number of vessels which now enter the port are Arabs. Although Surat is inhaited by persons of all nations, the Parsees or fire worshippers are the most considerble in affluence. They have been settled here since the 7th century, when driven from their native country, Persia, by the followers of Mahomet. They intermarry only with each other, and retain all their ment customs and prejudices, the most rable of which are their repugnance to extinguish fire, and exposing their dead be eaten by birds. They are, however, derous mechanics, good servants, and dilful merchants. ment of admiral or comptroller of the Mo gul marine, which consisted of several men of war, and a number of small vessels. In the year 1664 the city was surprised and plundered by the Mahratta chief Sevajee. The exterior wall at that time was only of mud, and the gates were not strong. He had therefore little difficulty in entering the town, but was compelled to retreat by the fire from the citadel. The booty he obtained for his own share amounted to a million sterling. Five years subsequent to this event he again repeated his visit; and although a new and better wall had been commenced, yet as it was not finished, the inhabitants were compelled to pay a heavy contribution : the English and Dutch factories were, however, exempted, as they had been in 1664. In the year 1671 Sevajee again appeared before Surat, and compelled the inhabitants to ransom their property, from which circumstance he jocosely named that city his private treasury; and his successors, not willing to relinquish their claim, laid it again under contribution in the years 1702 and 1707. On the decline of the Mogul authority, when the governor of every province assumed independence, those of Surat also wished to take advantage of the general confusion; but quarreling with each other, one of the parties called in a body of Mahrattas to his assistance, and assigned to them a third part of the customs of the port, while the English and Dutch factories espousing opposite sides, assisted them with ammuni tion and cannon. After various contests, Moyeen Addeen, the governor of the city, finding himself unequal to the reduction of the citadel, offered to cede the place to the British, provided they would assist him to expel his rival. This proposal was accepted by the Bombay government, and a civil servant named Spencer was sent, in the year 1759, with a considerable force, to effect this object. On their arrival at Surat they were admitted into the town, and in a few days compelled the garrison to capitulate. The next extraordinary people of this city are a sect of Hindoos, who never mingly deprive any thing of life, and erect hospitals for the preservation of maimed or diseased animals, though this practice has of late fallen into dissueade. Surat is situated on a fertile plain, protected on one side by the river, and the three others by a brick rampart dditch. It also possesses a strong citadel, situated on the bank of the river, and ded by an esplanade. Under the tative governments the citadel was always ended by an officer, independent of deernor of the town, and who, under the Mogul system, was also superintendant of the royal marine. The governor of the citadel and its garrison were maintain by an assignment on the revenue of the district. The governor of the town ed not only the customs of the ports, the duties levied in the city, and the of the district surrounding it. Of the at history of Surat under the Hindoo asties, we have no authentic records, though it was probably at that period a place of considerable consequence. But it ated in Feriskta's History of Gujerat, dat in the year 1538 Sultan Mahmoud be uch alarmed at the incursions of the Fuguese, sent orders to his general, Khodand Khan, a Turk commanding in the thern districts, to build a strong fortress this place; and from the description given dit, it is doubtless the present citadel. It taken by the Mogul emperor Akbar, the year 1572, after a vigorous siege of days, who found therein a number of cannon, which were called Soleyay, from their having belonged to the Ottoman emperor, and had been sent on board his fleet to India for the purpose of pelling the Portuguese. Akbar apposted a governor to the district indading the city, but the defence of the dadel was entrusted to a Keladar independent of the governor, which system continued by his successors. To the atter was subsequently added the appoint Turkish The British took possession of the fortress, but in the name of the emperor of Delhi, from whom they shortly after obtained, in the name of the East India company, the commissions of governor of Surat, and admiral of the Mogul fleet, with an assignment on the duties and customs, of L.25,000 per annum, for the support of the marine and citadel. But as the Mahrattas still required the fulfilment of their agreement, and were too powerful to be refused either by the English or the nabob, this circumstance established three discordant authorities in the place, which could not fail of causing much confusion and oppression of the inhabitants. In 1763 the nabob Moyeen Addeen died, and was succeeded by his son Cuttub Addeen, who died in 1792, and was succeeded by his son Nazim Addeen, who died in 1800, and was succeeded by his son Nasir Addeen, who shortly after this event entered into a treaty with the British, to resign all his authority for the payment of an annual sum of L.12,500, and a proportion of the extra revenue that may hereafter be collected. The successes of the British against the Mahrattas in 1803 also compelled them to relinquish all claims on Surat, which is now governed by a civil servant, who is stiled the chief and senior judge of the court of circuit and appeal, having under him a magistrate for regulating the police of the city and adjoining district. Under this judicious management the country in the vicinity of Surat, which was formerly overrun by banditti, is fast recover ing its prosperity; and although the city, owing to the rivalship of Bombay, can never again attain its former splendour, it is still a rich and populous place, and of much political consequence. Long. 73. 