks 
of the Tacazze. It is about 80 miles long, and 30 in its 
greatest breadth. It contains a great number of Jews, while 
the marshy districts are occupied by bands of savage Sban- 
galla. 
WALE, s. [pel, Sax., a wcb."\ A rising part in the sur¬ 
face of cloth. 
Thou art rougher far, 
And of a coarser wale, fuller of pride. Bcaum. and FI. 
WALEN, El, a town of the Sahara, in Central Africa, 
in the district of Tuat or Twat;' 115 miles west of Gadamis. 
WALES, a principality in the west of the island of Great 
Britain. It forms nearly a peninsula, being washed on the 
north and west by the Irish sea, oil the south and south¬ 
east by the Bristol channel, and limited on the east by 
the counties of Monmouth, Hereford, Salop, and Chester. It 
is situated between 51. 20. and 53. 25. of north latitude; and 
between 2. 41. and 4. 56. west longitude from Greenwich. 
The length from north to south extends from 130 to 180 
•miles ; and the breadth from 50 to 80; comprising an area 
of about 8125 square miles, equal to 5,206,900 acres of 
land ; and, according to a recent census, the number of inha¬ 
bitants amounted to 544,375, or nearly 67 persons to each 
'square mile. The principality is divided into North and 
South Wales, containing twelve counties. The division of 
North Wales, comprehending the counties of Anglesey, Caer¬ 
narvon, Denbigh, Flint, Merioneth, and Montgomery; and 
South Wales, the counties of Brecknock, Cardigan, Caermar- 
tlien, Glamorgan, Pembroke, and Radnor. 
The general aspect of Wales is bold, romantic, and moun¬ 
tainous, consisting of almost continued ranges of lofty 
mountains and impending craggs, intersected by numerous 
deep ravines, with extensive valleys, and affording endless 
views of.wild mountain scenery. The principal range of 
mountains in North Wales is that which is denominated the 
Snowdonian chain, from the circumstance of the lofty moun¬ 
tain Snowden occupying its centre. Commencing at Bard- 
sey island, in- the south-west extremity of Caernarvonshire, 
the line, varied at irregular intervals by conical peaks,extends 
in a north-easterly direction to the promontory of Penmaen- 
bach, in the bay of Conway. The intermediate parts consist 
of the loftiest mountains in Wales. For though Snowden 
stands pre-eminent, yet others ascending gradually, approxi¬ 
mate in height. The greater part of the rocks composing the 
Caernarvonshire mountains are schistose hornblende, schis¬ 
tose mica, granite, and porphyry, inclosing considerable 
blocks of quartz. The western side is very precipitous, con¬ 
sisting of hornstone, upon which are placed a number of 
basaltic columns, more or less regularly pentagonal, standing 
perpendicularly to the plane of the horizon. The columns are 
of different lengths, about four feet diameter, with transverse 
joints from six to eight feet asunder, and considerable depo¬ 
sitions of thin laminated quartz in the joints. The Ferwen 
chain occupies the eastern part of Merionethshire, and 
branches out into Denbighshire. Its length is about sixteen 
miles, and the breadth varies from five to ten. Cader Fer- 
wyn, Cader Fronwen, and the Sylattin, are the most elevated 
points. Another line diverges off into Montgomeryshire, 
and joins the Breddin chain, extending into Shropshire. The 
substance of which these mountains is composed is primitive 
schistus, that is, such as does not contain iron pyrites, or 
any remains of impressions of organised bodies, the position 
of the strata being generally nearly perpendicular to the 
plane of the horizon. Another chain, or rather a continu¬ 
ance of the same, extends in a south-west direction from 
Pennant, near the vale of Tanad, in Montgomeryshire, to the 
sea-coast near Llangyllinin in Merionethshire. In this ex¬ 
tensive ridge are conspicuous several lofty mountains, known 
under the appellation of the Arrans and the Arrenigs; the 
most eminent of which are Arran-ben-llyn, and Arran- 
fowddy ; and the extremity of the line is grandly marked by 
the triple head of the lofty Cadair Idris. Except the latter, 
the principal elevations of this chain consist of schistus and 
shale, intermixed with mica and spar, or indurated argil. 
Cadair Idris is composed of nearly similar substances to those 
of Snowden, viz., granite, granitell, porphyry, hornblende, 
felspar, and quartz. Over this immense assemblage of moun¬ 
tainous obstructions to the traveller, a communication is 
formed with the northern and southern sides of the ridge, by 
a narrow defile. The celebrated Plinlimmon proudly ele¬ 
vates his lofty crest above a range of table land, extending 
from the vicinity of Llanvair in the north-east, till they de¬ 
cline in the south-west, and end in the abrupt cliffs which 
bound part of the bay of Cardigan, near Aberystwith. 
Among particular elevations in this line, after the sovereign 
of the group, the Carno mountains stand the most pre-emi¬ 
nent. Plinlimmon comprises granite, granitell of Kirvvan, 
composed of quartz and shorl, siliceous and schistose por¬ 
phyry, intersected with numerous and expansive veins of 
pure quartz. The secondary hills chiefly consist of primitive 
schistus, accompanied with quartz. Some of the schistus is 
of a fine texture, and laminates into excellent slate ; but the 
greater part is of a coarse kind. South Wales,. though not 
equally mountainous with the northern part of the princi¬ 
pality, nor so distinguishable for its alpine heights, yet is far 
from being deficient in elevations and depressions. 
An extensive chain of mountains stretches from Bleddva 
forest, north-east of Llandrindod wells in Radnorshire; 
crosses the northern part of Brecknockshire; continues in a 
south-westerly direction through Caermarthenshire; and ter¬ 
minates in the conspicuous ridge of the Prescely, orPresceleu 
mountains, in the county of Pembroke. The most distin¬ 
guished eminences in this line are the group called the Yellow 
mountains, Cwm Rhysglog, Pen y cader, Mynydd castell, 
Newydd ’Carreg Wen, and Llanvernach. The Fothoc hills 
on the eastern side of Brecknockshire commence another 
line, principally known under the general appellation of the 
Black 
