TIGRIS....TIN....TOBACCO.

379

laid hold of an umbrella, and furled it full in the face of the animal, which instantly retired, and gave the company an opportunity of removing from so terrible a neighbor."

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TIGRIS, a river of Turkey, in Asia, which rises in or near Mount Ararat, and, uniting with the Euphrates, about twenty leagues from its mouth, empties into the Persian Gulph. Ancient Nineveh stood on its banks, and Babylon at no great distance from its waters. tween the Tigris and the Euphrates, near their junction, (which is at about 33° or 34° north latitude,) many suppose the garden of Eden to have been situated. Of all the streams of the east, this is the most rapid; it is named Tigris by reason of its prodigious rapidity; an arrow being so called in the Persian tongue. There are shallows in this river. Alexander with his cavalry, passed it on horseback, the water coming up to the horses' breasts....Rollin.

TIN, one of the imperfect metals, being the lightest and most fusible of all metals. It is of a greyish white, and is remarkably malleable. It unites with copper, forming the compositions known under the names of Bronze, and Bell-metal; and by immersing thin plates of iron into melted tin, they become coated, and are then termed Block-tin, which is manufactured into teacanisters, and various kitchen utensils. Tin is obtained principally from Cornwall, in England, where it is sometimes dug up in a native or pure state, though more frequently mixed with a large proportion of arsenic, sulphur, and iron. Anderson says, in his history of commerce, that tin mines have no where been found but in the British island; and that the Phenicians, or Canaanites, resorted to the coasts of Cornwall in England, for tin, probably as early as the times of Joshua. We read, in the sacred writings, that the Hebrews had tin, in Joshua's time; which in all probability, they had taken, as a prey, from the Canaanites.

TOBACCO, a plant greatly in use, which was first found among the natives of America. In the year 1534, James Cartier, a Frenchman, was commissioned

380

TOMBERONGS....TOMBUCTOO.

to explore the coasts of North America, with a view to find a place for a colony. He observed that the natives of Canada used the leaves of an herb which they preserved in pouches made of skins, and smoked in stone pipes. It being very offensive to the French, they took none of it with them on their return. Ralph Lane, at his return in 1586, carried it first into Europe; and Sir Walter Raleigh, who was a man of gaity and fashion, not only learned the use of it himself, but introduced it into the polite circles. It is related that a servant of Sir Walter, bringing a tankard of ale into his study as he was smoking his pipe and reading, was so alarmed at the appearance of smoke issuing out of his mouth, that he threw the ale into his face, and run to alarm the family, crying out that his master was on fire....Belknap.

TOMBERONGS, a species of bread-fruit, in the interior of Africa. They are small mealy berries of a yellow colour and delicious taste. These berries are much esteemed by the natives, who convert them into a sort of bread, by exposing them for some days to the sun, and afterwards pounding them gently in a wooden mortar, until the mealy part of the berry is separated from the stone. This meal is then mixed with a little water and formed into cakes; which, when dried in the sun, resemble in colour and flavor the sweetest gingerbread. The stones are afterwards put into a vessel of water, and shaken about so as to separate the meal which may still adhere to them: this communicates a sweet and agreeable taste to the water, and, with the addition of a little pounded millet, forms a pleasant gruel, which makes a common breakfast during the months of February and March....Park.

TOMBUCTO0, the capital of a kingdom of the same name in Negroland. This is a large and wealthy commercial and manufacturing city, situated south-east of the great desert of Sahara, and near the river Niger. Tombuctoo is reckoned the mart of the Mandingo gold; whence it is distributed over the northern parts of Africa, by the merchants of Tunis, Tripoli, Fez, and Morocco, all of whom resort to Tombucto. Most of

TONQUIN....TORMENTIL.

381

this gold, no doubt, afterwards finds its way into Europe. The kingdom of Tombuctoo is so powerful, that in the year 1540, the prince of that country met the emperor of Morocco with three hundred thousand men, and drove him across the desert.... Rennel.

TONQUIN, a kingdom of Asia; bounded on the north by China, and extending about three hundred and fifty miles in length, and two hundred and twenty in its greatest breadth. The soil is excellent, the climate is of a mild temperature, the country is thick set with villages, and has a great trade, which is carried on chiefly by the Chinese, English, and Dutch. The Tonquinese are of a middling stature and tawny complexion their faces are oval, their hair is black, long, lank, and coarse, and hangs down their backs. They are at great pains to dye their teeth black. They buy all their wives, and in hard times the men will sell both their wives and children, to purchase rice to maintain themselves. They are so addicted to gaming, that, when every thing is lost, they will stake their wives and children. The Christian religion was planted here in 1626, by the jesuit Baldinoti; and in 1639, there were eighty thousand converts, who had built two hundred churches at their own charge: it was utterly proscribed however, in 1722, after several dreadful persecutions, attended with the imprisonment, torture, and death of the missionaries and their disciples..... Walker.