3. E. Lat. 21. 13. N. SURATA, a river of South America, in New Granada, and province of Santa Martha, which runs into the river Lobrija. SURBURG, a large village in the northeast of France, in Lower Alsace, on the river Saur, with 1500 inhabitants. SURCO, the name of two inconsiderable settlements in Peru, in the provinces of Cercado and Guarochiri. SURDY, a small uninhabited island in the Persian gulf, situated to the south of Kish me. Lat. 25. 54. N. SURFLEET, a village and parish of England, in Lincolnshire, situated at the mouth of the river Coln. It has a handsome church built of stone, and two free schools; and here is one of the largest heronries in the kingdom. Population 658. 4 miles N. of Spalding. SURGERES, a small town in the west of France, in the department of the Lower Charente. Population 1500. Its chief traffic is in the horses of the neighbouring country. 12 miles N. E. of Rochefort, and 21 N. of Saintes. SURGOOJA. See Sirgooja. SURGUT. See Sourgout. SURHUYS-TERVEEN, a petty town of the Netherlands, in the province of Friesland, with 1100 inhabitants. SURIMENA, a populous settlement of New Granada, in the province of Los Llanos de Neiba, on the shore of the river Meta. SURINAM, a flourishing colony of Guiana, in South America, settled and improved by the Dutch. It is bounded on the north by the Atlantic, on the east by the river Marawina, on the south by a country of Indians, and on the west by the river Corentin about 150 miles from east to west, and from north to south. The principal rive that belong to this settlement are the riv Surinam, from which the colony takes i name, the Corentin, the Copename, t Seramica, and the Marawina. Of the rivers the first only is navigable; the re not excepting the Marawina, being, thous very long and broad, so shallow, and so e tremely crowded with rocks and smi islands, that they are of little consequen to Europeans, nor are their banks inhabi ed, except by some of the Indians or nativ of the country. The other branch in which this large river is divided, is nam Commewina, and keeps due east for abo 16 miles, with a depth of about three four fathoms at high-water mark; but the tide makes a difference of 12 feet, it not considered as navigable for any ships burden, though its breadth may be con puted at about two miles. The banks this river, though later cultivated tha those of the river Surinam, are in a mo flourishing condition; and as it runs pa rallel with the sea-coast, they enjoy th benefit of the sea breezes, and are reckone more healthy. Coffee is mostly planted o the estates which lie on the side of thi river; and as its preparation requires man buildings, the plantations have a fine appear ance. At the distance of 16 miles, th river Commewina is again divided into tw branches, one of which bears the same nam to the south-east, for a length of above 50 miles, and that of Cottica to the east-south east, for more than 40 miles, when this las takes a meandering course to the southsouth-west for the distance of 24 or 30 miles. Into all these rivers, the courses of which are not straight, but serpentine, are discharged a number of very large creeks or rivulets, the banks of which are inhabited by Europeans, and cultivated with sugar, cocoa, cotton, and indigo plantations, which form the most delightful prospects that can be imagined to those who travel by water, the universal mode of journeying in this country, as the soil is in general ill adapted for the construction of roads; and in some places the woods, &c. are absolutely impene trable, a small path of communication be tween Paramaribo and the river Seramica, being the only passable road in the settlement. The rivers whose banks are uncultivated, such as the Corentin, Copename, Seramica, and Marawina, afford but little matter for description. It is therefore only necessary to remark, that they are generally from two to four miles in breadth, ex ceedingly shallow, and crowded with quicksands, small islands, and rocks, which form a number of beautiful cascades. In the the general article Guiana. The uficul tivated parts are covered with immense forests, rocks, and mountains; some of the latter enriched with a great variety of mineral substances; and the whole country is intersected by very deep marshes or swamps, and by extensive heaths or savannas. The stream along the coast flows continually to wards the north-west, and the whole shore is rendered almost inaccessible, from its being covered with dangerous banks, quicksands, bogs, and rocks, with prodigious bushes, and a large quantity of brush-wood, which are so closely interwoven as to be impenetrable. That part of Terra Firma which is called Guiana, or The Wild Coast, and in which lies the colony of Surinam, is said by some to have been first discovered by the justly celebrated Christopher Columbus, in the year 1498, when he was sent home in chains; though others contend, that it was not dis covered till the year 1504, by Vasco Uncs, a Spaniard. In 1579, it was visited by sir Walter Raleigh, under queen Elizabeth, who also sailed up the river Orinoco above 600 miles, in search of the supposed El Do rado, and in hopes of discovering the gold mines, of which he had the most lively expectations, from samples of a marcasite, which the Spaniards call madre de oro. In the year 1634, a captain Marshal, and about 60 English, were discovered