Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB
[ocr errors]

has often been reprinted. He wrote "Field Sports," describing hawking, and “Hobbinol, or Rural Games," a mock heroic poem.

SÖMMERING, Samuel Thomas von, a German physiologist, born in Thorn, Jan. 18, 1755, died in Frankfort, March 2, 1830. He studied medicine at Göttingen, and became professor of anatomy at Cassel in 1778, and at Mentz in 1784. In 1790 he began to practise medicine at Frankfort, and returned to that city in 1820 after spending 15 years in Munich as physician to the king of Bavaria, who ennobled him. His works include Vom Baue des menschlichen Körpers (5 vols., 1791-'6; new ed., 9 vols., 1839-'44); De Corporis Humani Fabrica (6 vols., 1794-1801); and Ueber das Organ der Seele (1796), teaching that the soul has its seat in a vapor-like fluid in the cavities of the brain.

SOMERVILLE, Mary, a British physicist, born in Jedburgh, Roxburghshire, Scotland, Dec. 26, 1780, died in Naples, Italy, Nov. 29, 1872. She was the daughter of Vice Admiral Sir SOMME, a N. department of France, in PiWilliam Fairfax, and chiefly through her own cardy, bordering on the departments of Pasefforts acquired a thorough education, partic-de-Calais, Le Nord, Aisne, Oise, and Seine-Inularly in mathematics and landscape paint- férieure, and the English channel; area, 2,379 ing. In 1804 she married Samuel Greig, then sq. m.; pop. in 1872, 557,015. The surface Russian consular agent in London, where she is generally level, but occasionally diversified. went to reside. Left a widow in 1807, she It is divided into two nearly equal portions returned to Edinburgh, and in 1812 married by the river Somme, which flows through it her cousin William Somerville, M. D., who in in a W. N. W. direction. The soil is careful1816 was appointed a member of the army ly cultivated, but not naturally fertile. Cider medical board, and removed to London. Here is an important product. Cotton, linen, and she attracted attention by some experiments woollen goods, iron ware, and beet sugar are on the magnetic influence of the violet rays manufactured. It is divided into the arronin the solar spectrum, the results of which dissements of Amiens, Abbeville, Doullens, were published in the "Philosophical Transac- Montdidier, and Péronne. Capital, Amiens. tions" of 1826; and Lord Brougham suggested that she should prepare for the "Library of Useful Knowledge" a summary of the Mécanique céleste of Laplace, which proved too voluminous for its original destination, and was published under the title "Mechanism of the Heavens" (8vo, Cambridge, 1831). This work led to her election as an honorary member of the royal astronomical society, and her bust by Chantrey was placed in their hall. In 1834 she published "The Connection of the Physical Sciences" (9th ed., 1858). In 1835 she received a pension of £200, subsequently increased to £300. Soon afterward she went to Italy on account of the health of her husband, and there resided during the rest of her life, principally in Florence, Rome, and Naples. Her next work was "Physical Geogra- | phy" (2 vols., 1848; 6th ed., 1870), a history of the earth in its whole material organization, and of animal and vegetable life; and her last, “Molecular and Microscopic Science" (2 vols., 1869). She was a member of many foreign societies, and in 1869 received the Victoria medal of the royal geographical society, and in the same year the first gold medal ever awarded by the Italian geographical society. She warmly favored what are popularly known as "women's rights," and was a member of the general committee for woman suffrage in London. In her 92d year she read books in the higher mathematics four or five hours daily, solved the problems, and to the day of her death was occupied in the revision and completion of a treatise on the "Theory of Differences." During her last few years she noted down some recollections of her life, which have been published under the title "Personal Recollections, from Early Life to Old Age, of Mary Somerville," by her daughter, Martha Somerville (8vo, London, 1873).

SOMERVILLE, William, an English poet, born at Edstone, Warwickshire, in 1692, died July 19, 1742. He was educated at Winchester school and New college, Oxford, and settled on a paternal estate in Warwickshire. He lived beyond his means, and finally became intemperate. Ilis "Chase," in blank verse,

