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.

    943/1000
    Ti-inidad was very trifling. In 1787 the first sugar-plantation was established. All the usual productions of tropical countries grow luxuriantly. The nutmeg, cinnamon, and clove, have been introduced, and succeed re- markably well. In 18i8 the exports amounted to 282,13y., tlie imports to 309,257^., and the revenue to 75,874/. Sugar, molasses, coflee, and cocoa, are chief articles of export. The value of the Britisli produce and ma- nufactures exported to Trinidad in 1849 was 247,779/. TEINITY HOUSE. This remarkable cor- poration has the management of some of the most important interests of the seamen and shipping of England. James II. granted the Trinity House the charter which is now in force, in the first year of his reign. It directs the masters and wardens to examine such boys of Christ's Hospital as shall be willing to become seamen, and to apprentice them to commanders of ships. It also enables them to appoint and license all pilots into and out of the Thames, and prohibits, under penalties, all other persons from exercising that ofiBce; it also authorises the corporation to settle rates of pilotage, &c.; to hold courts, &c.; to punish seamen deserting, &c.; and make laws as to other subject-matters not incon- sistent with the laws of the kingdom. It also contains many provisions directed to the object of keeping the navigation of the channels secret from foreigners, and renders the officers of the corporation liable to attend when re- quired at the king's bidding. Since that time several acts of parliament have been passed for the purpose of authorising the Trinity House to regulate matters connected with the pilotage, &c., of vessels. The various provisions in matters of pilotage under the management of the corporation were repealed in 1826, and new arrangements made. At present, besides those under the jurisdiction of the Trinity House and of the lord warden of the Cinque Ports, many inde- pendent pilotage establishments exist in va- rious parts of the kingdom; but the expe- diency of subjecting all these to the uniform management of the Trinity House has been felt for some time past. The inconvenience resulting from the exercise of similar authori- ties vested in the hands of different parties had been felt with regard to the lighthouses on the coast, several of which had been vested in private hands by the crown ; while some had been in times past leased out by the corpora- tion itself, the lights in both instances being found to be conducted probably rather with a view to private interest than public utility. By an Act, therefore, of 1827, provision was made for vesting all the lighthoufles and lights on the coast of England in the corporation of Trinity House, and placing those of Scotland and Ireland under their supervision. Under this act purchases have been made by the corporation of the whole of the lighthouses not before possessed by that body, the amount expended for which purpose is near 1,000,000/. The annual revenue of the corporation is very considerable, and is derived from tolls paid in respect of shipping, which receives benefit from the'lights, beacons, and buoys, and from the ballast supplied. The ballast is raised from such parts of the bed of the river as it is expedient to deepen, by machinery attached to vessels, and worked partly by the power of steam and partly by manual labour. [Dbedging Machines.] The revenue is em- ployed upon the necessaiy expenses of the corporation in constructing and maintaining their lighthouses and lights, beacons and buoys, and the bmldings and vessels belonging to the corporation; in paying the necessary officers of their several establishments, and in providing relief for decayed seamen and bal- lastmen, their widows, (fee. The deputy master and elder brethren are employed on voyages of inspection of their lighthouses and lights, beacons and buoys, not unfrequently in most trying weather and seasons ; and they are also often engaged in making surveys, &c., on the coast, and reports on such matters of maritime character as are referred to them by the government. TEIPOD is any article of fiurniture resting upon three feet, whence the name is given to tables, chairs, moveable altars, and other articles of the same kind. A chair or an altar of this kind must be understood when we read that the Pythia of Delphi gave her oracles from a tripod. We find also mention of tripods containing a certain measure of fluid, and in this case we have to understand a bowl resting upon a pedestal with three feet. The crater, or the vessel in which the wine was mixed with water at the banquets of the ancients, was very frequently a tripod of this description. The tripod was generally of metal and often of exquisite workmanship. Tripods were the most common presents to the temples of Apollo; tripods were given to the victors in the games which were celebrated in honour of Apollo; and tripods appear on innumerable coins which have any relation to the worship of that god. Some ancient tripods are pre- served in the British Museum. TRIPOLI. In this region of Northern Africa, those parts of the country which are moderately fertile produce a variety of grain, fruit, and trees. The wild trees and bushes