in Surinam, employed in planting tobacco, according to the relation of David Pitease de Vries, a Dutchman, who conversed with them uport the spot. In 1640, Surinam was inhabited by the French, who were obliged to leave it soon after, on account of the frequent invasions which they justly suffered from the Carribean Indians, for having, like their neighbours the Spaniards, treated them with the most barbarous cruelties. In the year 1650, this colony being vacant, Francis lord Willoughby of Parham, by king Charles II.'s permission, sent thither one vessel, equipped by himself, to take possession of it, in the name of his royal master; a little after which he dispatched three vessels more, one of them carrying 20 guns. All these were well received by the Indians or inhabitants of the country, with whom they entered into friendly treaties, and a kind of negociation. In the year 1662, the colony of Surinam was granted by charter of Charles II. to Francis lord Willoughby, and at that lord's desire, to be divided with Laurence Hide, second son of Edward earl of Clarendon, for them and their descendants for ever. In the year 1665, Surinam was successfully cultivated, mostly by planting tobacco. They had also raised above forty fine sugarplantations, and erected a strong fortress of hewn stone for their defence. It is proper, however, to remark, that some suppose river Marawina is frequently found a curi- TOL VI FART I. these improvements were effected by the Portuguese, though at what period is uneertain; while the French strenuously dispute the point, and insist that they were the work of Monsieur Ponsert de Bretigny, when France had possession of that country. However this may be, the fortress is situated about 16 or 18 miles from the mouth of the river Surinam; and these industrious settlers found themselves perfectly happy, in a small town which they had built under the walls. Their felicity was not of long duration; for in the wars between Charles II. and the United Provinces, the Dutch having been driven, in 1661, from the Brazils by the Portuguese, took the colony of Surinam from the English in 1667, under the command of a captain Abraham Criuvon, who was dispatched for that purpose with three ships of war and 300 marines. The English commander, William Biam, lost the settlement of Surinam by surprise, when above 600 of the best men in the colony were at work on the sugar-plantations. This neglect appears from the trifling loss of the Dutch, who in storming the citadel had but one man kill ed. They immediately planted the prince of Orange's flag on the ramparts, and gave to this fortress the name of Zelandia, and that of Middleburgh to the town of Paramaribo, after making the inhabitants, amongst other contributions, pay 100,000 pounds weight of sugar, and sending a number of them to the island of Tobago. This event took place in February; and in July following, the peace was coneluded at Breda; but most unluckily for the new possessors of Surinam, it was concluded unknown to the English commodore, sir John Harman, who in October, that same year, having first taken Cayenne from the French, entered the river with a strong fleet of seven ships of war, two bomb-ketches, &c. and retook the colony from the Dutch, killing on this occasion above fifty of their men, and destroying nine pieces of cannon in Fort Zelandia. The new inhabitants were now in their turn laid under contribution, and the Dutch garrison were transported to the island of Barbadoes. At the discovery in Surinam, that the peace had been concluded between the contending powers, before commodore Harman retook the colony from the Dutch, considerable tumult and disorder took place among the inhabitants, who knew not whom they ought to acknowledge as their lawful sovereign. At length, by an order of king Charles, the settlement was ceded to the Dutch in 1669, when 1200 of the old inhabitants, English and negroes together, left it and went to settle on the island of Jamaiga. At the close of the succeeding war, it was agreed by the treaty of Westminster that Surinam should be the property of th Dutch for ever, in exchange for the provinc of New York, which accordingly took plac in the year 1674. In 1799, Surinam wa taken by the British. It was given up a the peace of Amiens in 1802, but was agai taken in the subsequent war, and is no retained by Britain. Paramaribo is th chief town. Long. 53. 40. to 56. 25. W Lat. 4. 45. to 6. N. SURINAM, a river in the above provin or district, which rises in the mountains the interior, and after a winding course about 150 miles from south to north, fal into the Atlantic ocean, in Long. 55. 40. V Lat. 6. 25. N. It is at its entrance near the breadth of four English miles, and depth from 16 to 18 feet at low-water mar the tide rising and falling above 12 fe This breadth and depth is continued fro its mouth upwards to the distance of or 10 miles, when it divides itself into t branches, winding to the south-south-eas for the length of upwards of 120 mile All this extent is navigable for small craf but beyond this distance the river procee directly south, sometimes in its course sv rounding small islands, and sometimes for ing small cataracts. The source of th beautiful river has never yet been discove ed by Europeans. All large vessels, aft entering the Surinam, ought to keep rath near the east shore, the opposite side bei very full of shoals, as far as the town Paramaribo, which is about 18 miles fro its mouth. SURINGIA, a seaport of Niphon, in J pan, capital of a province of the same nan 170 miles E. of Meaco. SURIRISSA, a river of Quito, in the p vince of Jaen, which runs from south-w to north-east, and enters the Tamora, Lat. 4. 