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Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 12.djvu/346

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334
HOR — HOR
334

334 H U E H U E quarters for the Anamese fleet, and in its vicinity is a ship building yard and docks. On the landward slope of the sand-dune which lies between the sea and the lagoon at the river mouth stretches the village of Thuan, with about 1400 inhabitants, and serving as a sort of port to the capital. During the rainy season, October to January, the level of the Truong-Tien rises about 3 feet, and all the plain is laid under water. No European residents are permitted at Hue , except the members of the French legation, who have been allowed to erect consular buildings on the right bank of the river, there 1180 feet wide, directly opposite the citadel. See J. Roy. Geogr. Soc., 1849 ; M. Dutreuil de Rhins, "Notice geog. sur la riviere de Hue," in Bull. Soc. Geogr. de Paris, 1878. HUELVA, one of the eight provinces into which Andalucia has since 1833 been divided, is bounded on the N. by Badajoz, on the E. by Seville, on the S. and S.W. by the Atlantic, and on the W. by Portugal, and has an area of 4122 square miles. With the exception of its south-east angle, where the province merges into the flat waste lands known as Las Marismas of the Guadalquivir, Huelva presents throughout its entire extent an agreeably varied surface, being traversed in a south-westerly direction by the western spurs of the Sierra Morena. The principal streams are the Odiel and the Tinto, which both fall into the Atlantic by navigable rias or estuaries ; the Malagon, the Chanza, the Murtiga, which belong to the Guadiana system, and the Huelva, belonging to that of the Guadal quivir, also take their rise in this province. Iron pyrites and manganese occur in the Sierra in considerable quantities; among many important mines, which are at present inactive, may be mentioned Lagunazo, Carpto, Lapilla, San Miguel, Monterubio, Sotiel, Coronada, San Telmo, Cueva de la Mora, and Toya. Those of Rio Tinto, situated to the north-east of Valverde del Camino, and near the source of the river Tinto, are ascertained to have been known to the Phoenicians and Romans. They are at present wrought by an Anglo-German company; in 1876 the output amounted to 329,305 tons ; the number of men employed approached 5000. The mines of Tharsis and Calanas, and of Buitron and Poderpsa, are of corresponding importance. Saline and other mineral springs are also of frequent occurrence in the province. The soil possesses great fertility, and produces excellent pasturage; among the exports are included, besides corkwood and esparto, oranges, grapes, figs, oil, and wine. The only railways at present in the province are those con structed for mineral traffic between Rio Tinto mines and Huelva (52 miles), between Tharsis and Huelva (30 miles), and between Buitron and Poderosa and San Juan del Puerto at the head of the Tinto estuary (44 miles) ; but a line from Huelva to Seville is at present in course of construc tion. The towns of chief interest and importance in the province are, besides Huelva the capital, Ayamonte, Aracena, Valverde, La Palma, Niebla, and Moguer, with Palos its harbour. The population in 1877 was 210,641. HUELVA, the capital of the above province, is situated on the western shore of the triangular peninsula formed by the estuaries of the Odiel and Tinto, 53 miles west by south of Seville. Its streets are wide and well built, and among the public edifices may be mentioned two parish churches, an Academia Onubense, two hospitals, and a theatre. The town has a considerable coasting trade in the produce of the province, and there is a limited manu facture of esparto floor mattings ; others of the inhabitants find employment in the sardine, tunny, and bonito fisheries of the neighbourhood. The chief source of the growing prosperity of Huelva, however, is in connexion with the extensive exportation of ore from the Tharsis and Rio Tinto mines. The total quantity of pyrites shipped amounted in 1872 to 261,373 tons, and in 1876 had risen to 442,201 tons (value 552,506). The exportation of manganese, however, which in 1868 amounted to 41,000 tons, did not in 1876 exceed 6972 tons (value 41,813); 7178 tons of precipitate of copper were valued at 279,956. For the accommodation of the Rio Tinto mineral traffic there is a fine pier 2682 feet long, 65| feet wide, and 43| feet above the level of the river at nigh-water, at which vessels of 2000 tons can be moored and loaded with ease. In 1876 the total number of vessels entering the port was 1409, with a tonnage of 278.594; of these 512 were British, with a tonnage of 237,610. The total imports amounted to 315,856; from Great Britain, 149,939. Total ex ports 913,506; to Great Britain, 833.968. Population 13,174 (1877). Huelva is usually identified with the Onuba jEstuaria of Ptolemy, the Onoba or Onuba of Strabo, Mela, and the numismatists, de scribed in the Antonine Itinerary as situated on tbe estuary of the river Luxia, on the road from the mouth of the Anas to Augusta Emerita. There still exist vestiges of a Roman aqueduct, whi^li, however, are fast disappearing. The town is alleged to have been founded by the Phoenicians ; tlie name Welba or Wuelba is due td the Moors. HUESCA, one of the three provinces into which the old northern Spanish kingdom of Aragon was divided in 1833, is bounded on the N. by France, E. by Lerida, S. and S,W. by Saragossa, and W. and N.W. by Navarre. The total area is 7530 square miles. The surface is mountainous, especially in the north, which is occupied by the lofty offshoots of the Pyrenees, which there reach in Monte Perdido (Mont Perdu) the height of 1 1,430 feet. The chief river is the Cinca ; but the want of natural streams has in some measure been made up for by a system of irrigation. Mineral springs are numerous throughout the province. The climate varies much according to the region ; in the north cold winds from the snow-capped Pyrenees prevail, while in the south the warm summers are often unhealthy from the humidity of the atmosphere. The leading industry of Huesca is agriculture, although only a limited proportion of the soil is under cultivation. There is good summer pasturage on the mountains, where cattle, sheep, and swine are reared. The mountains are richly clothed with forests of pine, beech, oak, and fir, and the southern regions produce abundant crops of cereals, vines, mulberries, and numerous kinds of fruits and vegetables. The mineral resources include argentiferous lead, copper, iron, and cobalt, with limestone, millstone, gypsum, granite, and slate. The mining industry was formerly much more important, but the difficulties of transport caused by the absence of good roads have much hindered the development of this and other resources of the province. Huesca exports timber, cereals, wine, oil, and some cattle, and imports iron, flax, and colonial and foreign goods. The manufactures, which are unimportant, include brandy, wine, soap, linen, woollens, baize, and common crockery. The population in 1877 was 252,165. HUESCA, chief town of the above province, and the seat of a bishop, is pleasantly situated on an eminence commanding an extensive view over the surrounding fertile plain. It stands near the right bank of the Isuela, 35 miles north east of Saragossa. The town bears many traces of its antiquity. The streets in the older part are narrow and crooked, though clean, and many of the houses witness by their size and style to the former magnificence, and by their neglected and ruined aspect to the present decay of the place. The newer streets are wide, and the houses have some claims to regularity. There are several squares and plazas, in one of which rises the imposing Gothic cathedral, begun in 1400 and finished in 1515, and enriched with fine carving. In the same plaza is the old palace of the kings of Aragon, formerly given up for the use of the now closed Sertorio (the univer

sity), so named in memory of a school for the sons of native