Aqui, a town Piedmont, in the duchy of Mont-
ferrat, with a citadel, and baths of mineral water;
seated on the north bank of the Bormida, 15 m.
S. of Alexandria.

Aquila, a fine large city of the kingdom of
Naples, anciently called Avia, and Avella, the
capital of Abruzzo, seated on a hill, east of the
Apennines, on the banks of the river Alterno, or
Pescara, near its source. It has amancient castle,
nd is a bishop’s see. An earthquake was so vio-
lent here in Feb. 1703, that 24,000 people perish-
ed, and great numbers were wounded. It is situate
35 m. W. from the Adriatic, and 92 E. of Rome.
Long. 14. 20. E. lat. 42. 50. N.

Aquileia, an ancient and large city of the Carni,
or Veneti, in Italy, seated near the coast at the
head of the gulf of Venice. A Roman colony
was settled in it, between the first and second
Macedonian wars, to be a bulwark against the
Huns and Goths. In 425 it was besieged by Attila
with an innumerable host of barbarians. Three
months were consumed without effect in the
siege ; till the want of provisions and the clamour
of his army, compelled Attila to issue his orders
that the troops should strike their tents the next
morning, and begin their retreat. But as he rode
round the wall, pensive, angry, and disappointed,
he observed a stork preparing to leave her nest in
one of the towers, and to fly, with her infant fami-
ly, towards the country ; this he interpreted as an
omen that those towers were devoted to impend-
ing ruin and solitude. The siege was renewed
and prosecuted with fresh vigour; a large breach
was made in the part of the wall from whence the
stork had taken her flight; the Huns mounted to
the assault with irresistible fury; and the suc-
ceeding generation could scarcely discover the
ruins of Aquileia.

Aquino, a town of Naples, in Terra di Lavoro,
ruined by the emperor Conrad. It is the birth-
place of Juvenal, and seated near the Carig-
Jiano, on the great high road from Rome to Na-
ples, 20 m. S. by E. of Sora.

Arabat, a town and fort of the Crimea, and
province of Taurida, on the borders of the sea of
Asoph, 20 m. N. by E. of Caffa.

Arabia, a country of Asia, extending from the
12th to the 32nd deg. of N. lat. and from the 33rd
to the 58th of W. long, being about 1,480 m. in
length, 1,200 in breadth; bounded on the W. by
the Red Sea, and the isthmus of Suez, N. E. by
the Euphrates, which divides it from Diarbekir, xc2xa3.
bv the gulfs of Persia and Ormus, and S. by the
Indian Ocean. It is divided into three parts, Ara-
bia Petrea, Deserta, and Felix, so named by Eu-
ropeans from their supposed qualities of soil and
climate. Arabia Petrea, much the smallest of the
three, lies to the south of Syria along the east
coast of the Red Sea. The north part is moun-
tainous, and in general stony, sandy, and barren;
but some parts yield sufficient nourishment for
cattle, whose milk, and camels’ flesh, is the chief
food of its few inhabitants. Arabia Deserta lies
south of Syria, and east of Arabia Petrea, and
the Red Sea. It is for the most part desert, be-
ng intersected by barren mountains, and many
of the plains nothing but great sands and heaths;
b”.* there are some plains and valleys that feed
great flocks of sheep and goats; there are also
great numbers of ostriches, and a fine breed of
camels in several places, and the horses are the
noblest of the species.

The Arabians train up their best and fleetest
horses to hunt the ostrich. Perhaps, of all va-
rieties of the chase, this, though the most labori-
ous, is yet the most entertaining. As soon as the
hunter comes within sight of his prey, he puts on
his horse with a gentle gallop, so as to keep the
ostrich still in sight; yet not so as to terrify hiir

from the plain into the mountains. Upon obsen -
ing himself, therefore, pursued at a distance, the
bird begins to run at first, but gently, either in-
sensible of his danger, or sure of escaping. In
this situation he somewhat resembles a man at
full speed ; his wings, like two arms, keep work-
ing with a motion correspondent to that of his
legs; and his speed would very soon snatch him
from the view of his pursuers, but, unfortunate-
ly for the silly creature, instead of going off in a
direct line, he takes his course in circles; while
the hunters still make a small course within, re-
lieve each other, meet him at unexpected turns,
and keep him thus still employed, still followed,
for two or three days together. At last, spent
with fatigue and famine, and finding all power of
escape impossible, he endeavours to hide himself
from those enemies he cannot avoid, and covers
his head in the sand, or the first thicket he meets.
Sometimes, however, he attempts to face his pur-
suers : and, though in general the most gentle
animal in nature, when driven to desperation, he
defends himself with his beak, his wings, and
his feet. Such is the force of his motion, that a
man would be utterly unable to withstand him in
the shock. The oxen of Arabia have generally
a hump on their back like those of Syria.
The sheep have a thick and broad tail, which
they are said to drag behind them on a carriage;
their wool is coarse, and their flesh not very deli-
cate. The wild goat is found in the mountains
of Arabia Petrea. The other animals are the
jackal, hyaena, many sorts of apes, the jerboa
or rat of Pharaoh, antelopes, wild oxen, wolves,
foxes, wild boars and the great and little panther.
The caracal or syagosh is a sort of lynx, and is

probably the lynx of the ancients. It follows the
lion and lives upon the remains of that animal's
meals. It is somewhat larger than a fox, and
much fiercer and stronger. It climbs with aston-
ishing agility to the tops of the tallest trees in
pursuit of hares, rabbits and birds. Arabia Fe-
lix, so called on account of its fertility with re
gard to the rest, lies to the south of Arabia De