SOMŇAMBULISM (Lat. somnus, sleep, and ambulare, to walk), literally, the act of walking in sleep, but usually applied to all the movements of a person who while in a condition of sleep acts his dreams. There are three kinds of somnambulism, viz.: 1, simple, where the somnambulist is apparently in ordinary health, but rises from his bed, walks, runs, or climbs, or sometimes talks or writes, while asleep; 2, morbid, where there is a diseased condition, which admits the manifestation of the duality of the human system, the somnambulist sometimes being alternately in the natural and the morbid condition, and frequently while in the latter performing acts of which while awake he is incapable; and 3, artificial, which is treated under ANIMAL MAGNETISM. The first class of somnambulists are usually persons of nervous temperament, and the phenomena are generally induced in them either by some violent excitement, or oftener by a morbid condition of the stomach, late suppers, indigestible food, or the like. Some writers advise the placing a wet cloth before their beds, on which they may step, or waking them suddenly in some other way; but such a course is fraught with great danger, as the shock may prove fatal, or at least permanently injurious.-Morbid somnambulism is a condition concerning which we have little positive knowledge, but the phenomena of which are often very striking. shy, diffident girl of 14, for instance, of a nervous temperament, but who has exhibited no

A

SOMNAUTH

extraordinary intellectual powers, and has had but very ordinary education, becomes languid, listless, and pale; complains of pain in the side, and perhaps of an unpleasant feeling in the frontal region; after a while, falling asleep in the daytime, she will rise from her chair, and, imagining herself a preacher to a large audience, go through the preliminary exercises of a religious service, and deliver an extempore sermon, the arrangement and language of which far transcend her waking capacity; and this performance may be repeated daily or every other day. In the case we are describing, which in its general features is similar to a considerable number which have occurred in recent times, the subject recovered her health, and the phenomena ceased after two or three years. In some instances they have been followed by the death of the somnambulist.-The development of the double existence is another of the phenomena of morbid somnambulism, not less remarkable than the preceding, and equally well authenticated. The history of the celebrated seeress of Prevorst, by Dr. Kerner, will be readily recalled; and in many cases the two states are strongly marked, and the subject remains in each for some weeks, being utterly unconscious while in the one of any event which has occurred while in the other. Though resembling it in some particulars, these cases are not to be confounded with those in a state of ecstasy (see CATALEPSY), there being none of the physical insensibility or muscular rigidity. The causes and cure of this form of somnambulism are alike obscure.-See Dr. A. J. Kerner, Geschichte zweier Somnambulen (Carlsruhe, 1824), and "The Seeress of Prevorst," translated into English by Mrs. Catharine Crowe (New York, 1845); Macnish's "Philosophy of Sleep" (1830); Abercrombie "On the Intellectual Powers" (1830); Deleuze's "Critical History of Animal Magnetism" (revised ed., New York, 1846); Colquhoun's "Animal Magnetism" (1851); Reichenbach's "Animal Magnetism;" Dr. Sonderis's "Narrative of the Religious Excitement in Sweden;" and Dr. Gibson's "Year of Grace, an Account of the great Irish Revival in 1859" (1860).

SOMNAUTH, or Somnath Pattan, a walled town of British India, in the peninsula of Cattywar, in the political agency of the same name under the Bombay government, on the N. E. shore of the Arabian sea, 28 m. W. N. W. of Cape Diu, and about 200 m. N.W. of Bombay; pop. about 5,000. Somnauth is celebrated in the mythological legends of ancient Hindostan, and is now chiefly remarkable as the site of a magnificent temple dedicated to Siva, which formerly attracted many pilgrims, and was supported by the revenues of 10,000 villages. It was stormed and robbed of immense treasure by Mahmoud of Ghuzni in 1024, and its gates were carried away as a trophy. They were brought back to India in 1842 by the English, on the evacuation of Afghanistan, and deposited in the magazine at Agra.

SOMOGY (Ger. Schümegh), a county of S. W. Hungary, bordering on the counties of Zala, Veszprém, Tolna, and Baranya, and on Croatia and Slavonia; area, 2,538 sq. m.; pop. in 1870, 289,555. It is mountainous, and is drained in the south by the Drave. Lake Balaton on the northwest is partly within its limits. The products include grain, wine, tobacco, and timber. Capital, Kaposvár.

SONATA, a form of musical composition consisting of several independent movements, each of which is developed in accordance with certain accepted rules. The great body of instrumental music is based upon the sonata form. When first used, in the latter part of the 16th century, the word simply signified a composition for instruments, and conveyed no idea of any determined form. Gradually composers applied it to a composition for one or two instruments, consisting of three movements of contrasted character and time. Philipp Emmanuel Bach contributed greatly to the development of the sonata. His works of this class consisted of a first movement, allegro, a second, adagio, and a third, rondo, which was more vivacious than the others. Haydn adopted Bach's general plan, though in his 44 sonatas he developed the movements in a broader manner. Mozart and Beethoven composed some of their best works in this form; in their day it was the favorite kind of pianoforte composition. It has also been used by Von Weber, Schubert, Schumann, and other later composers. Haydn added a fourth movement, the minuetto, and this, or its equivalent the scherzo, with the three previously existing movements, constitutes the form upon which all the quartet and quintet music for stringed See SCHWARZBURG - SONinstruments and the symphony are based. SONDERSHAUSEN.