TORMENTIL, a common plant sometimes called septfoil. This plant, and also the great bistort, or snake weed, were found by the Prussian chymist Hermbstadt to be far preferable to oak bark for tanning. One pound and an half of tormentil, or three pounds of bistort, will tan a pound of dry hide, which requires seven pounds of oak bark. Mr. Volger has discovered a method of making, by means of this vegetable, a fine black ink, which has the smell of roses. In an earthen vessel he boils seven ounces of rain water, with an ounce and an half of dried tormentil roots. When it has boiled sufficiently he pours off the liquid, and adds to it a solution of three drams of copperas, and one dram

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TORNADO....TORPEDO....TORRID ZONE.

of gum-arabic; he then stirs the whole with a stick; when it has grown cold, the ink is ready for use.... American Museum.

TORNADO, a hurricane of the whirlwind kind. The winds, in a tornado, seem to blow from every quarter, and settle upon one distinct place, with such fury, that nothing can resist their vehemence.

:

When they have all met in their central spot, the whirlwind begins with circular rapidity. The sphere every moment widens as it continues to turn, and catches every object that lies within its attraction. This is preceded by a flattering calm the air is every where hushed; and the sea is as smooth as polished glass. All along the coasts of Guinea, beginning about two degrees north of the line, and so downwards, lengthwise, for about a thousand miles, and as many broad, the ocean is unnavigable, on account of these tornados....Gold.

smith.

TORPEDO, a fish that gives to those who touch it a kind of electric shock. The body of this fish is almost circular; the skin is soft, smooth, and of a yellowish colour, marked with large annular spots; the tail taper. ing to a point. Such is that unaccountable power it possesses, that, the instant it is touched, it numbs not only the hand and arm, but sometimes also the whole body. The shock received most resembles the stroke of an electrical machine; sudden, tingling, and painful. Even if one treads upon it with the shoe on, it affects not only the leg, but the whole thigh upwards. The nerves are so affected, that the person, struck imagines all the bones of his body, and particularly those of the limb that received the blow, are driven out of joint. All this is accompanied with an universal tremor, a sickness of the stomach, a general convulsion, and a universal suspension of the faculties of the mind.... Goldsmith.

TORRID ZONE, that portion of the earth over every part of which the sun is vertical, or perpendicular, at some time of the year. It extends from twentythree degrees and twenty-eight minutes north latitude,

to twenty-three degrees and twenty-eight minutes south. This zone comprehends the East and West-Indies, the Philippine islands, the greater part of South America and Africa, and almost all Captain Cooke's discoveries, including the northern parts of New Holland. In order to prevent its being burnt up by the rays of the sun, Providence has placed in the torrid zone, the largest diameter of the South Sea, and the greatest breadth of the Atlantic Ocean; and there it has collected the greatest quantity of islands in existence. Farther, it has planted in the breadth of the continents, the greatest bodies of running water that are in the world, all issuing from mountains of ice; such as the Senegal and the Nile, which issue from the mountains of the Moon in Africa; the Amazon and Oronoko, which have their sources in the Andes. Again, it is for this reason that Providence has multiplied in the torrid zone, and in its vicinity, lofty chains of mountains covered with snow, and that it directs thither the winds of the north pole and of the south pole, of which the trade winds always partake....St. Pierre.

TRAFALGAR, a Cape of Spain, at the enterance of the Straits of Gibraltar. It was off this Cape the mèmorable battle was fought, October 21, 1805, between the British fleet, commanded by Lord Nelson, and the combined fleets of France and Spain, under the command of Admirals Villeneuve and Gravina; when Lord Nelson fell in the arms of victory. The fortune of the day being nearly decided, his lordship was standing on the quarter deck of his ship, moving the stump of his right arm up and down with great rapidity, as was his custom when much pleased. Captain Hardie, standing near him, and perceiving his danger, exclaimed, change your position, my lord! I see a rascal taking aim at you" the same instant Nelson received the wound that in a few hours terminated his earthly existence. Lord Nelson, on receiving his wound, was immediately sensible it was mortal; and said with a smile to Captain Hardie, "They have done it for me at last." On being told, a few minutes before he expired, that twelve of the enemy's ships had certainly struck, he said, "What, only twelve! there should at least have