ST. GEORGE’S BANK -SALAMANCA, 533

! die chief occupation of the inhabitants. St. Gall isformed from the estates of the rich Benedictine! monastery of the same name, which were secularisedbr the French, and was admitted into the confederacyl in 181)3. The constitution is aristocratical, the govern-ment being conducted by a great council of 150 mem-! here, and an executive council of thirteen, composed■ of members of the former. The canton sends a mem-ber to the federal diet- In 1830, St. Gall was thetheatre of revolutionary movements, which werequieted by seasonable concessions. The capital, St.(JaH, with a population of 9000, is distinguished bythe manufacturing and commercial activity of themhalmants. It contains the old Benedictine abbey,has two libraries rich in manuscripts, and somelearned societies.

Sr. George's Bank. A fishing bank off the coastof Massachusetts, cast of cape Cod.

St. Maria de Puerto Principe. A city ofCuba, and the capital of the department of the Centre.It stands on the northern coast of the bland, 300miles south-east of Havana. The population of thecity and precincts is 49,012, consisting of 32,996whites, 6165 free persons of colour, and 9851 slaves.Lat- 21° 20' N., Ion. 77° 43' W.

Saintes. A large French city in the department ofthe Lower Charente. It is agreeably situated on thebanks of the river Charente, and is conspicuous at thedistance of several miles. The approach to it is overa handsome bridge, beneath a Roman triumphal arch,of imposing simplicity and grandeur. This arch, thebanks of tire river planted with rows of trees, thecathedral tower rising above the town, and the tur-rets of another church cresting the elevation of thekilt, gives it an air of magnificence which few provin-cial cities can pretend to equal. Saintes was amongthefree cities of tho Roman empire, and shared withAutao, Narbonne, Nismes, and Toulouse, the pre-H#*tive ; of having a Capitol, and being governed byitttaOWfl magistrates. Considerable remains of theGapltoliae temple and fort were to be seen whenRei»y, IV. .began the modern bastions, with whichthe town is at present surrounded. A few remains ofliM hid Roman walls are still here and there visible,while the soil beneath is almost a quarry of brokenarchitectural ornaments, columns, cornices, inscrip-tions, ultars, and coins. The inscriptions have beenpuhlislied awd commented upon by Bourignon, andwhet antiquaries, but there is nothing in any of themof particular interest. The monuments within thetown, which are most generally interesting, are, thetriumphal arch, the amphitheatre, and part of a Romanedifice recently discovered.

I lie triumphal arch, though the limestone of whichd rs built is considerably corroded, is little injured inas general form and appearance. It rises from thePaine of the bridge, on massive piers laid in the river,“tun which Rs elevation is reckoned at sixty feet: itstabadth R (brty.five feet, and its thickness ten feet.R ts pierced with two arches, and may be architec-twnhy divided into four compartments :—the foun-uuen or basis, which is unadorned; the fayade, as■t'h.ay the spring of the arches, which seems to havePMn .ornamented with fluted Corinthian pilasters,•c cornices of which form an impost to the doublemoulding^ round the arches ; the entablature abovenil* ^ or 'd ce ’ 518 .high as the attic, at each corner of

'th are small .fluted Corinthian columns, resting one "W®* cornice, and supporting an architecture of

the same order, the frieze of w hich is terminated by abold projecting cornice, having its upper moulding,or cimarector inverted ; the attic is composed of threerows of large stones, and also terminates in a cornice,the upper member of which supports a Gothic battle-ment, an addition of the middle ages. The stones ofthe arch are from three to five feet long, and two tothree thick, brought from the quarries of the town,and laid without cement, but they seem to have beenmortised together with lead or iron.

Antiquities of various sorts are constantly beingdug up, so that Saintes offers a rich harvest to the anti-quary. The ancient cathedral is said to have been builtby Charlemagne, but it must have undergone manyimprovements and additions since the reign of thatcelebrated monarch. The inhabitants of this cityamount to 14,000 persons, and it is forty-two milessouth-east of La Rochelle, and eighty-four north ofBourdeaux.

Saintonge. Originally a province in the west ofFrance, bounded by the Atlantic, Poitou, Guienne,and Angoumois. It belonged to the English fromthe time of Henry II., until it was conquered by-Charles V. It now forms the department of theLower Charente. The capital, Saintes, with 14,000inhabitants, contains some fine remnants of ancientarchitecture.

Sakhara. The necropolis of ancient Memphis,from whose ruins it is about two miles distant, on theedge of the Libyan desert. It is remarkable for itsancient monuments, among which are thirty pyramids,besides the ruins of a great number, and numberlessgrottoes, sarcophagi, the ibis-catacombs, &c.

Sakradawendra is the name of one of the Cey-lonese deities, who commands and governs all tnerest, and formerly answered the prayers of hisworshippers; according to the fabulous accountwhich is given of him, the golden chair, on which hesat, the foot of which was made of wax, was softenedby their prayers and tears, sunk downward, so thathe could not take notice of their requests andrelieve them.

Salamanca. A large Spanish city in the southernpart of the kingdom of Leon. It is in a picturesqueand agreeable situation on the Tonnes, which is herecrossed by a stone bridge, half of which is of Romanworkmanship. It is badly built, with narrow, crookedand dirty streets, but has some handsome squares, ofwhich the Plaza Mayor, where bull-fights are exhi-bited, is one of the finest in Spain. The cathedral isa magnificent Gothic edifice, begun in 1513, andcompleted in 1734 ; it presents great inequalities anddisproportions. The old church, built in the twelfthcentury, has several interesting monuments ; and ina chapel belonging to it, the mass is said accordingto the Mozarabic manner. The Jesuits’ college, builtin 1614, is one of the most splendid which the orderpossessed in Spain, and, since their abolition in 1798,it has been, in part, occupied as a theological semi-nary. The university buildings consist of two divi-sions separated by a street, the escuelas menores, andthe university-, properly so called, or escuelas mayores,in which arc the theological, law, medical, philoso-phical, philological, &c., lecture rooms. The univer-sity was founded in the thirteenth century, byAlphonso IX. of Leon; and, in 1239, Ferdinand III.united with it the Castilian university of Valencia.Its reputation extended through Europe, and, at theend of the sixteenth century it hat), according to