Knight's cyclopædia of the industry of all nations, 1851 / [edited by George Dodd].

Date:
[1851]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Knight's cyclopædia of the industry of all nations, 1851 / [edited by George Dodd]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    75/1000
    I ;i ALGOA BAY. Tlie Kabyles, who form half the native po- udation, are an industrious race in regard to ■aiculture, mining, and manufactures gene- LiUy. They make guns, ploughs, and many oiu-se utensils, which they sell to the Ai'abs lul Moors; they know how to temper steel, lid also make sabres and Icnives of a toler- ' le quality. They manufacture gunpowder 1 their oym. use, but they never seU any of I. Common woollen and linen stuffs, olive lii, and soap made from soda and oil, ai'e imong their manufactures. The furniture of lieu- huts is very simple; a few sheepskins ir mats spread on the ground, or on a wooden ilatform in a corner, serve them as beds ; heir Ivjkes, which resemble in shape the plaid if the Highlanders, and their hoornooses or •loalcs with hoods, which constitute their Iress by day, serve them as blankets at night; . few baskets, eai-then dishes, pots, and jai's, I r their milk and honey; they keep their :rain and fruit in large vats made of clay laked in the sun, or bury them in holes mder ground. The Arabs, Turks, and Moors, re similar in their industrial pursuits to hose tribes in other countries. In his address to the man\ifacturers of ranee, as to the articles deskable to send to he Exhibition of 1851, M. Charles Dupin numerates several of the products of Algeria: I'ools; fruits; cheap oUs, fit for manufacturing )ui-poses; cork; woods, so riclily colom'ed, ml of such varied shades, for cabinet work; material for weaving obtained from the lires of bark or of reeds, the productions lade from which are fitted for summer apart- lents. ALGO'A BAY is one of those spots in ;ape Colony which, by receiving emigrants ■om. Europe, have laid the foundation for i immercial intercom's e between England and lie semi-civilized nations of the south. ALHAMBRA, an ancient castle and palace f the Mohammedan kings of Granada, is me of the storehouses for examples of the / rubesque species of ornament from time to line adopted in modern decorative art. In s]v. Owen Jones's splendid work on the Al- lambra, we see how iatricate are the patterns nd how brilUant the colours of the decora- ions Tivith which the walls are adorned. A iiief account of the existing state of the )nilding may not be misplaced. The Alhambra is situated on a hill, which Inns out to the east of the town of Granada -t IS sun-ounded by a strong wall, flanked by iquare towers, and enclosing an area, of 2500 eet in length, and 0.50 in breadth. The walls follow all the windings of the mountain, and rare constructed of 'tapia,' an artificial con- ALHAMBEA. m Crete, consisting of pebbles, rubble, and lime, put moist into a wooden frame. When the mortar was set, the frame was removed, and the portions were used successively in build- ing the walls, which grew harder by time. The colour is reddish, and hence the name 'al-hamra,' 'the red.' The exterior appearance of the Alhambra is simple and severe, and gives no indication of the gorgeous beauty which once distin- guished the interior. The Torre de Justicia, so called because justice Avas dispensed there after the manner of tlie East, is a square tower, with a double entrance-gate, the horse- shoe arch ui front rising to half the height of the tower. HaA^ng passed through the double entrance gates, a narrow passage conducts to the Plaza de los Algibes, or ' Court of the Cisterns,' which are two, the largest 102 feet long and 56 feetwde, arched over, and enclosed by a wall six feet thick. On the east side of tills Plaza is the Alcabaza, which is a palace built for Charles V. in the Cinquecento style, by the architect Alonso Ben-eguete. On the north is a very simple and unostentatious entrance to the Mesuar, or common bathing- court, 150 feet in length and 56 in width. It is paved with white marble, and the walls covered with ai-abesques of admirable work- manship. In the midst of this court is a basin bordered with flowers. At the lower end of the Mesuar is an archway leading to the Patio de los LeoneSj or 'Com-t of the Lions.' It is open to the sky, measures 100 feet by 60, and is paved with white marble. In the centre of it is a large basin of alabaster, of twelve sides, restmg on the backs of twelve lions, rudely caiwed. Over this basin a smaller one rises, from which a lai'ge body of water spouts into the air, and fallmg from one basin into the other is sent forth through the mouths of the Hons. This court is sm-rounded by a gallery supported by above 100 slender and elegant columns, 9 feet high, and 8i inches in diameter. These columns are very irregularly placed; sometimes they are single, and sometimes in groups of two or three. The walls, up to the height of fifteen feet from the ground, are covered with blue and yellow mosaic tiUngs. The columns and ceiling of the gallery are beautifully orna- mented with arabesques and fret-work in the most exquisite taste. Around the upper face of the Fountain of the Lions are some Arabic, verses, which describe, in a style of oriental hyperbole, the wonders and the beauty of the fountain. On each end of the court projects a portico, which is also supported by slender marble columns. On the left side of tho Court of the Lions