DERSHAUSEN.

SONDRIO, a N. province of Italy, in Lombardy, bounded N. W. and N. by Switzerland, N. E. by Tyrol, and S. by Brescia, Bergamo, and Como; area, 1,262 sq. m.; pop. in 1872, 111,241. It includes the valleys of the Valtellina (Val Tellina), 45 m. long, and its continuation the former county of Bormio, and the valley of Chiavenna, and forms only one district. It is surrounded by branches of the Rhætian Alps, including some of their highest summits, and the carriage roads over the Splügen, Bernina, and Stelvio passes, the last the highest of the Alpine roads, run through the province. The province abounds in picturesque localities. The principal river is the Adda. Excepting along the marshes near the lake of Como, the country is exceedingly fertile in grain and fruit, and especially in wine. The cheese is among the best in Lombardy. Iron and marble abound. The principal towns are Chiavenna, Bormio, and Sondrio, the capital, which has a population of about 5,000, and a fine cathedral. (See Valtellina.)

SONE, a river of British India, a southern tributary of the Ganges, rises in the high

|

lands of the Central Provinces, in lat. 22° 41' est excellence by Petrarch. The Italian sonN., lon. 82° 7' E., near the source of the Ner- net was introduced into Spain by the marquis budda, and falls into the Ganges 28 m. above of Santillana in the 15th century, and during Patna, after a course of upward of 450 m. the two following centuries it was regarded The general direction of its flow is northeast- there with extravagant favor. It never found erly, through Jubbulpore, Rewah, and Behar. much favor in France, and fell into ridicule in All its important tributaries come from the the 17th century through the bouts rimés, or south. In the highlands it flows through nar- blank sonnets, in which the rhyming words row valleys, but lower down they widen into were first chosen and arranged, while the suballuvial plains, which are well cultivated, and ject was to be selected and the body of the yield cotton, indigo, and sugar cane. It is sonnet to be written afterward. In Germany about 3 m. wide at its junction with the Ganges, the sonnet has been chiefly cultivated by the but the navigation is of little importance above poets of the romantic school. The earlier Daudnugur, about 60 m. from that point, where | English form of the sonnet was introduced by the river is 10 or 12 ft. deep in the rainy sea- Surrey and Wyatt in the reign of Henry VIII.; son, but at other times nearly dry. Coal is and there are numerous sonnets by Sidney, found upon the banks of its upper course, and Spenser, Shakespeare, Daniel, Drayton, Drumagates and carnelians occur. Work is now mond, and others. Milton returned to the (1876) in progress on the Sone irrigation pro- genuine Italian form, but did not always adject for supplying water to about 2,000,000 here to it. From the time of Milton for nearacres in the Patna division of Bengal, by a ly a century few sonnets were written in Engdam across the river, and other works. land. It was revived in the Italian form by Edwards, Gray, and T. Wharton, while Bowles, Charlotte Smith, and Helen Maria Williams reverted to the easier form of the old English sonnets. See "The Sonnet: its Origin, Structure, and Place in Poetry, with original Translations from the Sonnets of Dante and Petrarch," by Charles Tomlinson (London, 1874).

SONNEBERG, a town of Germany, in Saxe Meiningen, 35 m. S. E. of Meiningen; pop. in 1871, 6,764. It is the centre of an important manufacturing district, and has a fine church, a new town hall, and a new government building. Dolls and toys of wood and papier maché, china goods, cotton hose, and kid gloves are made here in great perfection. The shipments to the United States amounted in 1873-4 to $938,332 in gold. In the vicinity are marble and other quarries, and there are many breweries. An American consul is stationed here.

