the name of several rivers in Europe. 1. A feeder of the Ems, Hanover it is joined on the left bank by the Plaane, a small stream coming from the north of Westphalia. 2. A river of France, department of Pas-de-Calais, rises a little S.E. of Samer, and flows N.E. past Fauquemberg, and St.-Omer. Below this town the stream divides into two branches, one of which, called the Colme, is carried eastward by the Furnes canal to the sea at Ostende: while the other, retaining the name of Aa, runs N.N.W. into the German Ocean through the port of Gravelines. The Aa has a course of about 36 miles, of which 15 miles from St.-Omer to Gravelines are navigable; it is connected by canals with the Lys, with Calais, and Dunkerque. Coal, turf, timber, firewood, building-stone, corn, hay, wine, and brandy, are the chief articles of traffic on the river. 3. A small river of North Brabant, rises S.E. of the town of Helmont, and joins the Dommel on the right bank at Bois-le-Duc after a course of 32 miles. 4. A river of the Dutch province of Groningen, rises in the Zwarte-Meer (a marsh in the province of Drenthe, near the Hanoverian frontier); on being joined on the left bank by two other streams, also called Aa, it flows northwards under the designation of the Westerwolder Aa into Dollart Bay, forming for a short distance above its mouth the boundary between territories of Hanover and Holland. 5. A river in Russia which passes the town of Mitau, and carries a large portion of the drainage of Courland and Vilna into the Gulf of Livonia; it runs nearly N.W. from Mitau to Chlok, in the government of Livonia, where its course is eastwards, along the gulf to its mouth, opposite the fort of Dünamunde, 6 miles N.W. of Riga. This river is distinguished by the name of the Treider-Aa; its whole length is 78 miles. 6. Another river of Russia, distinguished as the Bulder-Aa, drains the central part of the government of Livonia, passes Volmar and Venden, and enters the gulf of Livonia, 13 miles N.N.E. from Riga, after a course of 132 miles. After the spring-thaws large barges ply on the river from Venden, at other times sand-banks and rapids impede the navigation. 7. Two streams of this name drain the canton of Unterwalden, in Switzerland, and empty their waters into the Waldstätten lake. The more western of the two flows through the lake and past the town of Sarnen. 8. Another river of the name in Switzerland, forms the outlet of the lakes of Baldek and Hallwyl, and flows N. through the canton of Aargau into the Aar, which it joins on the right bank midway between the mouths of the Sur and the Reuss. There are several other small streams of this name in Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, and Holland. The word is supposed to have been originally a generic name for a running stream, and to mean water.

AACH. [BADEN.]

AACHEN, the German name of AIX-LA-CHAPELLE. AALBORG, a province of the kingdom of Denmark, comprises the most northern part of Jutland. It is bounded E. by the Kattegat, N. by the Skagerrack, S. partly by the Lymfiord, and W. by the North Sea. Of the three districts into which the province is divided, Hiörring in the north, and Tisted in the west, are north of the Lymfiord, and the district of Aalborg south and east of it. The whole area is 2782 square miles, and the population about 130,000. The surface is mostly flat, traversed however by low hills, which run northwards, and terminate in Skagen Point, on which there is a sight-house marking the entrance to the Kattegat. The western coast is covered with moving sand-hills; and in the two districts north of the Lymfiord the interior presents but few fertile fields-heaths,

GEOG. DIV. VOL. I.

marshes, and forests, being the principal features of the surface. Aalborg contains a good deal of rich arable and pasture land. The climate is very cold and damp in winter. Peat, which is abundant, is the principal fuel. Horned cattle, horses, coarse-woolled sheep, geese, and poultry, are reared in great numbers. Almost every householder is a bee-keeper, and honey is an important produce of the country. Vast quantities of herrings are taken along the coasts, and in the Lymfiord, a narrow and shallow inlet from the Kattegat, which now extends quite across Jutland; the sea some years ago, during a storm, having broken through the narrow bank of land that separated its western extremity from the North Sea. The principal exports are fish, salt provisions, butter, cattle, wool, &c. Bog iron, potters' earth, and fullers' clay are found. There are no manufactures of importance.

Aalborg, the chief town, stands on the south side of the narrow channel which joins the Lymfiord with the Kattegat, and is a sea-port, with a considerable trade in grain and herrings. From 400 to 500 vessels enter the port annually, and there is regular steam communication with Copenhagen: the population is 7500. Aalborg gives title to a bishop; it has a cathedral school, and a small Baptist church. There are some manufactures of soap, leather, sugar, and tobacco. Hiörring, the chief town of the northern district, is a small place, 29 miles N. from Aalborg: population, 1800. Thisted, or Tisted, the capital of the western district, is a small sea-port on the north shore of the Lymfiord, 35 miles W. from Aalborg: population, 2200. The island of Mors, the largest in the Lymfiord, is included in the district of Thisted. It is 24 miles long and 11 broad; about twothirds of the surface is pretty high, flat, and fertile; the remainder consists of bogs and marshes. The chief town is Nyekiobing, on the east coast of the island: population, about 1000.

The island of Lessöe in the Kattegat belongs to the district of Hiörring; it is 11 miles long, and 54 broad. The surface is level, the soil sandy and unproductive: the population is about 2500. Agricultural operations are left to the women; the men spend their time in fishing.

AARĂU. [AARGAU.]

AARGAU (Argovie), a canton of Switzerland, is bounded N. by the Rhine, which separates it from Baden; W., by the cantons of Basel, Bern, and Soleure; E., by Zürich and Zug; and S. by Luzern. It takes its name from the river Aar, which rises in the glaciers of the Grimsel and the Schreckhorn, drains the valley of Ober Hasli, in which it forms several cascades, and, after flowing through the lakes of Brienz and Thun, and past the towns of Bern, Soleure, and Aarau, falls into the Rhine on the left bank, about 14 miles above Laufenburg, after a course of about 160 miles. The Aar becomes navigable after its egress from the lake of Thun. The name Aar-gau signifies the district of the Aar. The area of the canton is 501 square miles: the population, according to the census of March 1850, was 199,720; of whom 91,096 were Catholics, and 107,194 Protestants of different sects.

The canton of Aargau is a fertile district, diversified by hills, mountains, and valleys. Ramifications of the Jura mountains cover the north-west of the canton, between the Aar and the Rhine. Besides the Aar and the Rhine the principal rivers are the Reuss and the Limmat, both of which are navigable, and enter the Aar on the right bank. Aargau is both a manufacturing and an agricultural country. The products of the soil are corn, pasture, hay, white and

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