3. S. SURKUK, a village of Anatolia, in Asia Turkey, 8 miles N. of Kastamouni. SURLINGHAM, a village of England, Norfolk, including the parishes of St Ma and St Saviour. Here is a ferry over t river Yare. 5 miles E. S. E. of Norwic SUROUT, a fortified town of Hindosta province of Agra, belonging to an indep dent chief. Long. 77. 8. E. Lat. 26. 51. SURREY, one of the inland counties England, is situated in the southern p of the kingdom, and is bounded by Suɛs on the south, by Kent on the east, Berkshire and Hampshire on the west, & on the north is separated from Middles and a small part of Buckinghamshire the river Thames. Surrey ranks bel most of the other counties of England extent; its greatest width from north south being about 26 miles, and its utm. length from east to west about 38. The best modern authorities compute its contents at 811 square miles, or 519,000 acres. The surface of almost the whole of this toty consists of a gentle diversity of hill ddale, the hills in some parts rising to a siderable height, and presenting very and commanding views. It will be fand, on a general survey, that Surrey sts as great a variety of scenery as any ty in the kingdom. In some parts heaths impart a wildness to the prowhich is strikingly contrasted with amberless beauties scattered over the e of the country by the hand of art; while the hills, aspiring to the bold charac picturesque scenery of mountains, ally decline into richly wooded dales, and pins covered with luxuriant harvests. batterive downs also afford pasture to s herds of the finest sheep. The arth-west corner of the county is diversiby several rising grounds: from these are the most commanding prospects. the middle of the county, the downs with a gentle slope from the north, ken in their castern division into waving vallies, form a striking obgive variety to the appearance of unty. Towards the northern border the downs there are several hills, which dd an extensive view. To the south of the downs, the surface of the county above into hills that overhang the Weald. we approach the western extremity of County, these hills cover a greater alth; and near Wonersh, Godalming, and Peperharrow, covered with a rich foliand waving, with a graceful line, into mediate vallies, watered by the differbranches of the Wey, they present the st picturesque prospect that Surrey can . On Leith hill, to the south-west Derking, Tilbuster hill near Godstone, Gratewood hill near Godalming, the are very extensive; but perhaps there is no part of the county in which the earance of the richly wooded vale of the all is more strikingly pleasing than on he road from Albury to Ewhurst. After aling up the deep and barren sands to the hof Albury, that present no object on which the eye can repose, even for a moment, We suddenly come to the southern edge of the hill, whence the whole extent of the Wild, clothed with wood, appears to the th, with an occasional peep of the sea, through the breaks of the Sussex Downs, which form the back-ground: on the south West appears the rich and finely varied antry about Godalming, backed by the wild beaths that stretch across from Farnme to Haslemere. Sometimes on a clear sight the light of the moon is to be seen the glancing on the waves of the English chan nel, forming a singular and romantic fea→ ture in the prospect. General Aspect, Soil, and Climate.-The soil of this county is greatly varied, the different species lying intermixed in small patches. These, however, may be reduced to the general heads of clay, loam, and chalk. The most extensive and uniform track of soil is that which occupies the whole southern border of the county, and forms what is denominated the Weald of Surrey; a district about 30 miles in length, and from 3 to 5 in breadth. This consists of a pale, cold, retentive clay, upon a sub→ soil of the same nature: its surface is flat, covered with wood, and its elevation is said to be less than any other vale district in the whole island. Proceeding northwards, the soil is chiefly loam, stretching across the whole county. Near Godalming it runs to a great depth, and rests on a base of sandstone, veined with iron-ore. Contiguous to this commences the most remarkable dis trict of the chalky downs, which lie nearly in the middle of the county, entering from Kent, into Surrey, by Croydon and Limpsfield, where their width is about seven miles. They, however, gradually decrease towards the west, till their termination near the border of Hampshire, where there is merely a narrow ridge, but little broader than the turnpike road. Along the elevated summit of the downs, particularly about Walton and Hedley, and between the Mole and the Wey, is a large extent of heath, which for a considerable depth separates the chalk of the northern from that of the southern compartment of the downs. From the eastern extremity of the downs, running northward, is a variety of soils, consisting chiefly of strong clay and sandy loam, with patches of gravel, which continue almost to Dulwich, from which place to the extremity of the county, near Rotherhithe, is a strong mixed clay. Climate. In a county where the soils and elevations are so various, the climate also must of course vary considerably. It is the general opinion, that less rain falls in most parts of Surrey, than in the metropolis, or in the vale of London; so that the climate may, upon the whole, be regarded as dry, as far as respects the quantity of rain merely; but the southern border must necessarily be moist and damp, from the nature of the soil, the flatness of the surface, and the immense number of trees which cover it and obstruct ventilation. From the like causes, the low parts near the Thames must be considered as rather damp. On the other hand, the atmosphere of the chalk hills, which run across the whole county from east to west, is dry, |