SONNET (It. sonetto), a poem consisting of 14 iambic decasyllabic or endecasyllabic lines, rhyming in a peculiar manner. The first 8 lines make two quatrains, and the remaining 6 two tercets. There are two rhymes in the quatrains, the 1st, 4th, 5th, and 8th lines rhyming together, and also the 2d, 3d, 6th, and 7th. This is the best arrangement, as the Italians hold, but others occur, and sometimes, even in Petrarch, the rhymes are alternate. In the tercets great liberty is allowed; the rhymes may be either two or three, and they may be arranged at the will of the poet, but never in couplets. There are but few Italian precedents for the form which the English poets prior to Milton gave to the sonnet. From the difficulty of continuing the same rhyme, they made it consist of three quatrains and a final couplet, each quatrain usually having its own two alternate and independent rhymes. The Anacreontic sonnet is composed of octo-syllabic lines. It is doubtful whether the sonnet was the invention of the Italians, or was derived by them from earlier Provençal poets. The oldest extant specimens are in Italian, by Lodovico Vernaccia (about A. D. 1200), and by Piero delle Vigne, chancellor of the emperor Frederick II., who flourished early in the 13th century; the first who gave to it the arrangement which was subsequently adopted as its legitimate form was Guittone d'Arezzo (died in 1294); and it was carried to its high

SONNINI DE MANONCOURT, Charles Nicolas Sigisbert, a French naturalist, born in Lunéville, Feb. 1, 1751, died in Paris, May 29, 1812. Being commissioned as a marine engineer, he spent several years in Cayenne and on the W. coast of Africa, afterward passed some time with Buffon, and in 1777 joined the African expedition under Baron de Tott. After visiting Egypt, Greece, and Asia Minor, he returned to France in 1780. He contributed to Buffon's Histoire naturelle 13 volumes of fishes, 1 of cetacea, and with Latreille 4 of reptiles. He lost his fortune by the revolution, and afterward edited a Bibliothèque physico-économique (1801-'12), and Nouveau dictionnaire d'histoire naturelle (24 vols. 8vo, 1803 et seq.), and published accounts of his travels.

SONOMA, a N. W. county of California, bounded S. E. by San Pablo bay and W. by the Pacific ocean, and watered by Russian, Santa Rosa, Petaluma, and Sonoma rivers; area, 1,400 sq. m.; pop. in 1870, 19,819, of whom 473 were Chinese. The N. part is mountainous, being traversed by spurs of the Coast range, which are generally well timbered. The valleys are very fertile, and Sonoma valley is celebrated for its vineyards. In the N. E. part of the county are the geysers, a collection of hot springs. Gold, silver, copper, quicksilver, and coal occur, but not generally in paying quantities. The county is traversed by the San Francisco and North Pacific railroad. The chief productions in 1870 were 618,425 bushels of wheat, 145,792 of Indian corn, 323,961 of oats, 195,456 of barley, 369,154 of potatoes, 308,496 gallons of wine, 230,394 lbs. of wool, 1,060,266 of butter, 246,900 of cheese, and

|

Count Rossi, an Italian nobleman, and in 1830 retired from the stage. She was induced by her husband's pecuniary misfortunes to resume her profession in 1849, sang for several seasons in Europe, then made a successful tour in the United States, and died while returning from a professional visit to Mexico.

SOOCHOW, or Suchau, a city of China, in the the imperial canal passes, 112 m. E. S. E. of Nanking, and 53 m. W. by N. of Shanghai; pop. variously estimated from 500,000 to 2,000,000. It consists of the town proper, surrounded by a wall 10 m. in extent, and four extensive suburbs. Silk, linen, cotton hardware, and glass are manufactured. There are many beautiful gardens in the neighborhood. It suffered severely during the Taeping rebellion, the insurgents occupying it and driving out the merchants and wealthy inhabitants. It succumbed with other cities of the delta to the imperialists in 1864, and since then has recovered much of its prosperity.

