French. It is seated on the river Ills, or Wills,
or the confines of the principality of Sultzhaeh, 49
m E of Nurenberg. Long. 11. 48. E. lat. 40.

27. N.

Ambert, a town of France, in the department of
Puy de Dome. There are numerous papermakers
in its vicinity, and it has a trade in coarse la-
ces, camlets, ferrets, &c. It is seated in a beauti-
ful valley, on the river Dore, 21 m. E. of Issoire.

Ambleside, a town in Westmoreland, standing on
the site of a Roman city, called Dictus, with a
market, on Wednesday. Here is a manufacture of
woolen cloth. It is seated on the Rotha, near
the head of Windermerewater, 13 m. N. W. of
Kendal, and 276 N. N. W. of London.

Ambletev.se, a seaport of France, in the depart-
ment of Pas de Calais, defended by a battery. At
this port Caesar embarked his cavalry when he
passed over into England; and here James II. land-
ed on his departure from England, in 1688. It
is seated on the English channel, 8 m. N. of Bou-
logne. Long. 1. 36. E. lat. 50. 49. N.

Amboise, a town of France, in the department
of the Indre and Loire. The town is mean and
ill-built; but has been rendered famous in history,
by the conspiracy of the Huguenots, in 1560,
which opened the fatal religious wars in France.
Here Louis XI. instituted the order of St. Michael;
it was also the birth-place of the poet Jesuit Com-
mine. and the spot where Charles VIII. died. It
is seated at the confluence of the Massee with
the Loire. 12 m. E. by N. of Tours, and 115 S. by
W. of Paris.

Amboy, or Perth Amboy, city, Middlesex Co. N.
J. upon a bay at the South end of Staten Island,
communicating with N. York harbour by Arthur
Kull Sound and with the ocean below the nar-
rows. This harbour is safe and easy of access and
the town has considerable commerce.

Ambdy, South, p.t. Middlesex Co. N. J., lying
S. of the above.

Amboyna, an island of the Moluccas,Hur the
Indian Ocean. It is 56 m. in length from N. to
S. and divided on the west side by a large bay
in two parts ; the largest of which is called Hitou,
and the other Leytimor. The face of this island
is beautiful; woody mountains and verdant plains
being interspersed with hamlets, and enriched by
cultivation. The chief products are nutmegs, su-
gar, coffee, and many delicious fruits, but more es-
pecially cloves. The principal animals are deer
and wild hogs. The English and Dutch had fac-
tories here at the beginning of the 17th century ;
but the Dutch expelled the English, and tortured
and put to death many of them. The natives
wear large whiskers, and their dress is only a
slight piece of stuff wrapped round their middle.
The men buy their wives of their parents, and if
they prove barren, the marriage is void. They
are generally Mahometans ; but there are some
Christians among them. This island was taken
by the English in 1796, and restored by the treaty
ox Amiens in 1802, recaptured in 1810, and again
restored to the Dutch, by the treaty at Paris in
1814, and confirmed in 1824. The chief town is
of the same name, neatly built, and stands near
the S. W. extremity. Fort Victoria is in long.
128. 15. E. lat. 3. 40. S.

Ambrose St., an island on the coast of Chile, 15
m. W. from St. Felix Island. The crew of captain
Roberts, in 1792, killed and cured here 13,000
seal skins, in seven weeks. Long. 80. 55. W.
lat. 26. 13. S.

Ambrym, one of the New Hebrides, in the Pacific

Ocean, 50 m. in circumference. Long. 168.12. E,
lat. 16. 10. N.

Amedabad, a city of Hindoostan, the capital of
Guzerat. The walls are 6 m. in circumference,
and contain 12 gates ; but now not a quarter of the
area is inhabited. The mosque and tomb of the
founder, Tatay Ahmed, are built of stone and mar
ble, the last of exquisite workmanship. It was
taken by general Goddard in 1780, from the Poo-
nah Mahrattas, to whom it was restored in
1783. It is seated in a level country, on a nav-
igable river that enters the gulf of Cambay*,
320 m. N. of Bombay. Long. 72. 27. E. lat. 23.
18. N.

Amednagur, a city and fort of Hindoostan, once
the capital of the soubah of its name, which is now
better known by that of Dowlatabad. This city
was the residence of the emperor Aurungzebe,
during his conquest of the Deccan and the Carn-
atic. In 1803 it was taken by the British army
under general Wellesley (now Duke of Well-
ington.) It is 73 m. N. E. of Poona. Long. 75. 0.
E. lat. 19. 10. N.

Ameenobad, a town of Hindoostan, in Lahore, 35
m. N. by W. of Lahore.

Amelia, a town of Italy, seated on a mountain
between the Tiber and Nira, 20 m S. W. of Spol-
eto, and 45 N. of Rome.

Amelia, an inland county of Virginia. Pop.
11,831. The court-house of the county is 58 m.
W. S. W. of Richmond.

Amelia, or Amilla Island, on the coast of E.
Florida, the north end of it is nearly opposite St.
Mary’s in Georgia. It is about 14 m. long and a
mile and a half wide, with a good soil and an ex-
cellent harbour, called Fernandina.

Ameliaburg, p.t. Prince Edward Co. U. C. on
L. Ontario.

Amenia, t. Duchess Co. N. Y. Pop. 2,389

America, in its most comprehensive sense and
present acceptation, may be considered as compris-
ing half of the terrestial globe, or the whole of
the western hemisphere. It has been usual to
speak of America as constituting one of the four
quarters, or four grand divisions of the globe; but
it is equally matter for surprise as well as for re-
gret, that the western hemisphere should so long
have remained subject to a misnomer so obvious,
and a designation so inappropriate and indefi-
nite. This hemisphere first became knowy^^³
Europe, in the year 1493 of the Christian
when Christopher Columbus, a native of Genoa,
who, from a long and close application to the stu-
dy of geography and navigation, had obtained a
knowledge of the figure of the earth, much su-
perior to the general notions of the age in which
he lived, was led to conceive that another conti-
nent existed. Having fully satisfied himself of
the truth of this system, he became impatient to
reduce it to practice, and accordingly laid his
scheme before the senate of Genoa, making his
native country the first offer of his services.
They, however, rejected his proposal, as the dream
of a chimerical projector. It met with the same
fate at the courts of Portugal, Spain, and Eng-
land, and some of the ether European powers of
less note; but, still undiscouraged, he applied
again to the court of Spain, who were at length
induced to fit out a squadron of three small ves-
sels, of which Columbus was made admiral; and
with these he set out on his voyage of discovery,
in 1492, in which voyage he discovered several of
the Bahama islands, with those of Cuba and His-
paniola, and returned to Spain in the following

'c 2