Peterhead, a sea-port of Scotland, in Aberdeen-
shire, situate on a peninsula, about a m, S. of the
mnuth of Ugie. It has two harbours, defended by
piers ; a considerable trade in the fishery,₍and to
the Baltic; and manufactures of thread, woolen
cloth, and cotton. Here is a small fort and a bat-
tery. A mineral spring, of a powerful diuretic
quality, and the sea-bathing, bring a great resort
of company, for whose accommodation there is a
ball-room and many elegant houses. 34 m. N. E.
of Aberdeen. Long. 1. 35. W., lat. 57.27. N.

Peters, a township of Franklin Co. Pa.

Petersburgh, a government or province of Rus-
sia, at the E. extremity of the gulf of Finland.
The greater part of this province, was formerly
called Ingermanland or Ingria. It comprises an
area of 18,000 square miles, with 700,000 inhabit-
ants. Timber forms the chief source of wealth.

Petersburgh, the metropolis of the Russian em-
pire, in the government of the same name, is sit-
uated on the river Neva, near the gulf of Finland,
and is built partly upon some islands in the mouth
of that river, and partly upon the continent. So
late as the beginning of the last century, the
ground on which Petersburgh now stands was only
a vast morass, occupied by a few fishermen’s huts.
Peter the Great first began this city in 1703. He
built a small hut for himself, and some wretched
wooden hovels. In 1710 the Count Golovkin
built the first house of brick, and the raytt year
the emperor, with his own hand, laid the^unda-
tion of a house of the same material. From these
small beginnings rose the imperial city of Peters-
burgh ; and, in less than nine years after the
wooden hovels were erected, the seat of empire
was transferred from Moscow to this place. The
streets, in general are broad and spacious; and
three of the principal ones, which meet in a point
at the admiralty, are at least two m. in length.
The mansions of the nobles are vast piles of build-
ing, furnished with great cost, in the same ele-
gant style as at Paris or London, and situated
chiefly on the S. side of the Neva, either in the
admiralty quarter, or in the suburbs of Livonia
and Moscow, which are the finest parts of the
city. The views upon the banks of the Neva ex-
hibit the grandest and most lively scenes imagi-
nable. That river is in many places as broad as
the Thames at London : it is also deep, rapid, and
as transparent as crystal; and its banks are lined
on each side with a continued range of grand
buildings. On the N. the fortress, the academy
of sciences, and the academy of arts, are the most
striking objects. On the opposite side are the
imperial palace, the admiralty, the mansions of
many Russian nobles, and the English line, so
called because it is mostly occupied by English
merchants. In the front of these buildings, on
the S. side, is the quay, which extends three m.
except where it is interrupted by the admiralty ;
and the Neva, during the whole of that space, has
been embanked by a wall, parapet, and pavement
of hewn granite There are no fewer than 35
great churches (almost every sect of Christains
being tolerated), and the number of inhabitants is
supposed to be about 300,000. It is said that 3,000
one-horse sledges are employed for passengers in
the streets, in winter. From its low and marshy
situation, it is subject to inundations, which have
sometimes risen so high as to threaten the town
with a total submersion. The opposite divisions
of Petersburg, situated on each side of the Neva,
are connected by two bridges on pontoons, which,
on account of thelarge masses of ice driven down

the stream from lake Ladoga, are usually removed
when these masses first make their appearance xe2x80xa2
and for a few days, till the river is frozen hard
enough to bear carriages, there is no communi-
cation between the opposite parts of the town.
Among the noblest ornaments of Petersburg is an
equestrian statue of Peter the Great, in bronze,
erected by Catherine II. in 1782. It is of colossal
size, and stands on a huge pedestal of rock, brought
there at great expense. Within the walls of the
fortress is the cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul,
in which are deposited the remains of Peter the
Great, and of the successive sovereigns, except
Peter II., who was buried at Moscow. The lite-
rary and scientific institutions are numerous
but the most important is the university, founded
in 1819. A Bible society is established on an ex-
tensive scale, having upwards of 200 auxiliaries
in different parts of the empire. Of the charita-
ble institutions the principal are the foundling
hospital, the sailors’ hospital, the lazaretto, the
asylum for the blind, the asylum for the deaf and
dumb, the humane society, &c. The manufac-
tures are various, and some of them of considera-
ble extent; and the commercial intercourse is
important from its extensive communication with
the interior, this being the only great maritime
outlet in the gulf of Finland. The principal ex-
ports are hemp, flax, skins, leather, iron, tallow,
&c.: the imports sugar, coffee, cotton, indigo,
dyewood, spices, hardware, &c. The number of
ships that enter the Neva annually, of which
nearly half are British, varies from 1,000 to 1,700.
In 1831 this city suffered severely by the pesti-
lential cholera. Petersburg is 355 m. N. W. of
Moscow, 430 N. E. of Stockholm, and 1,400 E. N.
E. of London. Long. 30. 20. E,, lat. 59. 56. N.

Petersburg, ph. Rensselaer Co. N. Y. 25 m. N.
E. Albany. Pop. 2,011; ph. Adams,Lancaster and
Perry Cos. Pa.; ph. Dinwiddie Co. Va. on the Ap-
pomattox, 25 m. S. Richmond. This town is a
port of entry, and has a considerable commerce
in grain, flour, cotton and tobacco. Pop. 8,322;
ph. Elbert Co. Geo. on the Savannah, 35 m. above
Augusta; p.v. Woodland Co. and Boone Co. Ken.
ph. Columbiana Co. Ohio ; p.v. Pike Co. Ind.

Petersdorf, a town of Prussia, in the province
of Samland, 24 m. S. of Konigsberg.

Petersfield, a horough in Hampshire, Eng. 54 m.
S. W. of London.

Petershagen, a town of Prussian Westphalia,
with a castle, seated on the Weser, 7 m. N. N
E. of Minden.

Petersham, ph. Worcester Co. Mass. 67 m. W.
by N. Boston. Pop. 1,695.

Petershausen, a town of Germany, in Baden,
with a Benedictine abbey and a fort; seated on
the N. side of the Rhine, opposite Constance.

Peterstown, ph. Monroe Co. Va.

Petersville, ph. Frederick Co. Va.

Peterwaradin, a town of Sclavonia, one of the
strongest frontier places the house of Austria
has against the Turks, over whom, in 1716,
prince Eugene here gained a great victory. It is
seated on the Danube, opposite the fortress of
Neusatz, in Hungary. 40 m. N. W. of Belgrade
Long. 20. 30. E., lat. 45. 23. N.

Petherton, South, a town in Somersetshire, Eng
with a manufacture of dowlas; 130 m. W. by S.
of London.

Petigliano, a town of Tuscany, in the Sien
nese, 8 m. W. of Castro and 45 S. E. of Sien-
na.

Petit Guave, a sea-port of St. Domingo, seated