This

35,571 tons of hay. There were 10,616 horses, 1,110 mules and asses, 14,960 milch cows, 16,592 other cattle, 58,387 sheep, and 28,588 swine; 4 manufactories of carriages and wagons, 5 of cooperage, 5 of cabinet furniture, 1 of iron castings, 5, of wine, 13 of saddlery and harness, 2 of sash, doors, and blinds, 8 of tin, copper, and sheet-iron ware, 5 flour mills, 4 tanneries, 3 currying establishments, 3 brew-province of Kiangsu, on a lake through which eries, and 18 saw mills. Capital, Santa Rosa. SONORA, a N. W. state of Mexico, bounded N. by the United States, E. by Chihuahua, S. by Sinaloa, and W. by the gulf of California and Lower California; area, 81,022 sq. m.; pop. in 1869, 109,388. The eastern portion of the state is extremely mountainous, being traversed by a branch of the Sierra Madre; the western is composed mainly of extensive plains. The principal rivers are the Mayo, Yaqui, and San José, the second having a course of 450 m., and all three emptying into the gulf of California. The most important mineral productions are gold and silver, of which there were 144 mines in 1870; the coinare of the mints of Hermosillo and Álamos in 1869 amounted to $1,116,397. Copperas occurs in some places, as do also amianthus, alabaster, and jasper; and carbonate of soda and nitrate of potash are found. The climate is hot on the coast, mild in the central portions, and cool in the elevated region of the east. Much of the soil is fertile, but agriculture is chiefly confined to the southern districts watered by the Mayo and Yaqui rivers. The staple productions are wheat, maize, barley, oats, beans, sugar, cotton, and tobacco; coffee is raised, and fruits are very abundant. There are extensive forests, but little of the timber is suitable for building; copal, gum arabic, archil moss, cochineal, and many other dyes and drugs are produced. Seals, turtles, oysters (including pearl oysters), and fish of good quality are found in inexhaustible quantities. There are seven steam and a large number of other flour mills; coarse cotton fabrics are manufactured in a mill of 60 looms at San Miguel, the only factory of any kind in the state; and large quantities of cigars are made. Cattle rearing is extensively carried on, despite the depredations of the Apache and other Indians. The exports include hides, gold and silver coin and bullion, ores, hog skins, pepper and gum, flour, and cigars. In 1870 there were 105 schools, with an attendance of 3,871. The state is divided into eight districts: Ures, Hermosillo, Guaymas, Álamos, Montezuma, Zaguarita, Arispe, Altar, and Magdalena. The capital is Ures; the chief seaport, Guaymas. SONTAG, Henriette, Countess Rossi, a German singer, born in Coblentz, Jan. 3, 1806, died in Vera Cruz, Mexico, June 18, 1854. She appeared upon the stage in children's parts as early as her sixth year, at 15 made her début at Prague in Boieldieu's "John of Paris," and soon rose to a foremost place among European vocalists. In 1828 she privately married

The

SOODAN, or Soudan (Arab. Biled es-Sudan, the country of the blacks). I. A vast continental belt of territory (also called Nigritia), stretching nearly across Africa, mainly between the 6th and 15th parallels of N. latitude, from the Nile provinces of Egypt on the east to the Mandingo country and Senegambia on the west. In Waday and near Timbuctoo its northerly boundary is not far from lat. 17° N. region is occupied by a large number of native states, of which the most important are Adamawa, Baghirmi, Bambarra, Bornoo, Darfoor, Gando, Houssa, Sackatoo, and Waday, each described under its own title. The altitude of Soodan and the aspect of the surface vary greatly in the different districts. portion W. of the Niger is bounded S. by the Kong mountains, which curve northward into the highlands of Senegambia, forming the W. boundary. The region enclosed within the great bend of the Niger is of moderate elevation, and consists of a series of well watered and fertile plains, in some places densely populated. The central portion of the country extends E. from the river as far as Lake Tchad, in which centres the hydrographic system of this part of Soodan. The surface is hilly except in the vicinity of the lake, but the altitude is believed not to exceed 2,000 ft., and probably does not average more than half as much. Among the hills are numerous torrent beds filled only in the rainy season. There are swamps in the lower districts, and an abundant forest growth, but the cleared area is sufficient to render central Soodan both populous and productive. Lake Tchad, which is intersected by the 14th parallel of N. latitude and the 15th meridian of E. longitude, is bordered N. E. by the native state of Kanem, beyond which lies the Sahara, S. E. by Baghirmi, and on all other sides by Bornoo. It is about 840 ft. above the sea level, and its numerous affluents drain the vast alluvial plain surrounding

|

country are Mungo Park, Denham and Clapperton, Caillié, Lander, Barth, Vogel, Rohlfs, and Nachtigal (1869-'74). The last named entered Bornoo from the Sahara N. of Lake Tchad, and made his way thence eastward through Waday and Darfoor to the Nile, an undertaking never before accomplished. The explorations of Petherick and Schweinfurth relate to regions S. of the limits usually assigned to Soodan. II. A province of Egypt, distinguished from the preceding, of which it is but a continuation eastward, by prefixing the definite article (the Soodan). It comprises Kordofan, Nubia proper, Sennaar, Taka on the east, and some Nile districts further south; pop. estimated by Sir Samuel Baker at over 1,000,000. The soil is fertile, and would be productive under just rule, but the exactions of the govretard the development of the province. The khedive has undertaken the construction of a railway from Shendy, N. of Khartoom, the capital, down the Nile a distance of about 220 m., to a point below the second cataract. The products of the Soodan have hitherto found their way to Cairo mainly by means of caravans occupying four months on the journey. According to an official statement of such products sold in that city in 1873-4, they were valued at £1,550,600, and comprised ostrich feathers (worth £824,013), gums, ivory, calf skins, coffee, senna, wax, tamarinds, and many other articles. This statement did not include exports from the Soodan through the Red sea ports. The province has been gradually annexed by Egypt since 1821.

it, which slopes gently toward its shores. (See TOHAD, LAKE.) The principal tributary is the Shary, flowing into the lake from the south. The plain is subject to frequent inundation in the vicinity of the streams, but is fertile and thickly inhabited. In Waday, which borders it on the east, the country becomes hilly again, and so continues some distance beyond the confines of Darfoor. The Nyam-Nyam country, lying principally S. of lat. 5° 30' N. and E. of the 25th meridian, is drained by the westwardmoving river Welle, discovered by Schweinfurth, and belongs geographically to Soodan, if that stream is connected with the system of Lake Tchad. The geology of Soodan is but little understood, and the mineral wealth seems limited to iron, which appears to be widely diffused, and gold, which is found in the rivers. The climate is everywhere charac-ernment have been so excessive as greatly to terized by extreme heat and moisture. The maximum temperature is attained in the level region of central Soodan, where the annual mean is over 83° F., while the more western hilly country is remarkable for its excessive moisture and a greater range of the thermometer. The rainy season, which abounds in thunder storms and tornadoes, lasts from the middle of May or June, varying with the region, to November, when the northerly winds set in, and the weather becomes fair and dry. The natural products comprise palm oil, cocoanuts, dates, figs, and many other tropical fruits. The chief cultivated crops are maize, millet, yams, rice, wheat, beans, tobacco, cotton, indigo, and various vegetables. The fauna of Soodan embraces the larger mammalia, such as the elephant, hippopotamus, and rhinoceros; the lion, leopard, and spotted hyena, among the carnivorous animals; numerous species of antelopes; and the ostrich, on the borders of the desert. Domestic animals are extensively raised, including several breeds of horses and innumerable cattle, as well as goats, sheep, asses, and poultry. The honey made by wild bees is gathered in large quantities, and forms an important article of native traffic. The external trade of Soodan is carried on principally by means of caravans, which journey to and from Algeria and Morocco. The exports comprise attar of roses, gold dust, gum arabic, indigo, ivory, and ostrich feathers and skins, of which about £1,500,000 worth annually reaches Algeria; the imports from that country average about the same amount, mainly in cotton goods, cutlery, and weapons. Inferior iron utensils and coarse cotton cloth are the only noteworthy articles of native manufacture. The population consists chiefly of negroes, but in the west the Mandingoes predominate, and the Foolahs are the ruling people in Gando, Sackatoo, and Adamawa. In many parts of the country the Arabs are extremely influential.-Soodan has yet to be thoroughly and exhaustively explored throughout. Among the more prominent European travellers who have visited or traversed some portion of the

SOOFEES. See SUFIS.

SOOLOO, or Sulu, the general name of a picturesque chain of islands in the Indian archipelago, known also as the Sooloo archipelago, extending about 250 m. from S. W. to N. E., between Borneo and Mindanao, from lat. 4° 40' to 6° 45' N., and from lon. 119° to 122° 20' E., separating the Celebes sea on the south from the Sooloo or Mindoro sea on the north; estimated area, 1,300 sq. m.; pop. about 200,000. They lie outside the volcanic belt of the Indian archipelago. The entire number of islands is about 150, most of which are small and uninhabited. There are three large islands: Tawi, near the coast of Borneo; Basilan, close to the S. W. extremity of Mindanao; and Sooloo, about midway between them. Each is about 40 m. long and from 6 to 20 m. wide, richly clothed with tropical vegetation, and rising into peaks of considerable height, those in Sooloo being 2,000 ft. above the sea. The island of Cagayan Sooloo, 140 m. N. W. of the main chain, is sometimes included within the Sooloo archipelago, although it does not properly belong to it. Balambangan island, further west, near Maludu bay in Borneo, is noted for the two unsuccessful attempts of the British to establish themselves there. It was ceded to England in 1763, but the fortifications were destroyed by the Spaniards in 1775; it was re

« AnteriorContinuar »